Vice President, Operations

About This Role

The Vice President, Operations is a core member of the Senior Leadership Team at Lever for Change, responsible for building, scaling, and leading the organization's operational infrastructure during a period of growth and transition. This role defines the next stage of operational success by designing systems, leading change management, and assembling an effective operations ecosystem for the organization.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a senior partner to the President and CEO, translating vision and strategy into executable operating plans
• Lead enterprise-level thinking across the organization, balancing strategic priorities with hands-on execution in a resource-constrained nonprofit environment
• Collaborate with the President, CEO, and Senior Leadership Team to develop, refine, and execute multi-year strategic and annual operating plans aligned with budget, staffing, and growth goals
• Coordinate and drive execution of cross-functional strategic initiatives, ensuring accountability, timelines, and outcomes
• Provide ongoing analysis of the business model; recommend pivots, service models, and new product lines to ensure long-term sustainability and impact
• Oversee day-to-day operations of Lever for Change, ensuring efficient, compliant, and scalable systems, including finance, operations, human resources, legal, grants administration, and IT
• Oversee financial planning and oversight, including short- and long-term financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, and internal controls
• Build and manage a lean team, including recruitment of new HR, finance, IT and operations team members supplemented by external vendors
• Ensure compliance with contractual, legal, regulatory, and government requirements
• Serve as the organization’s lead for culture-building and change management during a period of growth and transition to operational independence

Requirements

• Senior operations leadership experience in a nonprofit, social impact organization, or client-facing service environment
• Demonstrated success in startup or high-growth environments (nonprofit or for-profit) and have successfully scaled operation systems to support a small team to a larger team
• Proven track record of contracting and managing Managed Services providers
• Proven change manager with experience building systems, teams, and processes from the ground up
• Financially savvy and politically astute leader with strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills
• Track record of developing and managing budgets, operational plans, and strategic initiatives
• Exceptional written and verbal communicator

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MBA, MPA) or equivalent relevant experience
• Senior operations leadership experience in a nonprofit, social impact organization, or client-facing service environment; demonstrated success in startup or high-growth environments; proven track record of contracting and managing Managed Services providers

Nice to Have

• Experience with philanthropic donors strongly preferred
• Strong coalition builder and negotiator with experience working with Boards of Directors

Benefits