Chief Operating Officer (Remote)

Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Remote

Our client is a mission-driven, innovative, expanding national non-profit dedicated to inspiring and empowering the next generation of diverse health leaders and professionals. For 33 years, they have provided life-changing, career-launching exposure, experience, skill building, and mentorship for undergraduate students and their 4600 alums to choose and succeed in their authentic health careers. Through their proven programs, students and alums learn by doing, gain confidence and skills, secure jobs, enter graduate health professions schools, and serve communities as health leaders and professionals. They partner with leading health employers, associations, and health professions education institutions nationally and in their 12 regions to meet emerging health workforce and diversity needs and advance health improvement and health equity.

Our client seeks a dynamic, experienced operations leader to work closely with the CEO, Chief of Staff, Board of Directors, and other Senior Leadership team members to develop and execute national and regional operational strategies and systems to increase the organization’s scale, sustainability, and impact.

As the Chief Operating Officer (COO), you will report directly to the CEO while engaging closely with the Board of Directors and be an essential Senior Leadership team member. You will balance strong vision and capabilities for operations, process, and team oversight with a hands-on approach to managing all functions of a small, opportunity-driven, and growing non-profit. You will strategically focus on leading innovation in the organization’s operational systems, processes, and infrastructure to support the effective and efficient delivery of the organization’s services and growth nationally and regionally.

The COO will manage the organization’s national team and core operational functions to create a cohesive structure and culture. You will be expected to work closely with the CEO and regional leads to establish, monitor and achieve regional performance goals. With this tremendous opportunity, you must have a broad scope of talent and experience and a proven history of managing complex operations with limited resources. You will need to quickly learn, evaluate and contribute to the organization’s current processes and engage with team members to make high-level adjustments to improve service, performance, staff support, and goal achievement.

Our client is based in Oakland, California. However, their team operates remotely. The COO can work remotely and will have periodic in-person connections with California team members.

Our client will expect you to:

• Collaborate with national leadership to develop, gain necessary approval and meet organizational priorities and strategies.
• Practice professional communication and problem solving, oral and written, internally and externally.
• Able to work through issues, concerns, problems, and/or challenges, internally and externally, to promote effective collaboration, team building, and performance in alignment with our values and goals.
• Practice cultural humility in engaging with diverse populations, within the organization, and with partners.

Your responsibilities as the COO will include:        

• Implement the organization’s vision, mission, and overall strategic and operational priorities.
• Develop, refine, and strengthen the organizational structure, culture, processes, and procedures to support the organization’s mission, vision, and programs and meet operational and financial requirements.
• Serve as the immediate “second-in-command” for the CEO, with responsibility, authority, and accountability for leading and managing the organization’s operations and functions.
• Develop and execute short – and longer-term business strategies and performance goals formulated with the CEO and key internal stakeholders.
• Serve as the internal leader of the organization:
• Develop and manage the organization’s annual operations plan, performance goals, and budget.
• Direct goal setting and support for the organization managers and staff to achieve individual and collective goals and advance professionally.
• Lead the performance management process that measures and evaluates progress against goals set for team members and the organization, including clear expectations, communications, and accountability.
• Serve as a day-to-day solid leadership presence for staff.
• Bridge national and regional operations and support an inclusive culture among staff.
• Attract, retain, train, and motivate staff and foster a cohesive team culture of collaboration, support, and success.
• Oversee the design, execution, and continuous improvement of the organization’s process for internship recruitment, placement, and programming, leveraging Salesforce and other technologies.
• Manage the organization’s national program team and associated processes.
• Strengthen, oversee, and engage in the organization’s national Human Resources, Finance, Contracting, Project Management, and Data and Technology functions. The Business Operations and Finance team members will report to the COO.
• Cultivate values of Health Career Connection within the organization
• Create a human capital development and “coaching” culture within the organization; improve the human resources functions, including training, development, compensation and benefits, employee relations, performance evaluation, and recruiting.
• Work closely with the finance team in developing an accounting system that provides THE ORGANIZATION with quick access to financial information and supports an effective strategic budgeting process.
• Analyze the current technology infrastructure and determine the next level of information technology and financial systems that support the growth of specific programs and the organization overall.
• Seek areas for cost reduction and productivity improvement and act to implement solutions.
• Work with the organization’s Board of Directors: present operational plans, priorities, and updates to the board at quarterly meetings and serve on board committees as needed.
• In partnership with the CEO and Board of Directors, work on creating the three-year strategic plan and implement new processes and approaches to achieve it.
• In partnership with the CEO, lead and manage Health Career Connection’s Vice Presidents and Regional Directors, to establish and achieve performance goals and continuous improvement in regional business development and sales, student and host site recruitment, service and satisfaction, new partnership development, program design and delivery and management and alums relations and development.
• Ensure the continued financial viability of Health Career Connection, Inc. through sound fiscal management.

Your qualifications should include:        

Our client is seeking an individual who has proven experience in strengthening core infrastructure and systems, scaling a multi-site organization, and a demonstrated ability to both lead and build the capabilities of a cohesive, bright, and diverse team. As a critical requirement, you must believe in and be driven by the organization’s mission and have the drive, skills, and tenacity to meet the organization where it is operationally and develop and execute plans to take it to the next level of sustainability, scale, and impact. The successful candidate will need the following qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree plus significant relevant experience and a successful track record will be considered. MPH, MHA, MBA, MPP, MSN, MD, or equivalent required.
• Successful operational leadership experience in a relevant health or non-profit small to midsize organization is strongly preferred.
• 7-10 plus years of experience in a senior or mid-level operations role with a proven track record of success
• Outstanding management, leadership, and interpersonal skills
• High level of comfort with ambiguity and working in a fluid, changing external and internal environments. Strong ability to tolerate and thrive in imperfect, less than ideally structured, concrete circumstances and work diligently to create needed structures, processes, and plans.
• Willingness to balance high-level oversight with the simultaneous need to take hands-on action to do what needs to be done to meet immediate needs and goals.
• A thorough understanding of finance, systems, and HR; broad experience with the full range of business functions and systems, including strategic development and planning, budgeting, business analysis, finance, information systems, human resources, and marketing
• Proven history of meeting and exceeding goals and margin improvement; evidence of consistently making good decisions through wisdom, experience, and judgment.
• High level of business acumen, including successful P&L management; the ability to deliver on initiatives against a budget’s realities. Creative, resourceful, and independent problem solver.
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to implement project management systems and tools with full engagement of team members to meet priority goals on time and within budget.
• Ability to think strategically, anticipate future consequences and trends and incorporate them into the organizational plans.
• Excellent skills for managing and leading people; a team builder with experience scaling up organizations; capacity to enforce accountability, develop and empower strong leaders from the bottom up and lead from the top down.
• Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, flexible, and innovative in their approach to operational management excellence.
• Analytic and decisive decision-maker who can prioritize and communicate to staff key objectives and tactics necessary to achieve organizational goals.

Benefits:

Our client values their employees’ time and efforts. To enhance their commitment to your success, they offer competitive compensation of $130K – $165K annually, depending on experience, and an extensive benefits package including health, dental, vision, 401k, life insurance, vacation, sick, and holidays.

Plus, they work to maintain the best possible environment for their employees, where people can learn and grow with the company. They strive to provide a collaborative environment where everyone feels encouraged to contribute to their processes, decisions, planning, and culture.

Our client is an equal opportunity employer that welcomes and encourages diversity in the workplace. Our client does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.