Salary range: $225,000 to $240,000, Annually
The Chief Operations Officer (COO) oversees The Washington Center’s (TWC) day-to-day operations and reports to the President and Chief Executive Officer. The COO ensures the highest levels of strategic excellence and efficiency in all aspects of The Washington Center’s management and collaborative operations. The COO drives collaboration and solves problems among teams throughout the organization, regularly working with executive and senior leaders to improve performance by bringing efficiency and efficacy, operation and financial controls, and best-in-class administrative procedures. This executive leader oversees programs, operations, technology, housing and facilities. The COO effectively communicates, manages and delegates projects, and fosters growth among the executive team and all staff talent. The COO regularly engages with the Board of Trustees, assisting the President and CEO and senior leaders with reports to inform Trustees about TWC’s performance on a regular basis.
The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of and proven ability to work in a rapidly changing environment with a strategic plan’s goals and quantitative outcomes. They will be a human-centered leader who is not afraid of change management and leading to improve performance towards greater mission success while maintaining our core set of values.
The Washington Center is a remote/hybrid organization with the majority of employees working on average one day per week in TWC’s Residential and Academic Facility, conveniently located near Union Station and public transportation in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, DC. Given our organizational mission focus on skills, workforce development and collaboration, there are times where cross-collaboration among teams and departments will require more than one day per week in the office. The individual in this role is expected to reside in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Essential Functions
Operational Execution and Planning
- Work with the Senior Leadership team to set organizational performance goals and run the day-to-day operations of TWC business.
- Work closely with the President and Controller/ED of Finance on all matters related to the business model and operations.
- Develop and implement strategies, procedures and business plans for organizational growth.
- Oversee all operational functions to ensure that value and impact can be achieved in efficient, effective ways that leverage best practices and utilize staff talents.
- Collaborate with leaders at all levels to set strategies and oversee execution to ensure financial sustainability and growth.
- Ability to manage a wide range of activities on behalf of the organization.
- Cultivate and provide opportunities for rising talent within the organization.
Organizational Leadership
- Serve as senior member of the leadership of the organization, as well as coordinate and manage the Senior Leadership team and Leadership Team agendas.
- Brings an operations and strategy lens to decision-making, while maintaining an overall organization-wide strategic outlook.
- Act as advisor to the President/CEO around the Senior Leadership Team’s performance, organizational transformation, strategy and operational issues and opportunities.
- In coordination with Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, develop best in class internal communications.
- Lead and manage staff with an eye towards robust staff engagement, development, collaboration, and a strong positive TWC culture that allows team members to fulfil their potential.
- Act as gatekeeper for President and CEO, assisting in seeing around corners and planning for short to long-term.
Board Management
- Collect, manage and prepare materials in advance for Board of Trustees meetings and Executive Committee meetings, including dashboards and quantitative metrics by department and initiative.
- Assist President/CEO and senior staff in onboarding new Trustees.
- Understand and ensure full compliance of TWC Bylaws, including monitoring of Board terms and Committee work.
Required Education and Experience
An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will be considered.
- 10+ years management experience, preferably in non-profit spaces
- 7+ years’ experience successfully leading teams
- Bachelor’s Degree
Preferred Education/Qualifications and Experience
- Direct non-profit leadership experience highly preferred
- MBA or relevant Master’s degree highly preferred
- Certification or coursework in project management, leadership, or other relevant areas to a robust COO role
Competencies required to perform the job successfully
- Leads/develops/empowers people, develops relationships, inspires trust
- Change management and growth mindset
- Sets direction and drives results
- Seasoned judgment/analytical thinking/problem solving
- Self-awareness
- Customer satisfaction
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Strong interpersonal skills & ability to communicate (verbal/writing) effectively at all levels and with customers, internally & externally.
- Proven ability to effectively lead, motivate and hold team members accountable; ability to establish and maintain trust and credibility.
- Thorough understanding of finance, systems, and operations of a non-profit. Broad experience with the full range of business functions and systems, including strategic development and planning, business analysis, technology systems, and human resources.
- Ability to effectively build organization and staff capacity, developing a top-notch workforce and the processes that ensure the organization runs smoothly.
- Exceptional ability to multi-task, carry out numerous projects at the same time, and deal with frequent interruptions.
- Diplomacy and an ability to interface with high-level officials.
Supervisory Responsibility
- This position supervises several key departments at TWC.
Equipment Used to Perform the Job
May be representative but not all inclusive of those commonly associated with this position:
- Cloud-based technologies
- Standard office equipment including a computer, job-related software and printer
Physical Abilities
Commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform described essential functions of this job. These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
Application Instructions
To apply to this position, please do so via our online application form.
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This job description no way states or implies that these are the only duties performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees may be required to follow other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties as requested, subject to all applicable state and federal laws.
Certain job functions described herein may be subjected to possible modification in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.