Chief Operations Officer Jobs

About Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

Since 1981, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (Parks Conservancy) has served as the nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, collaborating with the Presidio Trust, partners, donors, and the community to support the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). The GGNRA stretches across three Bay Area counties, north and south of the Golden Gate Bridge, and includes iconic places such as Muir Woods National Monument, Fort Point National Historic Site, Alcatraz Island, Crissy Field, Mori Point, Lands End, and the Presidio of San Francisco.

The Parks Conservancy engages at the intersection of national park sites, local communities, social justice, and climate resilience. Collaborating with partners, our staff are dedicated to enhancing public awareness and providing volunteer and educational opportunities in the parks. We are park builders, caretakers, ambassadors, and educators, all working to connect people to parks, in support of our vision Parks for All Forever. Join us.

About the Opportunity

The Parks Conservancy has approximately 300 employees dedicated to connecting people to these incredible resources by enhancing the public’s awareness and providing opportunities for enjoyment and stewardship of these incredible places. The incoming Chief Operations Officer (COO) will have the exciting opportunity to establish our newly-created Operations branch of the organization - which includes the functional areas of Technology, Facilities, Employee Safety, and Legal - bringing strategic visioning, infrastructure mapping, and equity-centered leadership to build a thriving, collaborative, and effective operations function. This is a hands-on role for a leader who thrives in a player-coach position; our ideal COO is unafraid to dive into the details to solve complex challenges, in strong partnership with Conservancy, partner leaders, and team members from across the organization.

Areas of Leadership

Mission & Values Alignment: Bring a mission- and equity-centered lens to all decisions, both at the organizational and functional level. As an executive leader, model and embody the Parks Conservancy’s values. Serve as a trusted representative to, and collaborator with, the Parks Conservancy’s partner organizations.

Key qualifications:

• Experience partnering strategically with external collaborators and organizations to advance shared goals
• Commitment to, and an understanding of, concepts of equity, justice, and inclusion in the workplace and a demonstrated ability to effectively work and collaborate across differences at all levels
• Knowledge and understanding of the ways implicit bias, personal identity, and power and privilege impact individuals, organizations, systems, policies, and structures
• Track record of demonstrating personal and professional commitment to leading positive change for equity and inclusion
• Belief in the Parks Conservancy’s vision of “Parks for All, Forever” and alignment with the values of Community Care, Create Belonging, Learning and Growth, and Working with Purpose

Executive & Organizational Leadership: Serve as a member of the Leadership team, responsible for a diverse portfolio of the Parks Conservancy’s Operations, including: Technology; Facilities & Fleet; Employee Safety; and Legal. Collaborate with the CEO, Executive Team, and other operations team members to envision, develop, and implement a long-range, equity-centered operational infrastructure strategy, with an eye toward efficiency and ease of use. Work closely with the Executive Team to develop strategic vision for operational infrastructure investments and enhancements, with an eye toward operational efficiency, risk mitigation, and advancing the goals of the strategic plan.

Key qualifications:

• Track record of serving as a thought partner and strategic advisor to executive leaders, board members, and team members at all levels of an organization
• Track record of successful, people-centered operations leadership in highly complex organizations, ideally of a parallel size or larger than the Parks Conservancy
• Experience streamlining complex and/or fragmented systems and processes, and successfully introducing new systems and processes to advance organizational efficiency
• Strategic decision maker with experience seeing the full picture and distilling and prioritizing down to the most pressing next steps
• Proven ability to envision, develop, implement, and modify long- and short-term strategy at the organizational level
• History of effectively leading change throughout career at various levels of leadership and throughout the organization
• Outstanding communication skills, both internally and externally, and ability to connect and communicate effectively with diverse audiences, at all levels, in order to rally teams and individuals around a shared goal

Functional Operations Leadership: Lead, train, and direct the efforts of Operations Branch Staff and contractors. In recognition that this position will involve building a newly formed organizational unit, the COO will be responsible for leading recruitment efforts in alignment with our equitable hiring practices. Manage and oversee operations-based coordination with our primary government partners, specifically and regularly with the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust, as well as additional state, local and national agencies on occasion. Work across the organization to identify, build, and implement systems and infrastructure improvements, and the values-aligned policies, practices, and procedures to underpin those improvements.

Key qualifications:

• Ability to partner across a wide variety of functions and levels to build and implement effective and efficient systems
• Outstanding interpersonal and relationship management skills, including the ability to identify and work through challenges, underscored by strong judgment and emotional intelligence
• Track record of highly developed business and financial acumen
• Track record of being proactive and demonstrating strong assessment skills that identify key operational needs across the organization and developing solutions to address them
• Experience in improving operations as an organizational leader, and track record of effectively building and managing teams of individuals with diverse subject matter expertise
• History of successfully leading complex, cross-functional projects, including managing internal and external constituencies toward shared goals and outcomes, meeting financial objectives and timelines

Team Development & Management: As the leader of a newly-formed part of the organization, recruit, hire, and develop team members across functional areas, while simultaneously nurturing and developing a culture of cohesive interdependence with existing staff. Center equity in all people-related decisions. Work closely with the Executive Team and operations managers embedded in other parts of the organization to support organizational culture and capabilities that emphasize our staff and strategy, and deliver impact.

Key qualifications:

• Astute driver of strategy, including managing teams through strategic pivots and changes, and interdependent systems and processes
• Proven history of leading, inspiring, and developing cohesive and high functioning teams with diverse identities to effectively deliver outcomes while centering an organization’s mission
• Ability to effectively manage and develop department leaders whose subject matter expertise is different from their own and align them to organizational decisions and strategy
• Track record of leading inclusive teams where individuals and groups feel valued, supported, and heard, and goals are clearly defined and communicated
• Proven ability to simultaneously manage, develop, and mentor multiple, thriving teams of professionals at various levels of career and skill sets
• Outstanding manager of individuals, with a history of developing professionals to promotions and new opportunities
• Experience leading distributed, multi-layered teams that span multiple functional areas and locations

Physical Requirements & Work Environments

This position is located at the Parks Conservancy’s headquarters in Fort Mason, San Francisco. Work is performed mostly in an office setting, including a mix of telework and on-site. This position requires a minimum of two days per week on-site, and many weeks will require more. In order to meet the essential requirements of this position, this includes a combination of duties in-office, visiting park sites, and participating in park events which may include evenings, weekends, and holidays.

Work is primarily performed sitting and standing.

• Regularly sits or stands at a desk 6-8 hours per day
• Walking

Ability to travel to work locations across the San Francisco Bay Area, including Alcatraz Island, Muir Woods, Golden Gate Bridge, Crissy Field, Lands End, Presidio, Fort Point, and other workplaces, both indoors and outdoors.

Compensation

Salary for this position is $230,000 annually (pay grade 26). Comprehensive benefits package includes paid vacation/personal/sick days, medical/dental/vision plans, 403(B), Employee Assistance Program, employer-matched Commuter Program, employee discounts, and more.

Health and Safety

It is the goal of the Parks Conservancy to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace. We work to mitigate hazards and risks that may cause harm to employees, consistent with state and federal laws. Employees play an active role in creating a safe and healthy workplace and are expected to comply with all applicable health and safety rules...to see the full job description please visit https://axistalentpartners.applytojob.com/apply/L55xeYnH8d/Chief-Operations-Officer-At-Golden-Gate-National-Parks-Conservancy