Associate Director, Strategic Operations

Braven • Newark, NJ

2d • $87,200 - $126,400 • Hybrid

About The Position

Braven is seeking an Associate Director, Strategic Operations to serve as the operational engine for the Insights & Strategy team. This role will be responsible for leading the process to report on organizational priorities and goals, managing the communication of progress to various stakeholders including staff, leaders, and boards. The position will also play a key role in strengthening cross-functional coordination and driving the internal operational rhythm of the Insights & Strategy team. The ideal candidate is a strong communicator and writer, skilled in creating and owning operations and processes, and adept at cross-functional collaboration. They should be comfortable with ambiguity, exercise discretion, and take initiative.

This role reports directly to the Head of Insights & Strategy.

Requirements

• BA/BS in a quantitative field or work experience that demonstrates expertise in quantitative analysis
• At least 3 years of relevant experience
• Extensive experience writing and presenting compelling data-driven narratives for internal and external audiences
• Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets and SQL

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated experience using AI effectively and responsibly to make an actual impact on outcomes
• Proficiency in SQL
• Experience designing and building dashboards and visualizations (Tableau preferred)
• Strong strategic thinking skills, including a proven ability to bring clarity to ambiguous solutions
• Ability to take initiative to solve challenges and tap into opportunities; ability to make complex tasks simple by applying clear logic and processes to component steps
• Excellent time management and prioritization skills, which allow you to manage your own time and energy and seek the right help to complete multiple projects well and on time.
• Demonstrated attention to detail, known for checking and double-checking your work
• Learner’s mindset, which you use to master new tools, software, and ways of working.
• Strong collaboration skills. You seek to understand others’ problems and use your own perspective to solve problems together.
• Proficiency in Google Suite, Slack, and Jira
• Proficiency in Salesforce
• Proficiency in Python or R
• Experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with or for Braven’s student Fellow population.

Responsibilities

• Design, own, and continuously improve the infrastructure to prepare progress updates for stakeholders, including project managing and packaging quarterly progress-to-goal (PTG) memos for Braven’s national board, leadership, and staff.
• Draft region-specific progress updates on priorities for regional board meetings.
• Prepare regular updates to Braven leadership and staff on organizational priorities and goals.
• Pull, analyze, and/or visualize data independently to support progress monitoring.
• Build relationships with relevant partners for this work (e.g., executive owners of priorities).
• Establish expertise and serve as a thought partner on questions and situations related to org-wide progress monitoring.
• Act as trusted liaison to the leaders of the Product, Systems, and External Affairs teams in changing the operating model for how they work together.
• Design and help execute a regular central team <> regional team feedback structure at the Alignment Team level (Braven’s leadership team).
• Support the Head of Insights & Strategy to lead two internal councils (Data Governance Council and AI Advisory Council) and one external council (Labor Market & Economic Advisory Council).
• Own the coordinated operational rhythm of the two halves of the team (Insights and Strategy), including annual planning and goal-setting, quarterly alignment, and weekly coordination.
• Design and plan team stepbacks and other meetings in support of the Head of Insights & Strategy and the Senior Director of Insights, from creating the agenda through post-meeting follow-up.
• Own knowledge management for the Strategy half of the team, maintaining shared and organized documentation and ensuring process clarity.
• Lead or support capacity-building and systems/process-building projects for primarily the Strategy half of the team.
• Use AI in responsible, smart, and human-valuing ways to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your work.

Benefits

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree