Director of Operational Excellence & Strategy
About The Position
The Director of Operational Excellence & Strategy is a senior operational leader who partners directly with the CEO to translate organizational priorities into coordinated plans, reliable systems, measurable outcomes, and sustained execution. The role leads operational improvement across departments while respecting the distinct authority of residential services, clinical case management, and independent quality assurance. It is a strategic, hands-on implementation role. Eligible applicants must reside in California. The Director sets operational priorities and roadmaps with the CEO, leads approved systems implementation and process improvement, supervises the Operations Manager, establishes agency-wide procedures and leadership accountability practices, supports budgeting and resource allocation, and prepares operational updates for CEO and board review. The role also supports strategic planning and represents LEAP on approved projects with vendors, Regional Centers, and community partners. This is a full-time, exempt position. The annual salary is $160,000–$185,000, commensurate with qualifications and experience. LEAP of California offers a competitive benefits package; specific benefits and eligibility will be discussed during recruitment.
Requirements
- Master’s degree from an accredited institution in Public Administration (MPA), Business Administration (MBA), Public Policy (MPP), Nonprofit Management, Organizational Leadership, Healthcare Administration (MHA), or a closely related field.
- Seven to ten years of progressively responsible operations or organizational leadership experience, including cross-functional execution and team management.
- Experience leading systems implementation, operational transformation, process improvement, and change management.
- Strong project management, analytical, financial, and technology skills.
- Proficiency with CRM, Microsoft 365, dashboards, and workflow tools.
- Ability to communicate clearly, build trust, protect confidential information, and balance mission-centered services with operational rigor.
- Eligible applicants must reside in California.
Nice To Haves
- Nonprofit, healthcare, disability services, or social services experience.
- Familiarity with California Regional Centers and Title 17.
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification, Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, or formal training in organizational change management.
- Equivalent demonstrated success leading measurable process-improvement initiatives.
Responsibilities
- Partner with the CEO to set annual operational priorities, a 2- to 3-year operational and technology roadmap, and an agency-wide KPI framework.
- Translate strategy into accountable project plans with owners, milestones, deadlines, resources, and success measures.
- Establish monthly executive dashboards and regular leadership reporting covering progress, risks, decisions needed, and overdue actions.
- Evaluate organizational capacity, role clarity, succession needs, and scalable cross-functional processes.
- Lead change management, communication, adoption, and staff engagement for major operational initiatives.
- Lead coordinated implementation and optimization of Salesforce CRM, WorkMarket payment workflows, Microsoft 365/SharePoint/Teams, and other approved systems.
- Assess case management, learning management, project management, and automation solutions, and lead implementation only after organizational approval.
- Develop integrated referral intake, provider onboarding, documentation, reporting, and administrative workflows that minimize duplicate entry.
- Coordinate vendors, implementation schedules, staff training, user adoption, data governance, access controls, and return on investment.
- Build practical dashboards and automated reporting with appropriate privacy and security safeguards.
- Supervise the Operations Manager and ensure continuity of administrative support, facilities, procurement, vendor management, accounts-payable coordination, and operational technology.
- Create and maintain agency-wide standard operating procedures, process maps, service standards, and responsibility matrices.
- Standardize annual calendars, rolling 60-day schedule updates, cross-department handoffs, referral routing, and action tracking.
- Monitor operational bottlenecks, implement corrective process changes, and measure timeliness, accuracy, and efficiency.
- Partner with finance and the CEO on operational budgets, spending controls, forecasting inputs, and resource allocation without replacing finance approval authority.
- Establish a predictable leadership cadence for department status reports, project reviews, issue escalation, and follow-up.
- Maintain a centralized strategic initiatives tracker with accountable owners, due dates, deliverables, and evidence of completion.
- Coach operational direct reports, conduct performance evaluations, identify development needs, and support cross-functional leadership capacity.
- Promptly escalate unresolved program, compliance, financial, or personnel risks to the appropriate accountable executive.
- Support implementation of QA corrective actions while preserving QA independence and the clinical and residential directors’ professional oversight.
- Prepare operational updates, KPI summaries, and implementation reports for CEO and board review.
- Support CEO-led strategic planning, committee work, and external stakeholder communications.
- Represent LEAP on approved operational projects with vendors, Regional Centers, and community partners.
Benefits
- Competitive benefits package; specific benefits and eligibility will be discussed during recruitment.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
