Director of Operations, Government, Education & Non-Profit (GEN) Advisory | Public Institutions

JLL•Washington, DC

11d•Hybrid

About The Position

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced professional to enhance JLL's national Government, Education and Non-Profit (GEN) Advisory group within our Public Institutions division. This is a high-impact, business-facing leadership role. You will serve as the operational engine of the business driving growth, margin, and client performance for the team. This is not a traditional administrative operations role. We are looking for a business-minded operator who arrives with ideas, who can shape the strategic direction of the business, and who will build the infrastructure that allows our client-facing teams to perform at their best. You will play a crucial role in ensuring the continued growth and success of the Public Institutions division.

Requirements

3+ years in an operations leadership role inside a consulting, professional services, agency, or project-based business.
Understand fixed fee project economics intuitively.
Bachelor's degree in business administration, operations management, or a relevant field.
A proven track record of driving operational excellence, improving measurable business outcomes, and achieving key performance indicators.
Experience building reporting and visibility tools from scratch, not just maintaining inherited ones.
Financial fluency: comfortable with P&L management, financial analysis, and translating data into business decisions.
Exceptional leadership skills with a focus on building a positive and inclusive work culture.

Nice To Haves

Worked in a commission or variable revenue model and understand how those economics differ from billable hours.
Proficient with Salesforce, Certinia, ChatGPT, Claude, and/or other AI tools, Power BI, or similar CRM and dashboarding platforms.
Proactively uncomfortable with the status quo and see process inefficiency as a personal affront.
Can communicate financial insights to non-financial stakeholders clearly and without jargon.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain project-level margin tracking across all fixed fee and commission-based engagements.
Identify scope creep and margin erosion on active engagements.
Develop and manage a live utilization and capacity dashboard.
Conduct proactive profitability analysis and develop analytics frameworks to provide real-time insights into operational performance, including revenue, expenses, accounts receivable, utilization, and contracted work-in-progress.
Manage and report on all non-reimbursable and discretionary spending against budget, serving as the internal control point for expense exceptions and approvals.
Create and manage business KPIs that matter for the business and its clients.
Support independent contractor compensation review, ensuring structures align with actual role and contribution.
Own the pipeline reporting infrastructure, including data accuracy and review cadence.
Track forecast accuracy of secured and unsecured pipeline, timing, slippage, variance, flagging gaps.
Oversee and coordinate with the GEN sales enablement team to align operational support.
Support the GEN Executive Director and other stakeholders with preparation for reporting and business reviews.
Design and implement operational processes that scale with the business.
Identify manual workflows that can be automated or eliminated.
Support business segment leads with the reporting infrastructure.
Serve as a GEN owner and liaison to corporate finance and contracting functions on transactional workflows and contract compliance.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement by implementing best practices and innovative solutions.
Provide strategic leadership and guidance to the national GEN service line.
Support the business by effectively hiring, managing, and inspire high-performing teams.
Champion a positive and inclusive work culture that fosters employee engagement, professional development, and talent retention.
Partner with HR to create training and mentorship programs that develop talent within the team.