Director of Strategic Operations

Woodcraft Rangers•Los Angeles, CA

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

Woodcraft Rangers is seeking a Director of Strategic Operations to build and lead its first formal Project Management Office (PMO). This role is crucial for establishing the systems, standards, and governance structures necessary for the organization to consistently and visibly deliver on its strategic priorities. The Director will report to the Senior Director of Operations and be a key member of the operations leadership team, acting as a strategic advisor, operational architect, and delivery leader. This position involves overseeing a growing PMO team, collaborating with department heads, and bridging the gap between organizational strategy and execution. The PMO's function is to support the execution of strategic initiatives, with accountability for delivery remaining with operational and departmental leadership.

Requirements

8+ years of progressive experience in project management, strategic operations, or a related field, with at least 3 years in a leadership role.
Demonstrated experience building or significantly maturing a PMO or project management function — candidates who have only operated within established PMOs may find this role a stretch.
Strong track record of delivering complex, cross-functional initiatives on time and within budget.
Experience designing governance models, decision-rights frameworks, and portfolio reporting structures.
Exceptional stakeholder management skills; proven ability to influence senior leaders and hold teams accountable without direct authority.
Strong data fluency — comfortable building and interpreting portfolio dashboards, KPI tracking, and resource utilization analysis.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to synthesize complex portfolio information into clear executive narratives.
Experience selecting, configuring, and driving adoption of project management tools (e.g., Asana, Monday.com, Smartsheet, or similar).

Nice To Haves

PMP, PgMP, or equivalent certification preferred.
Experience in a nonprofit, education, or mission-driven organization a plus.
Bilingual (English/Spanish) a plus given the communities Woodcraft Rangers serves.

Responsibilities

Design, launch, and continuously improve Woodcraft Rangers' PMO, including its charter, methodology, governance model, and service offerings.
Build and maintain a portfolio dashboard that gives executive leadership real-time visibility into the health of strategic initiatives.
Develop the project intake and prioritization process, ensuring organizational resources are directed toward the highest-impact work.
Chair or co-chair the PMO steering committee in partnership with the Senior Director of Operations; prepare and present quarterly portfolio reviews to operations and executive leadership.
Define and track PMO KPIs — including on-time delivery rate, budget variance, and stakeholder satisfaction — and report on them transparently.
Establish and promote adoption of project management standards, templates, and processes across the organization, including project charters, RAID logs, status reporting, and stage gates.
Define decision rights, escalation paths, and approval workflows for projects of all sizes.
Develop a tiered governance model that applies appropriate oversight to projects based on size, complexity, and strategic importance.
Maintain the PMO charter and ensure it remains current as the organization's strategy evolves.
Lead or support high-priority cross-functional initiatives during the PMO’s early build phase to establish standards and demonstrate value.
Transition ownership of initiatives to operational leaders as PMO systems and capabilities mature.
Work with the AD of Strategic Operations to pilot projects that demonstrate the value of PMO standards and generate proof points for broader organizational adoption.
Identify and resolve cross-project resource conflicts, risks, and blockers; escalate to the Senior Director of Operations when executive decisions are required.
Ensure lessons learned from completed projects are captured and fed back into evolving PMO standards.
Build a PMO team structure appropriate to the organization’s stage, scaling roles and specialization over time. Partner with the Associate Director of Strategic Operations to define clear lanes of ownership; leverage their institutional knowledge and organizational relationships during the PMO's build phase.
Coach project managers across the organization, raising overall PM maturity and capability over time.
Build a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and psychological safety within the PMO.
Partner closely with the Senior Director of Operations to align initiative prioritization, resource allocation, and execution support with broader operational strategy and capacity.
Build trusted relationships with department heads, program leaders, and executive sponsors across the organization.
Develop and execute an internal communications strategy that helps the broader organization understand the PMO's value and how to engage with it.
Proactively identify and manage PMO skeptics; convert reluctant stakeholders through demonstrated value rather than compliance.
Serve as a strategic thought partner to the COO on organizational priorities, capacity, and execution risk.
Build and maintain the organization’s execution systems, including project intake, portfolio tracking, and reporting tools.
Ensure alignment between project management systems and broader operational infrastructure.
Continuously improve tools and workflows that support cross-department coordination and execution.
Analyze cross-functional workflows to identify inefficiencies and improve how work is coordinated and executed across teams.