Principal, Operations Lead

Workday • Pleasanton, CA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

This role owns day-to-day operational excellence (e.g., budget and HC management, SLA reporting, vendor management and performance), and connects this with organizational strategy, setting BT-function level OKRs and driving engagement within BT function (all staffs, leadership team meetings). Coordinates with executive stakeholders to align departmental activities with overarching business goals and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in strategic operations, program management, vendor management, or a high-impact role supporting executive leadership.
• 5+ years of experience in driving and owning the annual operating rhythm and budget, executive communications, and cross-organizational change management.

Nice To Haves

• Ideal background is Chief of Staff or Business Operations function at a large enterprise company/firm.
• Operational Excellence & Cost Control: Demonstrated success in identifying bottlenecks, streamlining complex business processes, and improving organizational efficiency to achieve cost savings.
• Financial & Budget Management: Direct experience with owning and controlling departmental or organizational budgets ($XX+ million), including forecasting, variance analysis, and resource allocation.
• Vendor and Contract Management: Proven ability to manage the full lifecycle of major vendor relationships, including supporting contract negotiation, service level agreement (SLA) enforcement, performance review, and ensuring vendor alignment with strategic organizational goals.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Proven ability to define key performance indicators (KPIs), conduct root cause analysis, and use data to inform executive-level recommendations.
• Proven track record of influencing and motivating cross-functional teams and senior leaders without direct reporting lines.
• Executive presence and high level of discretion.
• Absolute integrity and the capacity to handle highly sensitive, confidential, and proprietary information.
• Emotional intelligence and self-awareness and the ability to accurately gauge the mood and motivations of the organization.
• Strength in facilitating workshops, seeking input, and storytelling.
• Knowledge of Agile frameworks such as Scrum, Kanban and Lean, and experience implementing Agile practices and methodologies across multiple teams and departments is a plus.
• Agile certification such as Professional Scrum Master (PSM), Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Operational excellence: Monitor and drive day-to-day operational excellence across BT function, including budget and headcount, performance metrics and vendor performance and management. Owns the operationalization of performance improvement initiatives and targets.
• Portfolio management: Manages the run/scale portfolio and budget of the BT function, including planning, monthly monitoring and optimization.
• Team strategy: Establishes, monitors and provides oversight to defining BT function-specific OKRs, ensuring alignment with enterprise- and BT-level strategic goals and vision. Coordinates with executive stakeholders to ensure departmental goals are directly aligned with broader organizational strategies and connects with QPCI and promotion and award cycles.
• Communications and engagement: Owns and coordinates high-stakes cross-functional communication and engagement activities. Leads, coordinates and plans key organizational meetings such as all staffs and leadership meetings. Drives engagement within BT function. Partners with central change management team on comprehensive change, communication and training plans in support of critical organizational updates.
• Vendor management: Drive accountability with vendors by owning the end-to-end vendor relationship management, acting as the primary liaison for strategic partners. Negotiate and manage SLAs and planning periodic (quarterly or bi-annual) engagement reviews. Support teams with onboarding and offboarding at scale. Ensure new vendors are integrated quickly and compliantly, and departing vendors are securely transitioned out.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees