Senior Director of Operations

HR&A Advisors•New York, NY

6d•$15,000 - $195,000•Hybrid

About The Position

HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is an employee-owned company advising public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic clients on how to increase opportunity and advance quality of life in cities. HR&A believes in creating vital places, building equitable and resilient communities, and improving people’s lives. HR&A has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Raleigh, Washington D.C. and the Bay Area. HR&A is building a new operational infrastructure to support its transition to a four-studio business line model. At the center of that infrastructure is a growing team of embedded studio operations professionals — people who sit inside each studio and provide dedicated financial, operational, and staffing support to studio leads. The Senior Director of Operations is the person who ensures that model works. This role will sit on our New York City or Washington D.C office. Reporting directly to the Chief Finance and Operations Officer (CFOO), the Senior Director of Operations serves as the operational right hand to the CFOO — directly managing the embedded studio operations team, leading firm-wide operational initiatives, and ensuring that HR&A’s systems, standards, and processes are running at full effectiveness across all studios and offices. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role that sits at the intersection of finance, operations, studio leadership, and firm-wide strategy. The Senior Director of Operations will join HR&A at a pivotal moment. In the near term, this person will carry direct studio operations responsibility across multiple studios while the embedded studio ops team is built out beneath them in phases. As that team grows, the Senior Director will transition from doing to leading — managing a team of studio ops Directors and focusing increasingly on firm-wide strategic initiatives. The ideal candidate is energized by both the hands-on work of building a model from scratch and the longer-term opportunity to lead a high-performing team. The ideal candidate brings operational excellence, financial fluency, and the interpersonal skills to work credibly alongside senior consulting leaders.

Requirements

Ten or more years of professional experience, with at least five years in a senior operations, practice management, or chief of staff role in a professional services or consulting environment
Demonstrated success leading and building high performing operations teams from the ground up, with the ability to manage through phased growth by balancing hands-on execution with designing scalable structures and transitioning responsibilities to a growing team
Strong financial fluency — able to read and act on P&L data, budget reports, utilization analyses, and AR reports without requiring significant support
Experience designing and implementing firmwide operational processes, tools, and standards across a complex, multi-office organization
Demonstrated ability to lead firm-wide strategic initiatives, managing cross-functional stakeholders and driving implementation across a multi-studio or multi-practice environment
Exceptional organizational, communication, and relationship building skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, maintain complex systems, and serve as a trusted partner to senior leaders and staff at all levels
Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where systems are still being built and priorities can shift quickly
Commitment to HR&A’s mission and values, including a demonstrated commitment to inclusion and diversity

Nice To Haves

Experience with financial and project management platforms such as Sage Intacct, Salesforce, or Concur preferred

Responsibilities

Directly manage, develop, and hold accountable a growing team of embedded studio operations Directors, each responsible for the financial, operational, and staffing health of one or more studios
Recruit, onboard, and integrate new studio ops team members as the model is built out, shaping the team’s composition, culture, and standards from the ground up
Serve as a day-to-day resource, thought partner, and escalation point for studio ops team members, helping them navigate complex situations and build their skills over time
Conduct regular check-ins to track progress against business goals while modeling HR&A’s commitment to inclusiveness, equity, and a high-performance, continuously improving culture
In the near term, carry direct studio operations responsibility across multiple studios while the embedded ops team is built out — executing high value activities including business planning and execution support at the studio level.
Ensure every studio has the operational support it needs to deliver excellent work and grow its business and identify gaps, risks and inconsistencies across studio operations.
Serve as the primary operational interface between the CFOO and studio leads, ensuring studio leads have the financial data, staffing visibility, and operational support they need to execute their business plans
Build, manage, and continuously improve firmwide operational execution by owning standardized systems and processes that ensure consistent performance across all studios
Lead the rollout of new firmwide systems, tools, and processes as directed by the CFOO, managing change effectively across a multi-studio, multi-office organization
Partner with HR&A Labs and IT to identify and implement technology and AI tools that improve how studios manage projects, track finances, and coordinate staffing
Ensure all studio ops team members are inputting accurate, timely data into firmwide reporting and dashboards, maintaining the integrity of the firm’s financial and operational reporting
Lead firm-wide operational initiatives on behalf of the CFOO — including system rollouts, 2030 strategic plan implementation milestones, process redesign efforts, and other high-priority projects that span multiple studios or functions
Co-own the firm-wide operational meeting rhythm — designing, facilitating, and following up on cross-studio operational meetings, leadership check-ins, and quarterly ops leadership gatherings
Develop and roll out firmwide operational policies, compliance standards, and playbooks, ensuring consistent adoption across all studios and offices
Manage special projects and strategic initiatives as directed by the CFOO, including organizational changes, new office openings, and cross-functional process improvements
Monitor firmwide utilization, realization, and revenue trends across all studios, flagging issues and recommending corrective actions to the CFOO
Support the CFOO in the annual budgeting process, coordinating inputs from studio ops team members and ensuring studio-level data is complete and accurate
Identify opportunities to improve financial discipline across studios — including scoping practices, pricing, and invoice management — and drive improvement through the studio ops team
Maintain the firmwide pipeline tracker, aggregating data from all studios to give the CFOO and executive leadership team a live view of business development activity across the firm
Identify cross-studio proposal opportunities and coordinate the involvement of multiple studio ops team members in joint pursuit efforts
Track firmwide win/loss data, identify patterns, and surface insights to the CFOO and studio leads to strengthen the firm’s BD performance over time
Contribute to the development and maintenance of HR&A’s firmwide knowledge management ensuring that institutional knowledge is captured, organized, and accessible across all studios
Ensure the firmwide knowledge library is kept current and that new staff can access existing knowledge rather than rebuild from scratch
Serve as an extension of the CFOO’s operational capacity — taking on responsibilities and decisions that would otherwise require the CFOO’s direct attention, freeing the CFOO to focus on executive leadership, financial strategy, and people and culture
Prepare analyses, briefings, and materials for the CFOO and represent them in operational meetings across studios, ensuring alignment and continuity in leadership discussions