Special Operations (Special Ops) Lead

NuAxis Innovations • Washington, DC

80d

About The Position

The Special Operations Lead is a senior role within the WMATA IT support team, responsible for high-visibility, mission-critical support functions. This includes VIP / executive-level support, surge/rapid-response activities during incidents or events, coordination across teams, and continuous readiness. The leader ensures that all urgent support functions maintain high standards of responsiveness, coordination, and service quality.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent).
• 8+ years of IT operations, service delivery, field support, or incident response experience.
• Experience managing high-visibility support or VIP-level services.
• Demonstrated experience in incident response, surge operations, or event-driven support.
• Excellent coordination, communication, and stakeholder handling skills.
• Ability to remain calm under pressure, lead through crisis, and drive resolution.
• Strong process orientation and ability to define, document, and refine support playbooks.
• Experience with escalation management, root cause reviews, and post-mortem analysis.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience in transit, public-sector, or critical infrastructure environment.
• Understanding of major incident frameworks (e.g. ITIL Incident, Major Incident, War Room).
• Experience with command/control systems or EOC-like coordination.
• Experience training staff in surge operations or cross-functional rotational assignments.

Responsibilities

• Oversee delivery of VIP / executive-level support, ensuring responsiveness, professionalism, and satisfaction of WMATA leadership stakeholders.
• Lead surge mobilization efforts during major incidents, special events, system outages, or periods of heightened demand. Coordinate rapid deployment of resources and personnel.
• Design, standardize, and refine procedures, templates, escalation paths, and playbooks for rapid-response and surge support aligned with industry best practices.
• Coordinate across functional leads (Service Desk, Field, Infrastructure, Security) to ensure unified response to critical events.
• Monitor and report key performance during surge / rapid-response events (response times, resolution times, feedback).
• Conduct after-action reviews, identify lessons learned, and drive continuous improvement in processes and readiness.
• Maintain a state of operational readiness: staffing plans, contingencies, rotations, escalation rosters, training.
• Serve as escalation point for high-impact or high-risk incidents, ensuring stakeholder communication and resolution.
• Drive accountability for meeting high standards of service for WMATA’s most critical needs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Bachelor's degree
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees