Vice President of Operations

Nooks • El Segundo, CA

2d • $215,000 - $245,000 • Remote

About The Position

Nooks is pioneering Classified-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (CIaaS) — designing, building, and operating Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and other secured, classified environments for the defense and national security community. We work with the agencies, contractors, and mission-driven organizations that keep the nation safe, delivering the physical infrastructure that makes classified work possible. We’re growing fast, operating across multiple markets, and building a company that takes both the mission and the business seriously.

About the Role
You’ll own the comprehensive customer experience delivery at our sites and ensure our product operates as intended, with consistency, across the entire portfolio. You are a radical advocate for the customer and fierce protector of the P&L. As Vice President of Operations, reporting to the CEO, you are the single executive accountable for the operational performance of our network of classified facilities as it scales from a handful of sites toward more than a dozen. You lead the Site Leads—the on-the-ground owners of each facility and each customer’s strongest advocate in the daily use of the space—and you own the operating model that makes a Nooks site a Nooks site no matter which one a customer walks into. You don’t run a single site; you make the whole portfolio run to one standard, and the customer’s end-to-end experience of our spaces is yours to deliver.

While this role has clear ownership, Nooks is scaling fast and the ground shifts—new sites get greenlit, the playbook is still being written, and priorities move with the business. You’ll build the operating model while you’re running it, and you’ll step into whatever the portfolio needs to keep customers served and sites compliant. This role is for someone energized by that reality, not unsettled by it.

Requirements

• 10+ years of operations leadership, including multi-site or portfolio-level operational accountability
• Direct experience operating in classified or defense environments, with practical command of ICD 705 and NISPOM
• A track record managing senior operational leaders — managing managers, not only individual contributors
• Demonstrated P&L ownership and the judgment to translate operational decisions into financial outcomes
• A U.S. government Top Secret/SCI clearance, or the ability to obtain and maintain one; candidates must be capable of maintaining eligibility up to the Top Secret/SCI level within 45 days of hire.
• Experience standing up or scaling a multi-site operating model in a high-growth or venture-backed company
• Fluency operating in a matrixed environment where functional teams are governed centrally and coordinated at the site
• Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States, and U.S. citizenship is required.
• All candidates must be eligible for and committed to obtaining and maintaining a U.S. government security clearance as a condition of employment.

Responsibilities

• Maniacally advocate for the customer—deeply know their requirements, manage the wholistic feedback cycle on product performance, and ensure the company always makes decisions with a customer-first mentality
• Own the portfolio operational budget and aggregate site P&L, working with cross functional partners to ensure revenue and expenditures meet or beat budget
• Own the aggregate operational performance of the Nooks portfolio across every site and product line
• Develop and manage against operational metrics that provide simplistic but wholistic insight to customer usage and product feedback
• Build and scale the site operating model so every location delivers to one consistent Nooks standard
• Lead a team that takes extreme ownership of the delivery of Nooks products and the customer experience, working in tandem with the cross functional teams that make that possible
• Hire, develop, and directly manage the Site Leads as the single points of accountability for their facilities, set and hold the standard for what a great Site Lead does
• Run the operating cadence—site reviews, escalations, and performance management—that keeps every site holding the standard without constant oversight or micromanagement
• Serve as mentor to Site Leads and broader site teams, ensuring Nooks is a culture that fosters growth, challenge, and empowerment to succeed
• Serve as the senior operational internal client to IT/Cyber, Security, Facilities, Growth, People, and Finance—holding their delivery accountable to site outcomes without owning their teams
• Own, manage, and evolve the governance that makes the matrix model work: internal service-level commitments, decision rights, and escalation paths between sites and functions
• Resolve conflicts between Site Leads and functional leaders, and serve as the executive escalation point when a site and a function can’t align
• Develop, implement, and evolve standard operating procedures for each location, ranging from required components like site safety to differentiating elements of the Nooks brand, such as a culture of hospitality and customer-centric service
• Ensure the Security and IT/Cyber policies and protocols set by the CSO and the VP of IT/Cyber are followed at every site by all employees, contractors, and visitors; operations is accountable for adherence in practice, not for setting the policy
• Represent Nooks Operations externally with defense partners, visiting government officials, and industry forums to support the portfolio’s growth and reputation
• Extend your standing in the security and defense community to build Nooks' credibility and advance the nascent CIaaS category through conferences, panels, and industry associations
• Act as a visible, credible operational voice for the CIaaS model, turning personal reputation and trust into pipeline, partnerships, and talent for Nooks

Benefits

• Annual Bonus Target: 25% of base salary based on specific objectives/key results
• Equity ownership in Nooks
• Premium medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k) with employer contribution
• Flexible time away

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed