Vice President Strategy and Operations

Job Description

Seeking exceptional candidates for the Vice President (VP) of Strategy and Operations at Oxfam America. As the VP, you will play a critical role in shaping the organization's future direction and driving its operational effectiveness. You will lead and support the coordination of cross-functional initiatives to achieve the organization's strategic goals and priorities and ensure that the administrative functions of the organization are aligned with its mission and values.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and strategic leader who is passionate about advancing social justice and human rights around the world. You will be part of a dynamic and dedicated team committed to making a positive impact on the lives of people and communities and have the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and cultures. If you are a collaborative and visionary leader with a track record of success in overseeing strategy, HR, finance, and IT, this is a unique opportunity to take your career to the next level and lead a cutting-edge INGO committed to making a difference in the world.

Oxfam America’s Vice President Strategy and Operations

The Vice President of Strategy and Operations (VPSO) will provide strategic and operational coordination, management, and leadership within Oxfam America (OUS). This position reports directly to the President and Chief Executive Officer, partnering with the CEO and other members of the Senior Leadership team (SLT) to lead the organization’s fight against inequality to end poverty and injustice and to ensure an equal future for all.

The VPSO will also be responsible for directly overseeing Oxfam’s America functions including Finance, Technology and Information Management (TIM), People and Culture and Human Resources (PCHR), and Strategic Planning and Implementation. They will work to create a culture of functional excellence, improved coordination, and alignment with Oxfam International and affiliates for operational performance, effectiveness, and efficiencies. They will bring a commitment to operationalizing Oxfam’s feminist and anti-racist principles, decolonizing how Oxfam America works in the global system, incorporating agile practices and teaming/adaptation to be effective in a highly volatile context, and a continuous commitment to becoming a digital organization, increasingly effective in working in networks. The VPSO will be responsible for facilitating organization-wide change management and planning processes, and continued improvements of systems and operations with the goals of increased alignment, accountability, transparency, and strategic resources allocation. The VPSO will work with the CEO and the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to drive cross department collaboration, coordination, and alignment, and play a key role in the development, communication, stewarding and monitoring of the strategy and ensuring alignment of strategic goals across the organization and with Oxfam International and affiliates. The VPSO will lead special projects as directed by the CEO and serve as a primary liaison for Oxfam America with confederation-wide business systems work and Operations and Strategy counterparts.

The candidate will not only have a passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion but will have a demonstrated record in advancing DEI within an organization. In addition, the VPSO will also be a role model for and demonstrate a commitment to strategic intersectional gender just, anti-racist and decolonial frameworks and ideals into Oxfam America’s culture, strategy and ways of working and with Oxfam International and its affiliates, partners and supporters.

With vision, values and proven management experience in optimizing systems and practices for continuous improvement of organizational performance, effectiveness and efficiencies, they will lead core functional support areas of Finance, PCHR, TIM in support of Oxfam America’s strategy to enable teams who are juggling a high volume of work while providing rapid response to changing politics, humanitarian disasters, or racial and gender justice crises globally and in the United States. They should have a contagious passion that translates into enthusiasm and collaboration with colleagues.

Reports to: CEO/President Oxfam America

Direct reports: Direct reports include – Heads of Finance, People and Culture and Human Resource (PCHR) and Technology and Information Management (TIM) and the Strategy team, assuring close connection of these functions with the CEO/President and cross divisional support.

Key relationships: All VPs and the Chief of Staff; Oxfam International (OI) and affiliate counterparts including representation in the OI COO group and assuring OUS consistent and high-level engagement in the global Human Resources, Finance and TIM directors’ groups across the federation; OUS Board; Peer NGOs and a diverse range of external stakeholders and functional counterparts.

Key Responsibilities include:

Oversees Finance, TIM, PCHR, and Strategy: Provide effective, forward-thinking, and inspiring leadership across functional areas by and nurturing a structure for empowered decision-making across teams. The VPSO will develop, empower, and lead high-functioning teams and work across teams to support and coach others for organizational performance, effectiveness, and efficiency.

• Direct the strategic vision in its fiscal planning, monitoring and implementation, financial policies, people and culture strategies and information technology practices.
• Oversee and coordinate organizational risk management and assure systems in place to comply with applicable laws, regulations, bylaws, policies, and procedures.
• Build organizational and staff capacity, develop, and guide effective planning processes to ensure organization runs smoothly and promote cross-functional teamwork within Oxfam America and with confederation and affiliate counterparts.
• Manage performance and actively support the development of direct reports.
• Ensure strategic representation of Oxfam America in confederation-wide business support spaces to assure organizational alignment and influence confederation systems and practices.

Strategic and Organizational Leadership: VPSO will work in close partnership with CEO and senior leadership to support the iterative horizon planning, execution and adaptation of OUS’s strategy and liaise and represent strategy and operations with Oxfam confederation counterparts and key coordination spaces.

• Oversee Oxfam America’s strategic, and annual operating and budgeting planning processes, and provide leadership in the implementation and evolution of the strategy, engage, and socialize it with staff and the board, and driving organizational change forging new working relationships and synergies across the organization, and enhancing transparency and accountability for those carrying out the organization’s strategy. Coordinate strategic planning with OI and affiliates.
• Provide strategic leadership across core functional areas of TIM, PCHR and Finance for improved organizational efficiency and effective risk management, and sound internal control and compliance environment. Lead organizational development and change across functions and serve as a catalyst for innovation, transparency, and continuous improvement for the organization.
• Monitor, measure and report on operational issues, opportunities, plans and achievements to CEO. Compile performance reports and reporting to the CEO and board of directors. Report progress on strategic and annual plan to the organization and the Board.
• Engage within and outside the organization as a visible and accessible leader, embracing and modeling behaviors that reflect its core values and its cultural emphasis in the following areas: empathy, collaboration, feminist principles, anti-racism mission-focus, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Partner with OUS SLT and leaders from Oxfam International confederation and its affiliates to identify organizational system gaps and challenges within the confederation and work together to close those gaps.
• Utilize highly evolved change management skills to secure critical insight from organization leaders and stakeholders, and to gain buy-in for changes in organization strategy or to implement new approaches to meeting goals.
• Represent OUS in confederation-wide business support, strategy, and horizon planning.

Foster and sustain a great place to work: Work with the President, Senior Leadership Team and staff to build a positive, safe, and affirming work environment and feminist and anti-racist organizational culture.

• Ensure that the management, staffing and culture of the organization are suitably aligned with the mission, evolving goals, and strategic ambitions with a major focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, anti-racist and feminist principles.
• Inspire an entrepreneurial, innovative, accountable, and collaborative spirit throughout the organization and actively learn from other organizations to inform Oxfam America’s culture and workplace journey. Actively stay abreast of the external environment and use these learnings to enhance the organization’s own efficiency and effectiveness.
• Support continued development of an effective hybrid workplace that supports staff effectiveness and connection in multiple locations.
• Partner with PCHR in representation of OUS leadership in all union engagements.

Partner with the President and CEO: Serves as a strategic and operational partner to the President and problem solver on a wide range of strategic and operational priorities and issues, sharing the organization’s vision and championing its efforts to increase impact.

• Model honest, open, and direct communication, sharing the information needed for the President, senior management, and the organization to function optimally.
• Continuously re-imagine an effective, impactful, and successful organization while recognizing its current strengths and advantages.
• Advise on positioning of issues within our complex internal context and on other matters as needed.
• Coordinate regular updating of the organizational risk management matrix and assure that the President is kept abreast of significant organization-wide systems and strategy-related risks.

Candidates can be located in any one of the following states: MA NH VT RI ME NY CO PA NJ DC VA MD DE NC

Compensation Hiring range: $210,000 - $260,000

Qualifications

Key Qualifications include:

• Education: Minimum BS/BA degree with at least 10-15 years of experience and a track record in executive/senior management. Preference for an advanced degree in business administration, nonprofit management, or equivalent experience.

Experience and Core Competencies:

• Career history of progressive responsibility to include leadership experience across multiple teams and projects, and experience managing one or more of the following functions: Finance, IT, HR and Strategy.
• Analytic and effective process facilitator and decision maker with the ability to prioritize key objectives and tactics necessary to achieve organizational goals.
• Demonstrated experience effectively leading and facilitating organizational change processes and approaches to cross-divisional buy-in and co-leadership.
• Demonstrated experience developing and communicating a strategic vision into actionable, multi-year plans with goals, objectives, and operational models to achieve them.
• Demonstrated commitment to feminist, anti-racist and decolonial learning journeys, an active learner with a growth mindset who can bring experience to Oxfam’s work and deep awareness of influences of systemic racism and their own personal biases.
• Passion and proven experience advancing DEI within an organization or team. Works effectively and collaboratively in support of building a team-based culture of work; performs all duties appropriately for a multi-cultural environment, treating all persons with dignity and respect.
• Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach and develop their direct reports to better manage and develop high-performance teams.
• Demonstrated ability to work with senior level executives to move complex issues and processes forward.
• Demonstrated commitment to social justice.
• Tact, diplomacy and demonstrated ability to manage confidential information and communicate effectively to diverse audiences in an appropriate fashion.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent public speaking skills.
• Passion, humility, curiosity, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed.
• Preference for previous work in a non-profit organization and/or a global federation or confederation or complex multi-stakeholder context and work in a unionized environment.

Oxfam participates in the Inter-Agency Scheme for the Disclosure of Safeguarding-related Misconduct in Recruitment Processes within the Humanitarian and Development Sector (’Scheme’). Under this Scheme, if you have been employed by another member of the Scheme, we will request information from that organization on any misconduct history in accordance with the terms of that Scheme. For details of the Scheme, see this link: https://www.schr.info/the-misconduct- disclosure-scheme. For Oxfam's assessment of the privacy impacts of participation in the Scheme, see this link.

Additional Information

Oxfam America is a Gender Just organization and an equal opportunity employer. We have a zero tolerance policy for any sexual harassment, exploitation, and/or abuse. We welcome all persons to apply and do not discriminate. We take measures to prevent discrimination against any employee or job applicant on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, creed, disability, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

We are an E-Verify employer.

For more information, please click on the following links:

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