Director, Strategic Operations for CEO

About the role

The Director, Strategic Operations for CEO serves as a strategic thought partner and operational leader, working directly with the Chief Executive Officer to operationalize enterprise priorities, pressure-test decisions, and translate high-level strategy into execution. This role bridges strategy consulting rigor with hands-on operational leadership, extending the CEO's reach across the executive leadership team, fostering alignment across cross-functional groups, and maintaining momentum across high-stakes initiatives.

Location: United States. Employment type: Full time.

Responsibilities

• Partner directly with the CEO and senior leadership on annual and quarterly planning, translating enterprise strategy into clear priorities and guiding decisions on what to pursue, pause, or deprioritize.
• Structure complex business challenges, pressure-test assumptions, synthesize data and diverse perspectives, and develop actionable recommendations on high-impact decisions and strategic opportunities.
• Drive the operating rhythm behind enterprise priorities by establishing clear goals, milestones, ownership, and accountability frameworks to sustain execution momentum.
• Represent executive context and decision principles in critical discussions, advancing priorities when direct CEO involvement is not required and delivering a candid, objective assessment of business performance.
• Resolve organizational friction and build alignment across senior leaders when perspectives differ, decisions stall, or functional ownership is ambiguous.
• Connect operational plans across the organization to identify competing demands on personnel, budgets, and resources, collaborating with leadership to navigate trade-offs.
• Establish and maintain essential enterprise key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess strategic progress, identify execution drift, and determine when course corrections are needed.
• Direct critical cross-functional initiatives end-to-end, from problem definition and stakeholder alignment through implementation and measurable outcomes.
• Synthesize complex strategy, performance data, and organizational decisions into clear executive narratives for leadership, internal teams, and key stakeholders.
• Leverage AI and emerging tools to enhance research, data synthesis, analysis, and operational workflows while applying rigorous critical thinking and professional judgment.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of professional experience, including significant experience within a strategy consulting firm solving complex strategic, operational, or business transformation challenges.
• Proven experience working directly with CEOs, C-suite executives, or equivalent senior leaders on enterprise strategy, planning, and high-stakes decision-making.
• Demonstrated track record of moving from strategy development through operational execution, with concrete examples of driving measurable business results.
• Advanced critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities, with proven ability to structure ambiguous challenges, prioritize key levers, and form well-supported perspectives.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen, including practical experience utilizing business performance data and KPIs to evaluate trade-offs and drive decisions.
• Executive presence and professional judgment to act as a trusted advisor, knowing when to facilitate alignment, when to constructively challenge, and when to assume direct operational ownership.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and align senior executives and cross-functional teams without formal authority, especially in scenarios with competing priorities.
• Cognitive flexibility and collaborative adaptability to move effectively between strategic planning, advisory support, facilitation, and hands-on operational execution.
• High ethical standards, discretion, and the confidence to deliver candid, objective assessments to senior leadership.
• Continuous learning orientation, with the agility to absorb context quickly, challenge assumptions, and adapt approaches as conditions evolve.
• Practical experience utilizing AI tools to improve efficiency and workflows, combined with the analytical capability to evaluate outputs, identify limitations, and apply appropriate human oversight.

Pay

Annual base salary range: $174,000 - $218,000, reflecting the national compensation band. Additional geographic or tiered premium percentages may apply based on location. Eligibility for discretionary incentive compensation, including bonus and/or commission awards.

Benefits

• Employer-sponsored health coverage for employees and dependents
• Retirement benefits with a company 401(k) match
• Paid time off
• Paid parental leave
• Family support policies
• Learning and wellness stipends