Network Chief Operating Officer (Administrator IV) - San Francisco Bay Region Network

About the role

The San Francisco Bay Region Network ("SFBRN" or "Network") seeks an accomplished, strategic, and visionary administrative leader to serve as the inaugural Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Network. The Network is an innovative shared services model established by consolidating back-office administrative and transactional functions of three Northern California institutions within the California State University System (CSU): Sonoma State University (SSU), San Francisco State University (SFSU), and California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) into one single, cost-efficient structure, leveraging the shared geographic region, while maintaining institutional independence and identity at each member university.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and vision for the Network, focusing on efficiency, effectiveness, and cost savings while leading and empowering staff to achieve excellence in service delivery to the three member institutions across each administrative area of the Network.
• Reporting jointly to the presidents of the three member universities, the COO will lead and empower staff to achieve excellence in service delivery to the three member institutions across each administrative area of the Network.
• Lead and empower staff to achieve excellence in service delivery to the three member institutions across each administrative area of the Network.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required, graduate degree preferred.
• Experience in higher education, public sector, nonprofit, or similarly complex mission-driven organizations.
• Familiarity with multi-campus systems, shared services models, or matrixed reporting structures.
• Commitment to student success, institutional resilience, and the distinct missions and identities of each member campus.
• Ability to travel regularly among the three Bay Area campuses (each of which is within an hour of the other) and maintain a visible, accessible leadership presence.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute multi-phase operational strategies across complex, decentralized organizations.
• Experience setting priorities, translating broad institutional goals into actionable plans, and aligning resources, timelines, and accountability measures.
• Strong analytical capacity, including the ability to use data, metrics, and performance indicators to guide decision-making and assess progress.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to build trust, share information clearly, and maintain transparency with chancellor, presidents, campus leaders, staff, and other stakeholders.
• Political acumen and diplomacy in navigating complex institutional cultures, shared governance environments, and competing priorities.
• Proven ability to listen actively, mediate conflict, build consensus, and sustain engagement during periods of significant change.
• Deep experience leading large-scale organizational change, shared services implementation, or operational transformation.
• Strong project management expertise, including oversight of milestones, deliverables, risk mitigation, and cross-functional coordination.
• Administrative leadership experience in one or more relevant functional areas, such as finance, human resources, information technology, procurement, payroll, or business operations.
• Ability to standardize processes, improve service delivery, and identify efficiencies while maintaining high-quality support for distinct campus communities.
• Track record of empowering, supervising, and developing high-performing teams in complex environments.
• Human-centered leadership style marked by integrity, credibility, humility, self-awareness, resilience, and sound judgment.
• Experience supporting staff through transition, including attention to communication, morale, professional growth, and change fatigue.

Skills

• Strategic planning and prioritization.
• Data analysis and decision-making.
• Communication and transparency.
• Operational leadership and project management.
• People leadership and team development.

Benefits

Cal State East Bay offers a broad range of benefits that includes medical, dental, vision, retirement (CalPERS), 401k, 457, 403(b), dependent and health care reimbursement accounts, life insurance, vacation and sick, 14 paid holidays, one personal holiday and tuition fee waiver. For more information on the benefits program, please visit our benefits website. The CSU Total Compensation Calculator demonstrates the significance of our benefits package.

Pay

The starting salary placement depends on qualifications and experience and is anticipated to be in the range of $300,000 - $315,000 annually.

Schedule

This is a full-time position that will be performed on site in California, with regular expected travel among the three member campuses in the Bay Area and periodic additional travel outside of the Bay Area.

Condition(s) of Employment

• Satisfactory completion of a background check (including LiveScan, as appropriate), that may include, but is not limited to: criminal records check, verification of academic credentials, licenses, certificates, credit history, professional references and/or verification of work history is required for employment.
• Cal State East Bay will issue a conditional offer of employment to the selected candidate, which may be rescinded if the background check reveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that the candidate knowingly withheld or falsified information.
• All background checks are conducted through the university's third party vendor, Accurate. LiveScan is conducted through the University Police Department.

EEO Statement

All university programs and activities are open and available to all regardless of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. Consistent with California law and federal civil rights laws, Cal State, East Bay provides equal opportunity in education and employment without unlawful discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. Our commitment to equal opportunity means ensuring that every student and employee has access to the resources and support they need to thrive and succeed in a university environment and in their communities. The CSU complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the California Equity in Higher Education Act, California’s Proposition 209 (Art. I, Section 31 of the California Constitution), other applicable state and federal anti-discrimination laws, and CSU’s Nondiscrimination Policy.

Other Information

All California State University campuses, including Cal State East Bay, are smoke and tobacco-free. For more information, please visit our website here.

Sponsorship

Cal State East Bay is not a sponsoring agency for Staff or Management positions and we are not an E-Verify employer.

Mandated Reporter

The incumbent in this position may be considered a mandated reporter under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and will be required to comply with requirements set forth in the CSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.