Senior Director of Operations

Job Title: Senior Director of Operations

Department: Operations

Location: Oakland, CA or Washington DC (Hybrid)

Reports To: Chief Financial Officer

Supervises: Up to 6 Direct Reports 

Context:  At the Sierra Club, we believe in the power of interdependence. Together, we remain committed to the fight for a healthy climate built on a foundation of environmental, racial, economic, and gender justice – a future where all people benefit from a healthy, thriving planet and a direct connection to nature. By recognizing that our destinies are tied, we continue to name that all things are fundamentally connected, and the overlap between ecology, race, gender, and representative government will move to either advance our collective humanity or to oppress it. Sierra Club has close to 700 staff across the country and a network of 64 local chapters that are led and fueled by thousands of volunteers. We are also proud to be a unionized employer, with three labor unions representing more than half of our employees.

Scope: The Senior Director of Operations oversees organizational safety and security, enterprise risk management, insurance coverage and renewal, event compliance, travel and expense programs, organizational policies, contracts, and facilities. They provide strategic planning and leadership for facilities management - overseeing maintenance, daily operations, planning, and construction of the Sierra Club’s physical assets and infrastructure. They manage the development, oversight, and maintenance of the organization’s business continuity and disaster recovery plans, collaborating with Legal, Finance, People, and other key stakeholders.

 

This role leads the organization’s safety and security program, including incident reporting and response, emergency preparedness, security planning, and day-to-day security operations. They offer guidance across the community on enterprise-wide operating best practices. They develop, establish, and enforce organization-wide policies and procedures to ensure safe, efficient, equitable, and cost-effective operations. They collaborate with key personnel and teams across the organization to develop, monitor, and evaluate business processes and systems related to organizational functions.

 

The Senior Director of Operations also supervises operational and administrative processes, systems, training programs, tools, and vendor relationships within the organization. They conduct complex data modeling, analysis, and reporting on various financial metrics, particularly relating to travel, expenses, and the organization’s corporate card program. The Senior Director of Operations plays a vital role in ensuring the Sierra Club community has the infrastructure and resources needed to achieve the objectives outlined in our Strategic Framework and organizational priorities, while remaining aligned with our organizational values.