Director, Strategy & Operations-BCPI

Johns Hopkins University seeks a Director, Strategy & Operations - BCPI (Sr. Program Manager) for the Executive Director of its soon-to-be-launched Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation focused on public sector innovation, city transformation, and civic engagement. The new center will become a globally recognized organization focused on advancing the art and science of public sector innovation, especially among local governments. Specifically, the center will advance research, engage students, and support local governments around organizational, program, and policy innovation.

Working closely with the center’s Executive Director, the Director Strategy & Operations will act as a chief of staff and play a critical role in supporting the Executive Director in developing the center, building the leadership team, communicating priorities to staff, project managing major initiatives, and serving as a broker between the center and the university, external partners, and funders to support the center’s strategic goals. This role will work in close collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies to report on the center’s progress and deliverables. Bloomberg Philanthropies has been a pioneer in supporting innovation within city halls and is providing the initial funding for the new center.

This position will support the Executive Director in building and overseeing priorities across the center’s functional program areas and will assist with project integration across its innovation, civic engagement, and academic domains. The selected candidate will help translate the center’s policy objectives into its research agenda and will serve as a liaison between the programmatic areas and the research portfolio more generally. This role will also support the Executive Director in overseeing the administrative and operational needs of the center and will liaise with the university’s back-office departments to address issues involving IT, human resources, operations, communications and development, and other administrative functions.

The Director Strategy & Operations will represent the Executive Director at meetings and external events and must have the professional acumen and forward-thinking mindset to advance the center’s strategic priorities The selected candidate will expand on the legacy of existing initiatives (such as Cities of Service) and support in the design of new ones. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong point of view on the opportunity to reimagine the role and opportunities of local governments, what it means to create meaningful civic engagement, and the capacity for transformational resident-driven innovation.

The new center is committed to addressing structural and entrenched racism and recognizing the public sector’s role in perpetuating these legacies over time. We are looking for a leader committed to dismantling systemic racism and an individual who recognizes the power of community-led initiatives and grassroots efforts to build stronger communities.

Specific Duties & Responsibilities:

• Supporting the Executive Director in achieving target goals and priorities by serving as a strategic partner and implementation leader
• Providing operational leadership to the Executive Director to accomplish the center's goals, including prioritization of activities, workflow, communications, and processes
• Liaising between the operations team at the newly formed center and the university, especially on IT and HR matters
• Ensuring the prioritization of activities and scheduling for the Executive Director by streamlining workflows and communications; ensuring the Executive Director’s time is being used as effectively as possible
• Working with the Executive Director to set strategic priorities to provide insight on identifying areas where to direct focus, as well as, metrics for success
• For key meetings that the Executive Director leads, managing the meeting agenda, supporting the facilitation of discussion during the meeting itself, and driving next steps
• Working closely with the Communications team to identify and prepare the Executive Director for external communications (e.g., speaking engagements, press interviews)
• Accompanying the Executive Director to meetings and events, with both internal and external stakeholders. Representing the Executive Director in her absence, when appropriate/necessary
• Standing-in on behalf of the Executive Director when appropriate (e.g., responding to time-sensitive matters, serving as a representative at meetings)
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with city leaders, elected officials, community stakeholders, foundation partners, and other critical external partners
• Promoting an inclusive and equitable environment for all staff
• Leading with integrity and maintaining the highest standards of confidentiality

Minimum Qualifications (Mandatory):

• Master’s Degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, or related field or equivalent experience
• At least five years’ experience in the field of civic engagement, government innovation, or a related field, with at least three years managing staff
• Experience managing diverse teams
• Additional education may substitute for experience, and additional experience may substitute required education to the extent permitted by the JHU Equivalency Formula

Preferred Qualifications:

• Understanding of government, including experience working with cities, states, or national agencies
• Government transformation and program delivery experience, changing how government works to serve residents and delivering results-oriented programs, from design to implementation to storytelling and impact measurement
• Diplomatic and customer service orientation to liaise with the highest levels of government and successfully achieve common goals in cities—maximizing the impact of programs, pushing for new innovation methodologies that may be unfamiliar, and collaboratively clearing roadblocks
• Strong communications skills to serve as a persuasive representative for programs with cities and partner organizations, and at public forums, as well as with community partners and stakeholders
• Strategic project management skills including experience with managing teams
• Policy experience to support the work of the Executive Director and to help ensure that the work of the new center is aligned with the needs and priorities of cities

Level of Independent Decision Making:

• High level of independent decision making

JHU Equivalency Formula:  30 undergraduate degree credits (semester hours) or 18 graduate degree credits may substitute for one year of experience.  Additional related experience may substitute for the required education on the same basis. For jobs where equivalency is permitted, up to two years of non-related college course work may be applied towards the total minimum education/experience required for the respective job.

Classified Title: Sr. Program Manager
Working Title: Director, Strategy & Operations-BCPI
Role/Level/Range: ATP/04/PG
Starting Salary Range: Commensurate with experience
Employee group: Full Time
Schedule: 37.5/5
Exempt Status: Exempt
Location: 01-MD:Homewood Campus
Department name: 60006654-KSAS - Centers for Civic Impact
Personnel area: School of Arts & Sciences

The successful candidate(s) for this position will be subject to a pre-employment background check.

If you are interested in applying for employment with The Johns Hopkins University and require special assistance or accommodation during any part of the pre-employment process, please contact the HR Business Services Office at jhurecruitment@jhu.edu. For TTY users, call via Maryland Relay or dial 711.

Johns Hopkins has mandated COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, as applicable. Exceptions to the COVID and flu vaccine requirements may be provided to individuals for religious beliefs or medical reasons or because the individual is pregnant or attempting to become pregnant. Requests for an exception must be submitted to the JHU vaccination registry. For additional information, applicants for SOM positions should visit https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/ and all other JHU applicants should visit https://covidinfo.jhu.edu/health-safety/covid-vaccination-information/.

The following additional provisions may apply depending on which campus you will work. Your recruiter will advise accordingly.

The pre-employment physical for positions in clinical areas, laboratories, working with research subjects, or involving community contact requires documentation of immune status against Rubella (German measles), Rubeola (Measles), Mumps, Varicella (chickenpox), Hepatitis B and documentation of having received the Tdap (Tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis) vaccination. This may include documentation of having two (2) MMR vaccines; two (2) Varicella vaccines; or antibody status to these diseases from laboratory testing. Blood tests for immunities to these diseases are ordinarily included in the pre-employment physical exam except for those employees who provide results of blood tests or immunization documentation from their own health care providers. Any vaccinations required for these diseases will be given at no cost in our Occupational Health office.

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