This is a tremendous opportunity for a senior executive who is seeking to make a difference with her/his skills and experiences, and to join a distinguished organization whose mission is to advance communities across the world. With a focus on education, income and health, United Way Worldwide fights to provide individuals and communities with the building blocks for a good quality of life.
United Way has long partnered with 60,000+ companies worldwide on workplace giving, employee volunteerism and other social purpose activities. Today, companies have desired a simpler, easier way to help their employees change the world. In response to this, a new game-changing technology platform has been developed called the Salesforce Philanthropy Cloud. The technology not only addresses the changing donor landscape, but increases opportunities for United Way Worldwide to better serve and engage even more strategically across the network. This marks a truly exciting time for the organization and partners as new digital services and products inspire, connect and empower social change.
The new Chief Operating Officer will join United Way Worldwide as this phenomenal digital transformation takes place, and s/he will play a very valuable role in ensuring organizational excellence in honor of a powerful mission.
Reporting to the President and CEO, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) will serve as an integral member of the senior team and will be responsible for organization-wide strategic planning and operationalizing of business plans. The COO will have oversight of key areas and strong leaders across: operations, legal, marketing, investor relations, information technology and digital. S/he will be charged with developing and implementing more sophisticated policies and procedures that integrate performance across all organizational functions and produce collaboration and value-added synergy. The COO will be a driver for the integration of UWW’s digital transformation and operational infrastructure to support a highly efficient, service-oriented and results-driven organization.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Lead enterprise-wide strategic planning
- Establish a vision and goals for operational performance—develop and execute strategies and tactics that achieve tangible results.
- Serve as a champion for the digital services transformation
- Promote a culture of high performance, collaboration, innovation and commitment to community impact
- Advise the CEO and other key members of leadership team on operational performance
- Promote UWW’s culture of service by modeling the core values, setting clear expectations for all employees, and ensuring accountability
- Set the example of leading people inclusively through daily communications, interactions and behavior; authentically connect with employees at all levels
- Serve as a management liaison for relevant board committees, effectively communicating and presenting critical operational matters and performance indicators at select board and committee meetings
- Encourage next level leadership through the mentoring of staff; assign accountabilities; set objectives; establish priorities; and monitor and evaluate results
- Align data analytics as an integral function of UWW, providing key metrics to inform and support fund development
- Drive innovation and automation to efficiently deliver operational and administrative services
- Ensure UWW is compliant with current laws, regulations and policies that affect the organization
- Behave ethically and honestly in all activities done on behalf of UWW and the movement
- Demonstrate a commitment to UWW’s values, including diversity and inclusiveness
The COO must be passionate about UWW’s mission, and be committed to improving education, helping people achieve financial stability, and promoting healthy lives. The organization is seeking a highly credible, proven, and proactive professional with 15 years of executive leadership experience in a complex organization. Experience with a distributed model would be a plus. Additionally, experience in an organization that has undergone a digital transformation is highly desired.
Specific experience/qualifications sought include:
- Ability to serve as a true business partner to the Chief Executive Officer and senior leadership
- Creative and flexible strategic planning abilities; able to build and implement a strategic plan and quickly adapt that plan as new opportunities and challenges emerge using advanced problem solving and process improvement skills
- Demonstrated success ensuring budgeting, financial management, and development supports near- and long-term needs and objectives
- Skilled in examining, developing, reengineering, and executing operations
- Demonstrated track record in change management; experience developing and implementing strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
- Technologically savvy
- Ability to serve as a leader of leaders and create strong collaboration and integration across teams
- Strong communications skills; able to communicate in an ethical and politically sensitive manner; clearly expresses business goals and objectives; establishes mechanisms and encourages the constant exchange of ideas and information up, down, and across the organization
- Promotes a climate that values and rewards innovation and creativity; champion efforts of others to "think outside the box"
- The highest of personal integrity