The newly created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO) is responsible for providing operational leadership and ensuring that the organization’s strategic initiatives are optimized for delivery against NRDC’s primary mission and goals. Reporting to, and in close collaboration with the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), the COO will work in partnership with various constituents to align a largely decentralized organization around its key goals. With oversight of finance, human resources, information technology and workplace strategy, the COO will catalyze organizational evolution by enhancing NRDC’s administrative systems, policies, and practices, to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Central to their focus will be creating a work environment that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, and promotes a human resource agenda that instills a strong performance culture alongside a mission-oriented mindset.
Responsibilities
- Work closely with the President and other members of the senior leadership team to formulate the vision, plan and objectives across all units of NRDC’s operational enterprise; provide both strategic and operational direction.
- Lead institution-wide change management initiatives, converting strategy into effective execution. Drive the effectiveness and efficiency of operational systems and processes.
- Serve as a bridge between programs, advocacy, development and all the administrative functions, encouraging a culture of collaboration, continuous improvement, and excellence. Encourage open communication and information flow among the administrative staff and the rest of the organization.
- Promote a culture of excellence, impact and collaboration that is centered on DEI values. Ensure strong collaboration across HR, DEI, and workplace strategy to enhance the employee experience of a diverse workforce and drive NRDC’s talent strategy across the organization to attract and retain diverse talent.
- Ensure that the people and culture strategies support the institutional objectives and respond to changing priorities and needs. Foster better alignment and engagement of DEI goals of the organization with human resources strategies.
- Ensure that the assets of the organization are being appropriately leveraged and that resources are deployed in alignment with the priorities of the organization.
- In partnership with the Chief of Staff, facilitate the use of key performance indicators, metrics, and institution-wide financial analysis to inform decision making.
- Motivate and lead a high-performance management team with a client service mindset; attract, recruit, mentor, and retain key members of the team.
- Develop a professional development system which sets clear expectations, goals, and consequences for performance, and enables a focus on employee development, performance and equitable pay and rewards.
- Establish values that contribute to a collaborative work environment, which emphasize teamwork and mutual respect as key cultural principles.