About Our Client
Our client is committed to building a clean, equitable energy future to address the climate crisis. They envision a healthy economy powered by renewable energy—one that fosters innovation, reduces pollution, and creates sustainable opportunities for all. For over 30 years, the organization has advanced nonpartisan clean energy and energy-efficiency solutions through education, research, and grantmaking.
They support a wide range of grantees—from community and equity groups to universities and policy experts—to inform policymakers and the public about the benefits of a clean energy economy. Their work is rooted in humility, transparency, respect, and a deep belief in creating equitable systems that allow people and communities to thrive.
About The Role
Our client is expanding its work to address the climate crisis and needs a Senior Director of Program Operations to strengthen internal systems and manage a complex grantmaking budget. Reporting to the SVP of Programs, this leader will oversee the Program Operations team, ensure accurate and transparent budgeting, improve processes, and coordinate across departments. The role requires a strategic, highly organized professional who thrives in complex environments and can enhance efficiency and alignment across the organization’s national, regional, and communications program teams.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
The Senior Director oversees a $200M programmatic grantmaking budget, leading annual budget development, managing revenue and allocations, and transitioning budgeting into Salesforce. They track organizational impact through KPIs, manage data systems, and oversee the Program Dashboard used for donor and board reporting.
They support fundraising by ensuring grant deliverables are met, responding to funder inquiries, providing Salesforce data, and coordinating timelines with the Strategic Partnerships team. The SD also leads annual strategic planning, manages planning processes, and organizes key Program team meetings and conferences.
A central liaison across departments—Finance, Grants, IT, HR, and Strategic Partnerships—the SD translates complex information, anticipates gaps, strengthens collaboration, and helps manage a ~100-person Program team. They guide integrated systems for meetings, strategy, and budget processes, and coordinate cross-team tracking for evaluation and reporting.
They supervise a three-person Program Operations team, support staff development, and lead special projects as needed. Additionally, they partner with Equity teams to embed inclusion into planning and to develop and track inclusion-related metrics.
Qualifications
The Senior Director of Program Operations is a strategic, detail-oriented leader who excels at improving processes, managing complex budgets, and fostering cross-functional clarity. They must balance strategy and execution, build strong internal partnerships, and lead with humility and emotional intelligence to create equitable, effective systems.
Ideal candidates bring significant experience in budget management (including forecasting), people leadership, cross-team collaboration, and project management within matrixed organizations. They should be skilled at translating financial and strategic goals into actionable plans, managing multiple complex projects, and driving efficiency.
While climate experience isn’t required, a genuine passion for the mission is essential. Experience in similarly sized organizations, familiarity with Salesforce, and a strong commitment to equity and inclusion are highly preferred.
Technical Skills. The SD will have the following skills:
- Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, preferably in a Mac environment.
- Fluency in budget management tools to manage complex budgets.
- Experience creating documents and managing workflows in collaborative platforms (e.g., Google Drive, Asana, Box).
- Experience using cloud-based relational database systems, such as Salesforce.
Compensation
This is a full-time position. The target salary for this position is $243,000 for a candidate based in the metro areas of San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, San Diego, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, or Sacramento, and $220,500 for candidates in other areas of the U.S. The organization provides a comprehensive benefits package, including competitive salary, medical, dental, vision, disability, and retirement benefits, as well as paid time off.
Other Requirements
- Ability to travel four to six times a year for two to four business days at a time.
Note:
“We are not the EOR (Employer of Record) for this position. Our role in this specific opportunity is to connect outstanding candidates with a top-tier employer. Swooped helps candidates around the world to discover and stay focused on the jobs they want until they can complete a full application in the hiring company career page/ATS.”