Senior Operations Manager, Innovation with Academia

Overview Job specifications are intended to present a descriptive list of the range of duties performed by employees. Specifications are not intended to reflect all duties performed within the job. SUMMARY The Senior Operations Manager will serve as a senior operational advisor and execution lead supporting the Innovation with Academia (IWA) Portfolio Director. This role is intended for a highly capable, experienced operator who can help translate portfolio strategy into disciplined execution across multiple programs, contractors, university partners, internal government stakeholders, and external mission partners. The Senior Operations Manager will function as the Portfolio Director’s primary operational support lead for day-to‑day execution. The role requires someone who can manage complexity, drive accountability, resolve cross‑team friction, improve operational processes, enforce data discipline, and ensure portfolio activities remain aligned to DIU, Department of War priorities, and broader national security objectives. This individual must be comfortable working across government, contractor, academic, and defense innovation environments. They must be able to identify gaps, impose structure, ensure follow‑through, and make decisions, risks, metrics, dependencies, and contractor performance visible to the Portfolio Director before issues become execution failures. This is not an administrative support role. The Senior Operations Manager is expected to operate as a senior integrator and execution manager who can bring order to a complex portfolio with multiple moving parts. The Senior Operations Manager will support the Innovation with Academia portfolio, including activities related to university engagement, problem sourcing and curation, IWA programming, research translation, commercialization fellowship activities, contractor coordination, portfolio reporting, and operational process improvement. The position will support the Portfolio Director in ensuring the portfolio functions as an integrated university‑to‑capability pathway. The Senior Operations Manager will help ensure that inputs, outputs, handoffs, reporting, and accountability mechanisms are clear across each stage of the portfolio. DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES Portfolio Operations and Execution Management Lead day‑to‑day operational coordination across the Innovation with Academia portfolio. Translate the Portfolio Director’s strategic priorities into executable work plans, operating rhythms, decision points, and measurable outcomes. Assist the IWA Director in the development of the team’s long‑term strategies. Maintain visibility across portfolio activities, milestones, risks, dependencies, contractor deliverables, and decision timelines. Develop and manage portfolio‑level operating tools, including action trackers, risk registers, decision logs, reporting calendars, meeting cadences, milestone dashboards, and scorecards. Prepare the Portfolio Director for key meetings, contractor engagements, leadership updates, and decision points by ensuring relevant background, data, recommendations, and options are available in advance. Drive execution follow‑through after meetings by documenting decisions, assigning owners, tracking deadlines, and escalating issues when progress stalls. Cross‑Contractor Integration Serve as the primary operational integrator across multiple contractors and delivery partners supporting the portfolio. Ensure contractors understand their roles, remain aligned to government priorities, and work constructively across shared portfolio functions. Identify and resolve operational friction, duplication, gaps, or conflict across contractor teams, especially where work overlaps across problem sourcing, university engagement, student support, data reporting, program evaluation, and transition pathways. Track contractor performance against deliverables, timelines, quality expectations, reporting requirements, and portfolio outcomes. Support contractor transitions by ensuring continuity of knowledge, documentation, data, relationships, and program execution. Data Reporting and Salesforce Integrity Drive portfolio‑wide data discipline to ensure information is accurate, current, useful, and maintained in the appropriate system of record, including Salesforce or other approved portfolio management tools. Work with program leads and contractors to ensure problem counts, university status, team status, sponsor information, student project data, funding status, transition readiness, and follow‑on outcomes are consistently captured and updated. Identify data gaps, inconsistencies, and reporting risks that could undermine leadership visibility or portfolio accountability. Develop and maintain routine data quality checks, reporting standards, portfolio dashboards, and leadership‑ready reporting products. Prepare recurring internal reports for the Portfolio Director, including portfolio status updates, issue summaries, risk assessments, contractor performance updates, and upcoming decision points. Support quarterly, annual, or adhoc portfolio reviews by consolidating relevant metrics, outcomes, risks, and recommendations. Problem Quality & Intake Standards Support the development and enforcement of clear problem acceptance standards for IWA programs. Help ensure the portfolio prioritizes high‑quality, mission‑relevant problems aligned to warfighter needs, DIU priorities, DoW capability gaps, university execution feasibility, and transition potential. Support the creation and operation of problem readiness reviews, problem selection processes, and handoff mechanisms between problem sourcing, classroom execution, prototyping, commercialization, and follow‑on transition pathways. Program Support Evaluate IWA programs and supporting processes to determine what needs to change before each academic cycle, especially for fall and spring execution. Conduct structured reviews of current processes, documentation, contractor outputs, data quality, stakeholder feedback, and team interviews to identify operational bottlenecks and recommended improvements. Interview government team members, contractors, educators, program leads, and other stakeholders as needed to understand where handoffs, ownership, data, or execution are breaking down. Assess whether program inputs and outputs are clearly defined across each stage of the portfolio, including problem sourcing, university matching, student discovery, prototype development, fellowship selection, funding decisions, and follow‑on transition. Develop practical process improvement recommendations tied to measurable outcomes. Ensure lessons learned from after‑action reports, mid‑course reviews, final presentations, stakeholder feedback, and contractor reports are converted into actual process changes. Budget, Resource, and Planning Support Support the Portfolio Director in budget planning, resource tracking, and funding execution across the portfolio. Prepare budget support materials, spend plans, funding decision packages, and leadership briefings as needed. Track funding against program objectives, contractor activities, student support mechanisms, prototyping needs, university engagement, and portfolio priorities. Support planning for personnel, contractor support, university engagement, travel, events, prototype funding, student stipends, and other program execution needs. Stakeholder Coordination and Communications Facilitate communication across internal government stakeholders, contractors, academic partners, mission partners, service labs, and other external stakeholders. Prepare meeting agendas, read‑aheads, briefing materials, decision memos, talking points, presentations, and follow‑up summaries for the Portfolio Director. Ensure stakeholders receive clear guidance, timely updates, and consistent messaging on portfolio priorities, expectations, and next steps. Support leadership communications by turning complex operational issues into clear, concise, decision‑ready materials. Promote alignment between organizational priorities and day‑to‑day execution across the portfolio. Education, Experience & Licensure Required Qualifications 5+ years of experience in senior operations, program management, portfolio management, strategic planning, or related leadership roles. Experience managing complex programs involving multiple stakeholders, contractors, partners, or organizations. Strong familiarity with the Department of War, DoW laboratories, combatant commands, operational mission partners, academic institutions, and how these stakeholders work together to identify, validate, and advance mission‑relevant technology is highly important. Strong ability to bring structure to ambiguity by defining clear processes, owners, milestones, risks, decisions, and deliverables. Strong problem‑solving, critical‑thinking, and analytical skills, including the ability to use data to assess performance and support decisions. Proficiency using AI‑enabled tools to improve operational efficiency, conduct research and analysis, draft and refine written products, synthesize information, manage workflows, and support decision‑making. Experience holding teams accountable for timelines, deliverables, data quality, and follow‑through. Ability to operate independently, anticipate leadership needs, and drive execution without constant direction. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience preparing senior‑level reports, briefings, dashboards, and decision materials. Ability to communicate effectively with government leaders, contractors, technical teams, academic partners, and external stakeholders. Experience with budget tracking, resource planning, program funding support, or portfolio resource management. Experience using Salesforce, CRM systems, project management tools, dashboards, or similar reporting systems. Experience developing operating procedures, governance models, performance dashboards, portfolio reviews, or process improvement frameworks. Experience in defense innovation, national security, dual‑use technology, university research, commercialization, venture development, or startup ecosystems is highly valued. Experience supporting federal programs, cooperative agreements, contracts, or contractor‑delivered programs is beneficial. PMP, Lean Six Sigma, MBA, MPA, or other advanced degree may be helpful but is not required. Preferred Qualifications Familiarity with DoD contracting and acquisitions. Program Management Professional (PMP) certification. The ideal candidate for this position is someone who is detail‑oriented, has strong leadership skills, and can bring disciplined execution to a complex, fast‑moving portfolio and organization. They must be highly organized, direct but professional, and comfortable operating across senior leaders, contractors, government stakeholders, mission partners, and academic institutions. The ideal candidate has the judgment to identify what is not working, the confidence to raise issues early, and the maturity to bring practical solutions. They should be equally capable of preparing a leadership briefing, cleaning up a broken process, managing contractor friction, enforcing data discipline, and driving a team toward a clear decision. The ideal candidate must be collaborative and team‑oriented, with the ability to build trust, align diverse stakeholders, and keep teams focused on achieving the mission rather than operating in silos. Physical Requirements The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Essential functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for frequently bending, stooping, sitting, walking or standing for prolonged periods of time; most of time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with the opportunity to move about. Occasionally there may be a need to move or lift moderately light items up to 35 pounds. Near visual acuity to review written documentation; ability to hear and understand speech at normal room levels and on the telephone; manual dexterity to operate a telephone and keyboard; lift horizontally and vertically. Work Environment Work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Job is performed in an office setting with exposure to computer screens and requires extensive use of a computer, keyboard, mouse and multi‑line telephone system. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Supervisory Responsibilities As assigned. Additional Qualifying Factors As a condition of employment, must pass a pre‑employment drug screening, as well as have acceptable reference and background check results. We are an equal‑opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment. Salary $165,000.00+ DOE #J-18808-Ljbffr