Careers at 2150
We’re
hiring.
The role
Director of Operations & Strategic Execution
Organization
2150 Center for Innovation
Reports to
Chief Executive Officer
Location
Birmingham, Alabama · hybrid with regional + national travel
Growth pathway
Potential advancement to Chief Operating Officer
Position summary
The Director of Operations & Strategic Execution serves as the CEO and Executive Director’s principal execution partner, translating 2150’s vision, partnerships, and opportunities into coordinated action and measurable results.
Working closely with the CEO, the Director builds and manages the operating systems required to support a growing portfolio of university partnerships, corporate collaborations, iLABs, founder programs, workforce initiatives, innovation hubs, and community-based economic development projects.
This is a senior, hands-on leadership position for an experienced operator who can create structure, lead teams, manage complex relationships, embrace technology, and move high-impact initiatives from conversation to completion.
The mandate
- Turn strategy into clear workplans, ownership, deadlines, and results.
- Build scalable systems without slowing innovation or damaging relationships.
- Create accountability across people, programs, partnerships, and resources.
- Help 2150 grow from a portfolio of opportunities into a disciplined, measurable operating platform.
Who we’re looking for.
- Sees the big picture — without losing the details.
- Creates order without slowing innovation.
- Builds accountability without damaging relationships.
- Turns commitments into measurable results.
- Leads people and moves work from conversation to completion.
Full responsibilities
Executive leadership & strategy execution
- Serve as the CEO's principal operational partner and convert priorities into workplans, responsibilities, timelines, and outcomes.
- Lead execution of 2150's annual strategic and operating plans.
- Identify operational risks, gaps, and dependencies before they affect delivery.
- Prepare executive briefings, dashboards, and decision documents for the CEO and Board.
Organizational operations
- Design and manage the systems, processes, policies, and internal controls a growing organization requires.
- Coordinate daily operations across programs, partnerships, finance, communications, and technology.
- Establish a central operating calendar for meetings, grants, reports, renewals, and events.
- Build scalable systems that let 2150 expand without losing responsiveness or quality.
Program & portfolio management
- Oversee execution across iLABs, university initiatives, accelerators, workforce and founder programs.
- Ensure every initiative has scope, budget, schedule, a responsible leader, and measurable outcomes.
- Monitor milestones and intervene when projects slip, are under-resourced, or drift out of scope.
- Support planning and execution of convenings, site visits, summits, and partner activations.
Partnership operations
- Manage the operational lifecycle of partnerships from first discussion through renewal and expansion.
- Coordinate MOUs, scopes of work, sponsorship deliverables, and reporting requirements.
- Keep the CEO equipped with current partner information before key meetings.
- Connect partners across 2150's ecosystem for greater collective impact.
Financial & administrative oversight
- Develop and manage organizational and project budgets with the CEO and program leaders.
- Monitor revenue, expenses, contracts, invoicing, grant restrictions, and cash flow.
- Coordinate financial reporting for funders, partners, auditors, and the Board.
- Support grant administration, compliance, and sustainable earned-revenue models.
Team leadership & accountability
- Supervise staff, consultants, fellows, interns, and project teams.
- Lead operating meetings focused on decisions, deliverables, barriers, and next actions.
- Recruit and onboard the team needed to support growth.
- Create an environment of urgency, excellence, accountability, and respect.
Technology, data & performance
- Lead adoption of project management, CRM, document control, and collaboration tools.
- Use automation and AI-supported tools to improve efficiency and decision-making.
- Establish a central performance dashboard for programs, partnerships, revenue, and impact.
- Ensure organizational data is accurate, accessible, protected, and used strategically.
Communications & external engagement
- Keep public announcements aligned with actual commitments, timelines, and outcomes.
- Support presentations, proposals, reports, and partner communications.
- Represent 2150 before executives, university presidents, officials, investors, and founders.
- Help capture and communicate the measurable impact of 2150's work.
Required qualifications
- Significant leadership experience in operations, organizational management, or program execution.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects and stakeholder relationships simultaneously.
- Strong experience developing operating systems, managing teams, and delivering measurable results.
- Excellent written, verbal, analytical, and organizational skills.
- Ability to work effectively with senior executives, educators, entrepreneurs, public officials, and funders.
- Strong financial understanding — budgeting, contracts, grants, and performance reporting.
- Proficiency with modern project-management, collaboration, CRM, data, and AI-enabled tools.
- Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and maintain confidentiality.
- Willingness to travel and work outside traditional business hours when priorities require it.
Preferred qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or equivalent executive experience preferred.
- Experience in innovation, entrepreneurship, higher education, workforce or economic development.
- Experience in a startup, nonprofit, accelerator, consulting, or rapidly growing organization.
- Familiarity with HBCUs, public-private partnerships, and regional innovation ecosystems.
- Experience moving projects from concept and funding through implementation and evaluation.
First-year priorities
- Implement a unified operating system for projects, partnerships, responsibilities, and deadlines.
- Build an executive dashboard tracking priorities, financial performance, and outcomes.
- Strengthen implementation and reporting structures for all active iLABs and university initiatives.
- Establish a consistent process for partner onboarding, activation, reporting, and renewal.
- Develop a scalable staffing and resource plan aligned with organizational growth.
- Move priority initiatives from agreement to visible, measurable execution.
Apply
Come help us execute it.
Complete the application below. Everything is submitted directly to our team — no third-party forms. You’ll receive a confirmation email as soon as we have it.
The future does not build itself.
2150innovate.org