Chief Operating Officer

NJ Department of Banking and Insurance; Trenton (NJ); On-site; USD 160,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

The NJ Department of Banking and Insurance seeks an experienced leader to serve as its inaugural Chief Operating Officer. This role reports to the Commissioner and will lead a Department-wide operational transformation, overseeing Fiscal and IT and an innovation unit.

The COO will set strategic direction, establish governance, drive measurable outcomes, develop enterprise metrics, and partner with senior leaders on budgeting and governance, including exploring AI opportunities.

Qualifications

• 20 years’ experience and track record leading operational transformation in complex regulated environments.
• Experience managing diverse functions within government or similarly complex organizations.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Department-wide operational transformation and modernization initiative.
• Oversee day-to-day management of Fiscal, IT, and Innovation units.
• Establish governance, performance metrics, and reporting structures for operational functions.
• Partner with senior leaders on operational planning, including budgeting processes.
• Spearhead deliberations on the use of AI within the Department.

Job description

The NJ Department of Banking and Insurance seeks an experienced leader to serve as its inaugural Chief Operating Officer. This role will be a senior member of the Department’s leadership team.

Reporting to the Commissioner, the COO will be tasked with leading a Department-wide operational transformation and modernization initiative, as well as overseeing two existing operational units: Fiscal (Office of the CFO) and Information Technology.

Modernization: The modernization initiative will be a broad undertaking to drive enterprise transformation – addressing manual‑heavy work processes, outdated systems and legacy technology – to achieve major improvements in efficiency and effectiveness, and improve the experience of consumers, regulated entities, and Department staff. (Note: this is not about rolling out the latest version of a software platform; it will require process design experience, an appetite for metrics and details, and the creativity to find leapfrog opportunities.)

Team: In addition to the operating units (Fiscal and IT), the COO’s team will also contain a small innovation unit, to support the modernization efforts. The total COO team is expected to have approximately 40 employees. The COO will also collaborate with the New Jersey Innovation Authority on the modernization initiative, and on other opportunities to improve and streamline operations.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Department-wide operational transformation and modernization initiative, partnering closely with the Commissioner and Chief of Staff.
  • Includes: setting strategic operational direction, establishing process governance, determining sequence of initiatives and driving adoption of new ways of working.
  • Own the full cycle from design to completion – including planning, buy‑in, implementation, training, feedback loops, measurement – and be responsible for delivering outcomes.
  • Develop enterprise performance metrics, dashboards, and data‑driven management practices to ensure modernization efforts deliver measurable results.
• Serve as strategic partner to Commissioner and other senior leaders in operational planning for the organization, including annual budgeting process.
• Oversee day‑to‑day management of functional units: Fiscal, IT, Innovation.
• Establish performance metrics, reporting structures, and governance frameworks across all operational functions on COO team.
• For other divisions across the Department, help leadership ensure appropriate governance standards and performance expectations to deliver on organizational objectives.
• Spearhead deliberations on use of AI within the Department – risks, opportunities, guardrails, industry issues.

Preferred candidates

20 years’ experience. Demonstrated ability to lead major operational transformation across an organization and to manage diverse functions within complex environments, such as highly regulated industries and government agencies. Prior experience leading union workforce strongly preferred.

As this will be a new role at the Department, the COO will need to combine a drive to ensure outcomes with the patience to bring others along, working equally well with different functions, levels of technological comfort and levels of seniority.

Key Attributes

• Excited about making things work better, runs towards a challenge
• Creative, curious, open‑minded – finds opportunity for skip‑level improvements and sees the potential in an unpolished gem
• Well‑organized, strong planner, detail‑oriented
• Adept at working with people at different levels of seniority and technological capability
• Positive outlook, self‑starter with a solution‑oriented mindset, and roll‑up‑your‑sleeves attitude