Director of Operations (Operations Management Leader)

Indiana University; Bloomington (IN); On-site; USD 110,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical and dental insurance

Tuition subsidy

Generous time off

Job summary

The Director of Operations at the Irsay Institute provides strategic and operational leadership for all administrative and personnel functions of the Irsay Institute. This role guides compliant operations and alignment with institute goals, overseeing staff, processes, and cross-functional projects in partnership with IU Research leadership to implement evolving initiatives in health research.

Based in Bloomington, Indiana, this senior role directs policy development, recruitment, performance

Qualifications

• Proven leadership in operations and people management.
• Experience in higher education or research administration is preferred.
• Strong communication and project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Provides high-level operational leadership across administrative functions.
• Supervises staff, recruitment, training, evaluation, and promotions.
• Manages staffing, resource planning, and organizational design.
• Leads policy development and internal communications aligned with university standards.
• Oversees HR liaison tasks including hiring for staff and students.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Staff management

Operations management

HR liaison

Budgeting

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Python

GitHub

HTML

CSS

Unix shell

Job description

Department

IRSAY FAMILY RESEARCH INSTITUT (UA-IRSY-IUBLA)

Department Information

The Irsay Institute was founded in 2021, enabled by a generous giftfrom the Irsay Family. The Irsay is dedicated to direct support anddevelopment of research and researchers interested in health andhealth care through outreach, education, and research.

Job Summary

The Director of Operations provides strategic and operationalleadership for all administrative and personnel functions of theIrsay Institute. This role is responsible for ensuring effectiveand compliant operations, supporting a wide portfolio ofinterdisciplinary research projects and programs, and drivingalignment between day-to-day activities and long-term Institutegoals. As a senior leader, the Director of Operations contributesto organizational planning, oversees staff and systems, andpartners with Irsay Institute and IU Research leadership toimplement evolving initiatives.

Department Specific Responsibilities

• Provides high-level operational leadership and coordinationacross administrative functions.
• Directly supervises professional and support staff; responsiblefor recruitment, training, performance evaluation, promotion,corrective actions, and termination decisions. Establishes andimplements operational objectives and priorities aligned with theInstitute's mission and strategic plans.
• Conducts resource planning, assesses Institute staffing needs,and manages reorganization or restructuring, partnering with IrsayInstitute faculty leadership.
• Leads development and communication of internal policies andpractices; ensures consistency with university wide standards.
• Represents the Institute in cross unit initiatives andoperational working groups; advises executive committees oninfrastructure, finance, and process improvements.
• Serves as the Institute's primary HR liaison; overseesInstitute and research project hiring for staff, students, andtemporary roles.
• Provides high-level operational leadership across Irsayinitiatives, including oversight of multiple projects andteams.
• Guides proposal development processes and post-award projectexecution, particularly for initiatives involving NationalInstitute of Health (NIH), and foundation funders.
• Serves as a liaison between faculty directors and staff toensure project alignment, transparency, and progress.
• Translates faculty and institutional research priorities intoimplementable programs by designing scalable systems, workflows,and staffing plans.
• Supervises a cross-functional Irsay Research Team of projectmanagers and coordinators, offering mentorship, task oversight, andcareer development support.
• Aligns staff assignments and capacity with project needs,coordinating with faculty leads and executive leadership tooptimize resource distribution.
• Cultivates a goal-oriented team culture that promotescollaboration, initiative, and accountability. ProgramDocumentation and Operational Standards.
• Develops and maintains institutional documentation acrossprogram portfolios, including Confluence wikis, backend processguides, and activity reports.
• Develops, refines, and codes automation procedures andworkflows using AI and knowledge of best practices to improveconsistency across teams and reduce redundancy acrossprojects.
• Standardizes reporting practices and create reusable templatesand frameworks to support documentation efficiency andaccuracy.
• Tracks and analyzes program metrics for internal planning andreporting.
• Implements improvements to documentation processes that enhancecontinuity, scalability, and onboarding for future staff andcollaborators.
• Develops targeted communications for a wide range of audiences,including university leadership, external funders, and the broaderpublic.
• Ensures all communications advance institutional reputation andstrategically support external funding and facultycollaboration.
• Oversees internal and external communications strategies,including Irsay media presence and newsletters and the managementof the Irsay website.
• Develops the Irsay website by architecting, building, andmaintaining the backend and frontend codebases to support theevolving needs of the institute and its faculty.

General Responsibilities

• Provides leadership and strategic direction for complexoperational functions, programs, services, or initiatives withbroad organizational impact; ensures alignment of operations withdepartmental, divisional, and institutional priorities.
• Serves as a senior operational advisor and subject matterexpert; consults with leadership and stakeholders on operationalstrategy, organizational effectiveness, service delivery models,and business process improvements.
• Leads the assessment, design, and implementation of majoroperational initiatives, process transformations, andorganizational improvements that enhance efficiency, quality,compliance, and customer experience.
• Resolves highly complex operational issues and emergingorganizational challenges; evaluates risks, assesses impacts, anddevelops solutions that support long-term operational success.
• Directs the development and implementation of operationalpolicies, procedures, standards, frameworks, and controls topromote consistency, accountability, and effective governance.
• Analyzes organizational performance, operational metrics,trends, and resource utilization; provides recommendations andstrategic insights to support planning, prioritization, anddecision-making.
• Builds collaborative partnerships across departments,divisions, and functional areas to advance institutionalinitiatives, address operational needs, and achieve sharedobjectives.
• Identifies future operational needs, risks, and opportunities;develops recommendations and long-range approaches to improveorganizational effectiveness and sustainability.
• Mentors and provides guidance to operational professionals andleaders; shares expertise, promotes best practices, and contributesto the development of operational capability across theorganization.
• Leads cross-functional projects and initiatives involvingmultiple stakeholders and areas of responsibility; facilitatesdecision-making, drives execution, and ensures successfuloutcomes.

Qualifications

Combinations of related education and experience may beconsidered. Education beyond the minimum required may besubstituted for work experience. Work experience beyond the minimumrequired may be substituted for education.

EDUCATION

Required

• Bachelor's degree in related field.

Preferred

• Masters' degree (preferably in administration or sociomedicalsciences.)

WORK EXPERIENCE

Required

• 4 years of relevant experience.
• 1 year of management experience.

Preferred

• 5 years of professional experience in management, operations,or administration, at Indiana University.
• In depth knowledge of the Irsay Institute, previous workingexperience with the current Director and Associate Directors.
• 5 years experience in a higher education or research-intensiveenvironment.
• Experience working with IU Research, in depth knowledge andstructure of university systems.
• Experience working with complex funding structures anduniversity systems.

SKILLS

Required

• Proficient written and verbal communication skills.
• Maintains a high degree of professionalism.
• Demonstrates time management and priority setting skills.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Excellent collaboration and team building skills.
• Effectively coaches and delivers constructive feedback.
• Instills commitment to organizational goals.
• Effective conflict management skills.
• Demonstrates a high commitment to quality.
• Demonstrates excellent judgment and decision makingskills.
• Builds and manages effective teams.

Preferred

• Strong proficiency in IU systems.
• Demonstrated leadership in operations and process improvementwithin the Irsay Institute.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to present to a wide range of audiences, including IUResearch leadership, faculty, graduate and undergraduate students,staff, and members of the community
• High proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, AdobeCreative Suite, and Python for data analysis and reporting; GitHub,JavaScript/TypeScript, HTML, and Cascading Sheet Styles (CSS) forweb development; Unix shell environments and scripting languagesfor automation.
• Deep understanding of university and federal policies relatedto grant proposals, post awards, HR and sponsored research.

Working Conditions / Demands

This role requires the ability to effectively communicate and tooperate a computer and other standard office productivityequipment. The position involves sedentary work as well as periodsof time moving around an office environment and the campus. Theperson in this role must be able to perform the essential functionswith or without an accommodation.

Work Location

Bloomington, Indiana

Benefits Overview

• Comprehensive medical and dental insurance
• Health savings account with generous IU contributions
• Healthcare and dependent care flexible spending accounts
• Basic group life insurance paid by IU
• Voluntary supplemental life, long-term disability, criticalillness, and supplemental accidental death & dismembermentinsurance
• Base retirement plan with generous IU contributions, subject tovesting
• Voluntary supplemental retirement plan options
• Tuition subsidy for employees and family members taking IUcourses
• 10 paid holidays plus a paid winter break each year
• Generous paid time off plans
• Paid leave for new parents and IU-sponsored volunteerevents
• Employee assistance program (EAP)

Learn more about our benefits by reviewing the IUBenefit Programs Brochure.

Job Classification

Career Level: Sr. Operational

FLSA: Exempt

Job Function: General Administration

Job Family: Operations Management

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