Manager, Business Operations - WSJ Leadership Institute

dowjones; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare plans

Paid time off

Retirement plans

Education benefits

Parental leave

Commuter transit program

Employee referrals

Job summary

The Wall Street Journal Leadership Institute at Dow Jones is hiring a Business Operations Manager to build and govern the operational cadence, dashboards, and KPI visibility that propel growth. You will own cross-functional KPI tracking, manage strategic initiatives, and support high-impact projects including acquisitions, new business lines, and market expansion.

Ideal candidates bring 7+ years in operations/strategy, strong project management, and proficiency in BI tools.

Qualifications

• 7+ years in Business Operations, Corporate Strategy, FP&A, or Management Consulting.
• Experience managing cross-functional projects with deadlines and competing priorities.
• Background in M&A integrations or large-scale transformation programs.

Responsibilities

• Establish and standardize division-wide dashboards and KPI tracking.
• Facilitate weekly, monthly, and quarterly cadence meetings with KPI alignment.
• Lead strategic projects that boost efficiency and top-line growth across teams.
• Support due diligence, cross-department initiatives, and post-acquisition integration workstreams.
• Evaluate potential partners and vendors for operational fit and cost structure.

Skills

Strategic analytics

Cross-functional leadership

Project management

M&A / transformations

Vendor/partner management

BI tools (Looker/Tableau)

Excel/Google Sheets

Stakeholder management

Communication

Adaptability

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business/Finance/Economics

Tools

Looker

Tableau

Excel/Google Sheets

Job description

Job Description:

About the Team

The Wall Street Journal Leadership Institute is designed to help business leaders master a world of accelerating change. To succeed, they need not only good information-which The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones have traditionally provided them-but also a means for continuously honing their abilities to manage their people through a daunting array of challenges-whether from disruptive new technologies, an evolving geopolitical landscape, a changing energy paradigm, rising stakeholder demands, or shifting workplace norms. The WSJ Leadership Institute consists of executive peer communities, a variety of content, benefits and in-person and virtual experiences, and unique access to data only available within Dow Jones.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Business Operations Manager to sit at the intersection of data analytics, cross-functional execution, and corporate strategy. In this role, you will build the operational cadence, reporting frameworks, and metric visibility that drive our business forward. You will own cross-functional KPI tracking, lead critical strategic initiatives, evaluate and manage key business partnerships, and support high-impact ad-hoc projects-including evaluating acquisitions, new business lines or market expansion.

This role requires a unique balance of analytical depth, structured problem-solving, and hands-on execution. It reports to WSJLI's Senior Director of Business Operations.

You Will:

• Operational Performance & Reporting: Establish, standardize, and manage division-wide dashboarding. Track operational KPIs to identify trends and performance gaps.
• Cadence & Governance: Facilitate weekly, monthly, and quarterly business cadence meetings, ensuring alignment on KPIs and tracking risks to key milestones.
• Strategic Project Management and Execution: End-to-end execution of cross-functional strategic projects that increase efficiency, reduce operational friction, or drive top-line growth.Define project goals, set milestones, and drive accountability across teams (Membership Sales, Finance, Marketing, Sponsorship).
• M&A & Deal Support: Help program-manage operational due diligence, cross-departmental task forces, and post-acquisition integration workstreams to seamlessly combine teams, systems, and processes.
• Partner Evaluation & Selection: Contribute to the evaluation of potential strategic partners and key vendors-assessing operational fit, scalable capacity, cost structures, and alignment with business goals.
• AI Innovation & Automation: Serve as the functional leader for generative AI tools within the operations ecosystem, identifying manual process bottlenecks and deploying tools to automate them.
• Strategic Planning Support: Work with the Senior Director, Business Operations and finance business partners to support the annual budget cycle to ensure that goals align with strategic business objectives.
• Workflow & Process Optimization: Continuously review functional processes to identify efficiencies, remove friction and automate manual operational tasks.
• Problem Solving & Escalation: Act as a centralized resource to resolve operational bottlenecks and inter-departmental misalignments.

You Have:

• Experience: 7+ years in Business Operations, Corporate Strategy, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), or Management Consulting.
• Project Management: Proven track record of managing complex, cross-functional projects with tight deadlines and competing priorities.
• M&A / Transformation Background: Prior exposure to M&A integrations, corporate development, or large-scale business transformation programs.
• Partner Experience: Demonstrated background evaluating, onboarding, or managing strategic vendor, channel, or commercial partner relationships.
• Analytics & Tooling: High proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets and modern Business Intelligence software (Looker, Tableau, etc).
• Execution: Demonstrated experience breaking down ambiguous, large-scale problems into structured, actionable project plans.
• Stakeholder Management: Experience working directly with department heads and director-level leaders to drive alignment.
• Communication: Ability to distill complex operational metrics into clear, actionable insights for senior leaders.
• Adaptability: Comfort working in ambiguous environments with shifting priorities and large, ad-hoc projects.
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics or a related field. MBA is a plus, but not required.

Our Benefits

• Comprehensive Healthcare Plans
• Paid Time Off
• Retirement Plans
• Comprehensive Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance Plans
• Education Benefits
• Paid Maternity and Paternity Leave
• Family Care Benefits
• Commuter Transit Program
• Subscription Discounts
• Employee Referral Program

Equal Opportunity Employer All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, prote