Network Chief Operating Officer (Administrator IV) - San Francisco Bay Region Network

California State University- East Bay; Hayward (CA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 315,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

CalPERS retirement

401k plan

Tuition fee waiver

Paid holidays

Personal holiday

Job summary

Cal State East Bay seeks the inaugural Chief Operating Officer for the San Francisco Bay Region Network, an innovative shared services model consolidating back-office functions across three CSU campuses. This on-site role requires strategic leadership to drive efficiency, cost savings and high-quality service delivery.

The COO will oversee finance, HR and IT, report to the presidents of the member universities, and travel regularly among Bay Area campuses with periodic travel beyond the region.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; graduate degree preferred.
• Experience in higher education, public sector, nonprofit, or similarly complex mission driven organizations.
• Familiarity with multi-campus systems, shared services models, or matrixed reporting structures.
• Commitment to student success, institutional resilience, and the distinct missions and identities of each member campus.
• Ability to travel regularly among the three Bay Area campuses and maintain a visible leadership presence.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and vision as inaugural COO of the Network.
• Lead efficiency, effectiveness, and cost savings while guiding staff to excellent service delivery.
• Coordinate executive oversight in finance, human resources, and information technology across campuses.

Skills

Higher education experience

Multi-campus systems familiarity

Shared services model experience

Project and change management

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Graduate degree

Job description

Salary and Benefits

PLEASE NOTE: The starting salary placement depends onqualifications and experience and is anticipated to be in the rangeof $300,000 - $315,000 annually.

Cal State East Bay offers a broad range of benefits that includesmedical, dental, vision, retirement (CalPERS), 401k, 457, 403(b),dependent and health care reimbursement accounts, life insurance,vacation and sick, 14 paid holidays, one personal holiday andtuition fee waiver.

For more information on the benefits program, please visit our benefits website. The CSU Total Compensation Calculator demonstrates the significance of our benefits package.

Classification

Administrator IV

About Cal State East Bay

Cal State East Bay's beautiful main campus is located in theHayward hills with panoramic views of the San Francisco Bayshoreline. Situated above the city of Hayward, the campus offers anideal setting for teaching and learning and yet easy access to themany cities along the bay. The University has a satellite campus inConcord, a professional development center in Oakland and a significant presence online. Founded in 1957, Cal State East Bay isone of 23 universities of the California State University system(CSU). Cal State East Bay is recognized as a regionally engaged andglobally oriented university with a strong commitment to academicinnovation, student success, engaged and service learning,diversity, and sustainability.

About the Position

The San Francisco Bay Region Network ("SFBRN" or "Network") seeksan accomplished, strategic, and visionary administrative leader toserve as the inaugural Chief Operating Officer (COO) of theNetwork.

The Network is an innovative shared services modelestablished by consolidating back-office administrative andtransactional functions of three Northern California institutionswithin the California State University System (CSU): Sonoma StateUniversity (SSU), San Francisco State University (SFSU), andCalifornia State University, East Bay (CSUEB) into one single,cost-efficient structure, leveraging the shared geographic region,while maintaining institutional independence and identity at eachmember university.

Reporting jointly to the presidents of the three memberuniversities, the COO will provide strategic leadership and visionfor the Network, focusing on efficiency, effectiveness, and costsavings while leading and empowering staff to achieve excellence inservice delivery to the three member institutions across eachadministrative area of the Network. In addition to strongorganizational acumen, relational ability, demonstrated expertisein project and change management, and an unwavering commitment toexcellence in operational execution, the COO will ideally bringexecutive-level administrative oversight experience in one or moreof the core functional areas of the Network---finance, humanresources, and/or information technology.

This is a full-time position that will be performed on site inCalifornia, with regular expected travel among the three membercampuses in the Bay Area and periodic additional travel outside ofthe Bay Area.

DSG Global has been exclusively retained for this engagement, whichis being led by Beth Schaefer and Laurie Casteen.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required, graduate degree preferred.
• Experience in higher education, public sector, nonprofit, orsimilarly complex mission driven organizations.
• Familiarity with multi-campus systems, shared services models,or matrixed reporting structures.
• Commitment to student success, institutional resilience, andthe distinct missions and identities of each member campus.
• Ability to travel regularly among the three Bay Area campuses(each of which is within an hour of the other) and maintain avisible, accessible leadership presence.

In addition, strong candidates will offer the following skillsetsand experiences:

Strategy and Planning

• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute multi-phaseoperational strategies across complex, decentralizedorganizations.
• Experience setting priorities, translating broad institutionalgoals into actionable plans, and aligning resources, timelines, andaccountability measures.
• Strong analytical capacity, including the ability to use data,metrics, and performance indicators to guide decision-making andassess progress.

Communication and Transparency

• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to buildtrust, share information clearly, and maintain transparency withchancellor, presidents, campus leaders, staff, and otherstakeholders.
• Political acumen and diplomacy in navigating complexinstitutional cultures, shared governance environments, andcompeting priorities.
• Proven ability to listen actively, mediate conflict, buildconsensus, and sustain engagement during periods of significantchange.

Operational Leadership / Competency

• Deep experience leading large-scale organizational change,shared services implementation, or operational transformation.
• Strong project management expertise, including oversight ofmilestones, deliverables, risk mitigation, and cross-functionalcoordination.
• Administrative leadership experience in one or more relevantfunctional areas, such as finance, human resources, informationtechnology, procurement, payroll, or business operations.
• Ability to standardize processes, improve service delivery, andidentify efficiencies while maintaining high-quality support fordistinct campus communities.

People Leadership

• Track record of empowering, supervising, and developinghigh-performing teams in complex environments.
• Human-centered leadership style marked by integrity,credibility, humility, self awareness, resilience, and soundjudgment.
• Experience supporting staff through transition, includingattention to communication, morale, professional growth, and changefatigue.

Condition(s) of Employment

Satisfactory completion of a background check (including LiveScan,as appropriate), that may include, but is not limited to: criminalrecords check, verification of academic credentials, licenses,certificates, credit history, professional references and/orverification of work history is required for employment. Cal StateEast Bay will issue a conditional offer of employment to theselected candidate, which may be rescinded if the background checkreveals disqualifying information, and/or it is discovered that thecandidate knowingly withheld or falsified information.Unsatisfactory results may also affect the continued employment ofcurrent Cal State East Bay employees who were conditionally offeredthe position.

All background checks are conducted through the university's thirdparty vendor, Accurate. LiveScan is conducted through theUniversity Police Department.

EEO Statement

All university programs and activities are open and available toall regardless of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.Consistent with California law and federal civil rights laws, CalState, East Bay provides equal opportunity in education andemployment without unlawful discrimination or preferentialtreatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin.Our commitment to equal opportunity means ensuring that everystudent and employee has access to the resources and support theyneed to thrive and succeed in a university environment and in theircommunities. The CSU complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Actof 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, theAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of theRehabilitation Act, the California Equity in Higher Education Act,California’s Proposition 209 (Art. I, Section 31 of the CaliforniaConstitution), other applicable state and federalanti-discrimination laws, and CSU’s Nondiscrimination Policy. Weprohibit discriminatory preferential treatment, segregation basedon race or any other protected status, and all forms ofdiscrimination, harassment, and retaliation in all universityprograms, policies, and practices.

Other Information

All California State University campuses, including Cal State EastBay, are smoke and tobacco-free. For more information, please visit our website here.

In compliance with state and federal crime awareness and campussecurity legislation, including The Jeanne Clery Disclosure ofCampus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act, the Cal State EastBay Annual Campus Security Report is available here.

Sponsorship

Cal State East Bay is not a sponsoring agency for Staff orManagement positions and we are not an E-Verify employer.

Mandated Reporter

The incumbent in this position may be considered a mandatedreporter under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Actand will be required to comply with requirements set forth in theCSU Executive Order 1083 as a condition of employment.