Senior Director, Strategy Alignment

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Princeton (NJ); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, NJ, seeks a senior director of Strategy Alignment to advance cross‑functional execution and embed racial equity into program decisions. You will lead strategic planning, governance, and integration across decentralized teams, ensuring transparent decision-making and effective resource use.

The role requires 7–10+ years in internal operations or strategy roles within large nonprofits or public sectors, with outstanding presentation skills for

Qualifications

• Commitment to racial and health equity and to the Foundation’s vision, values, and Guiding Principles.
• Extensive background in internal operational management, strategy consulting, chief of staff roles, cross-functional program management, or institutional change management within major nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate, or public sectors.
• Operational and Systems Management: Mastery in building cross-functional workflows, operational dashboards, interdepartmental governance mechanisms, and project roadmaps within highly matrixed structures.
• Strategic Thinking and Problem-Solving: Proven track record of holding the big picture of organizational needs, navigating through ambiguity, aligning initiatives with macro goals, and transforming abstract vision into concrete execution blueprints.
• Advanced Presentation and Boardroom Architecture: Superb skills in directly designing and crafting high-end, executive-ready slide materials, policy briefs, and framing tools tailored for Board-level decision-making.
• Communication and Active Listening: Flawless written, verbal, and visual communication skills paired with highly attuned listening and partner-management capabilities.
• Change Management and Diplomacy: Demonstrated leadership in accelerating institutional change, resolving internal tension or competing division priorities, building absolute trust, and fostering a high-performance culture.
• Equity Lens Application: Deep operational understanding of structural racism and its impacts on health equity, with the practical skill to audit internal management practices and remove administrative biases.
• Analytical Synthesis: Strong capacity for quantitative and qualitative data synthesis, distilling massive programmatic datasets into clear, actionable operational improvements.
• Seven to 10+ years of relevant progressive professional experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field of study; advanced degree preferred. Additional relevant experience can substitute for an advanced degree.
• Ability to travel to RWJF’s offices for relevant internal meetings and other in-person events, as requested, and to travel as needed for grantee

Responsibilities

• Lead alignment of Program unit strategy, priorities, and activities with RWJF’s strategic direction.
• Identify areas of strategic alignment, tension, duplication, or opportunities with Program leadership and Equity and Culture teams.
• Translate enterprise and program direction into detailed internal workflows, service agreements, and multiyear roadmaps.
• Establish milestones and governance frameworks for high-priority initiatives across cross-functional teams.
• Maintain alignment between strategic objectives, program priorities, and implementation activities.
• Navigate internal dynamics and resolve competing unit priorities with diplomacy and transparency.
• Structure ambiguous, complex multidepartment problems into clear, strategic options and concrete, logistically sound implementation matrices.
• Lead analyses and recommendations regarding strategic expansion, scaling, realignment, or sunsetting of active portfolios.
• Assess strategic risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs associated with program priorities, portfolio direction, and resource allocation.
• Review grantmaking approaches to guarantee processes advance racial equity goals and prevent administrative bias.
• Lead execution and visual synthesis of strategic progress for high-level leadership and Board.
• Develop strategic analyses, executive briefings, and recommendations for leadership and Board decision-making.
• Oversee operational risk matrices and internal compliance reviews, maintaining fidelity to strategy and institutional health.
• Co-lead organization-wide change management initiatives to maximize institutional agility and process adoption.
• Build, launch, and monitor unified tracking systems (KPIs, OKRs) across the Program unit.
• Design and deploy training toolkits to reduce friction during pivots or restructurings.
• Advise on alignment, operating model changes, and Program unit restructuring efforts.
• Foster a collaborative, equitable, and performance-oriented culture within OEVP and cross-functional teams.
• Partner with REL to embed learning into day-to-day operations.
• Convert evaluation data into operational improvements and updated SOPs.
• Establish data dashboards linking program inputs to equity and societal impact targets.
• Monitor alignment indicators and recommend adjustments to priorities and investments.
• Provide community engagement insights and landscape assessments to identify bottlenecks and capacity gaps.
• Orchestrate reviews to capture field feedback on administrative and operational efficacy.

Skills

Change management

Strategy alignment

Cross-functional leadership

Boardroom materials

Equity lens

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), located in Princeton, N.J., is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. To get there, we must work to dismantle structural racism and other barriers to health. Since 1972, we have focused on developing and promoting innovations in health and healthcare to improve the lives of millions. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence‑building, we work side‑by‑side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to achieve health equity faster and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

At RWJF, we work toward three Generational Goals to transform health in our lifetime: Economic Inclusion for Family Wellbeing, Equitable and Accountable Public Health and Healthcare Systems, and Healthy and Equitable Community Conditions.

We take seriously our responsibilities, and we pledge to work in ways that reflect our Guiding Principles. These are rooted in equity and influence everything we do at RWJF. Equity, diversity, inclusion, and collaboration enable our staff’s wide range of experiences, passions, and perspectives to strengthen our ability to address our nation’s most pressing health issues and support a culture of belonging. Part of this work includes actively shaping an inclusive organization where all staff members thrive as we build and use our capabilities, voice, and power to advance health equity. RWJF offers a collaborative, collegial, and creative work environment. With a career at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, you will make a difference.

ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the executive vice president, Programs, the senior director, Strategy Alignment is responsible for advancing strategic alignment across the Program unit, identifying and addressing strategic risks, and supporting decisions related to program priorities and resource allocation. This role drives the complete lifecycle of high‑priority internal strategic initiatives, transforming institutional vision into highly integrated operational frameworks, multidepartment workplans, and clear goal stewardship models.

This leader oversees internal integration, change management, and macro‑level process tracking across decentralized program units while embedding a robust racial equity and systems‑change lens into all management architectures. The ideal candidate excels at structuring ambiguous organizational problems, resolving competing internal priorities with diplomacy, and generating high‑quality boardroom materials to facilitate top‑tier executive and Board of Trustees‑level decision‑making.

As with staff at all levels of RWJF, the senior director is expected to demonstrate a passionate commitment to equity and to the Foundation’s mission and Guiding Principles.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Internal Integration, Operational Excellence, and Workplan Management:

Serve as the chief strategic anchor within the Office of the Executive Vice President (OEVP) to coordinate decentralized units and standardize cross‑functional execution paradigms.

• Lead the alignment of Program unit strategy, priorities, and activities with the Foundation’s strategic direction.
• Partner with Program unit leadership, the President’s Office, and Equity and Culture to identify areas of strategic alignment, tension, duplication, or emerging opportunity.
• Translate enterprise and programmatic direction into detailed internal workflows, inter‑departmental service agreements, and practical multiyear roadmaps.
• Establish rigorous milestones and governance frameworks for high‑priority initiatives, ensuring cross‑functional project teams remain coordinated, strictly on schedule, and unsiloed.
• Partner with Program unit leadership to maintain alignment between strategic objectives, program priorities, and implementation activities.
• Manage internal organizational dynamics and bridge competing unit priorities through diplomatic conflict resolution, systematic alignment, and decision‑making transparency.

Strategic Planning and Resource Optimization:

Oversee the Program unit's core strategic planning processes in direct partnership with the executive vice president, VP of Programs, and the Program Leadership team.

• Structure ambiguous, complex multidepartment problems into clear, strategic options and concrete, logistically sound implementation matrices.
• Lead analyses and recommendations regarding the strategic expansion, scaling, realignment, or programmatic sunsetting of active foundation portfolios.
• Assess strategic risks, opportunities, and tradeoffs associated with program priorities, portfolio direction, and resource allocation.
• Review and pressure‑test grantmaking approaches to guarantee that processes actively advance racial equity goals and prevent administrative bias.

Executive Governance, Boardroom Architecture, and Briefings:

Lead the execution and visual synthesis of strategic progress for high‑level foundation leadership and the Board of Trustees.

• Provide strategic analyses, recommendations, and executive materials that support leadership and Board decision‑making.
• Act as the primary technical and operational conduit for the OEVP to ensure Board‑level mandates are integrated seamlessly into routine operational structures.
• Develop strategic analyses, executive briefings, and recommendations to support leadership and Board decision‑making regarding organizational priorities, risks, and opportunities.
• Oversee operational risk matrices and internal compliance reviews, maintaining strict fidelity to organizational strategy and institutional health.

Internal Change Management, Systems Scaling, and Goal Stewardship:

Co‑lead organization‑wide change management initiatives to maximize institutional agility and process adoption.

• With the OEVP and Program Leadership team, build, launch, and monitor unified tracking systems (KPIs, OKRs) across the Program unit to maintain continuous line‑of‑sight on strategic success metrics.
• With the chief Human Resources officer, design and deploy training toolkits and workflows that reduce employee friction during major institutional pivots or organizational restructurings.
• Advise on organizational alignment, operating model changes, and Program unit restructuring efforts needed to support strategic priorities.
• Foster a highly collaborative, equitable, and performance‑oriented culture within the OEVP and intersecting cross‑functional project teams.

Measurement, Monitoring, and Learning Alignment:

Partner directly with the Research Evaluation‑Learning (REL) department to embed continuous learning into day‑to‑day operations.

• Convert long‑term evaluation data and research insights into immediate operational improvements and updated standard operating procedures.
• Establish data dashboards that cross reference program operational inputs against longitudinal equity and societal impact targets.
• Monitor strategic alignment indicators and emerging risks, recommending adjustments to priorities, investments, and implementation approaches as needed.

Ecosystem Community Engagement and Landscape Synthesis:

Provide operational grounding by analyzing structural trends and facilitating specific community touchpoints.

• Orchestrate highly targeted community engagement reviews to capture field feedback regarding the Foundation's administrative and operational efficacy.
• Conduct macro‑level landscape assessments to identify operational bottlenecks, field shifts, or capacity gaps among broad grantee networks.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Commitment to racial and health equity and to the Foundation’s vision, values, and Guiding Principles.
• Extensive background in internal operational management, strategy consulting, chief of staff roles, cross‑functional program management, or institutional change management within major nonprofit, philanthropic, corporate, or public sectors. Documented excellence in designing internal workflows and managing complex partner alignment is required.
• Operational and Systems Management: Mastery in building cross‑functional workflows, operational dashboards, interdepartmental governance mechanisms, and project roadmaps within highly matrixed structures.
• Strategic Thinking and Problem‑Solving: Proven track record of holding the big picture of organizational needs, navigating through ambiguity, aligning initiatives with macro goals, and transforming abstract vision into concrete execution blueprints.
• Advanced Presentation and Boardroom Architecture: Superb skills in directly designing and crafting high‑end, executive‑ready slide materials, policy briefs, and framing tools tailored for Board‑level decision‑making.
• Communication and Active Listening: Flawless written, verbal, and visual communication skills paired with highly attuned listening and partner‑management capabilities.
• Change Management and Diplomacy: Demonstrated leadership in accelerating institutional change, resolving internal tension or competing division priorities, building absolute trust, and fostering a high‑performance culture.
• Equity Lens Application: Deep operational understanding of structural racism and its impacts on health equity, with the practical skill to audit internal management practices and remove administrative biases.
• Analytical Synthesis: Strong capacity for quantitative and qualitative data synthesis, distilling massive programmatic datasets into clear, actionable operational improvements.
• Seven to 10+ years of relevant progressive professional experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field of study; advanced degree preferred. Additional relevant experience can substitute for an advanced degree.
• Ability to travel to RWJF’s offices for relevant internal meetings and other in‑person events, as requested, and to travel as needed for grantee