Executive Director, Strategic Program Management

Job Description: About ETS: For more than 75 years, we have amplified products and services based on rigorous research and our belief in the power of learning. Driven by our mission to advance quality and equity in education, ETS provides learning solutions, pioneering research, and trusted assessments that help guide learners around the world on their path to new possibilities. Our portfolio of trusted measures includes TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, and Praxis . Along with research, development, and innovation that explores new frontiers in learning and measurement, our educational measurement solutions and research contribute to the development of new methods and tools, inform important dialogue with education policymakers, and shed light on critical issues and potential solutions - all with the aim of creating a world where all learners can improve their lives through education. With new senior leadership at the helm, ETS aims to continue changing the lives of all learners as we expand our organization's global footprint. Our goal is to remain at the forefront of assessment and measurement efficacy within the education and ed tech space as it continues to grow and evolve. POSITION SUMMARY ETS delivers millions of assessments across the globe. Our mission is to empower human progress with insightful solutions to navigate the journeys across education, work, and lifelong learning. Assessment Operations (AOps) is the division within ETS that designs, develops, and delivers the creative assessment solutions to equitably support individuals across the globe with opportunities to reach their educational, workforce, and life-wellness goals. The Executive Director, Strategic Program Management, Assessment Operations is a critical role in the success of the portfolio of those assessments, ready to lead with flexibility and adaptability to our changing market and business landscape with operational excellence and governance across programs. The Executive Director, Strategic Program Management will report directly to the VP Assessment Operations and work in collaboration within a matrixed strategic leadership team responsible for leading assessment development, measurement, systems, and scoring verticals. The Executive Director will establish and lead a new vertical of program management staff responsible for the strategic planning, budgeting, and global execution of all programs. The Executive Director will help establish the AOps Division as a mature and efficient global organization, ready to scale capabilities for growth. As a strategic leader overseeing tactical team leaders and a key leader working across ETS, the Executive Director must excel in communication, negotiation, and analytical problem-solving. They will be responsible for analyzing complex, time-sensitive situations and providing objective data to make strategic recommendations, driving decision-making across programs and AOps verticals. As such, the Executive Director must have deep experience across the verticals within AOps. Experience in management of high-stakes assessments and a deep understanding of assessment development, measurement, and educational technology is required. PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES Responsible for leadership, management, staffing, budget, and performance of global operational delivery excellence functions. Establish strategic stakeholder engagement and expectation management by building partnerships across ETS business unit leaders, negotiating service level agreements, timelines, and budgets, and establishing maturity in business operations management to ensure successful execution of each program and across the portfolio of programs. Establish and execute standardized PMO practices and uniform processes across business units and within each AOps vertical. Driving a performance culture, develop and deliver methods to model operational performance data and analytics to identify targeted areas for operational excellence, business and process insights, efficiency, and improvement to ensure maximum ROI and budget stewardship. Accountable for program management oversight in relation to managing ODC projects and/or vendors. Develop and deliver governance plans and provide oversight on large-scale, highly visible implementations, establishing KPIs and tracking progress, ready understanding of contractual obligations, and communication with executive-level leaders. Drive change management, continuous improvement, and issue resolutions for successful delivery of all programs; transforming business operations with innovative practices. Actively engage and partner with AOps and cross-ETS leadership in data driven decision making to support and scale ETS growth. Define and implement strategies and roadmaps for new capabilities and opportunities. Engage with and influence leaders across AOps and ETS to build trust and strategic partnerships, and execute on a portfolio of strategic and transformational initiatives to drive the objectives of AOps. Govern the portfolio of programs across AOps, ensuring all initiatives internal and external are prioritized and managed to ensure that they are on track to achieve committed outcomes within approved budgets and timelines, managing and providing executive reporting on the progress and performance of AOps. Promote an environment of inclusion and diversity. Recruit, manage, develop, organize and direct departmental staff to meet goals. Adhere to ethical standards and comply with the laws and regulations applicable to your job function. Experience and Skills: KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS Proven record of strategic leadership of highly complex assessment or educational technology programs. Proven leadership and management of large, diverse organizations with a track record of strategic thinking and problem solving. Ability to establish credibility, effective partnership and influencing skills, and interactions with all levels across a diverse organization, to include excellence in written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication. Experience with high-value and demand of internal and external clients and stakeholders, and managing financial and deliverable expectations. Experience leading teams through change in both organizational and operational designs. Comfortable with complex, ambiguous, and challenging situations. Ever curious, proactive, and mission driven. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred. At least 12 years of demonstrated experience successfully leading complex business operations, preferably in educational assessments and/or technology. Experience leading large teams through organizational transitions. Experience leading program management for a highly complex portfolio of programs. Established and caring manager of people. Strong success as a positive influencer. Habitual curiosity and commitment to lifelong learning. ETS believes in a Total Rewards philosophy for our employees, which includes: Health, Vision, Dental insurance plans to choose from. Generous continuous learning support, from individual learning grants to up to 6 classes a year for tuition reimbursement as well as online learning access Generous PTO and vacation time to balance your work and life. Additional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer work. Retirement plan (401(a)) and traditional Roth (403b) with company contribution. Commuter Benefits, Pet Insurance, 1 year subscription to Calm App. ETS is mission driven and action oriented Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is at the forefront of the ETS employee's daily work. To further foster an inclusive environment, ETS is home to a wide variety of Affinity groups that celebrate the diversity of our talented employees. How about cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders? ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you Are you passionate about volunteering and being active in your career and community? ETS offers our Center for Advocacy & Philanthropy (CAAP) where we encourage ETS employees to become active volunteers in their communities and schools through the ETS Cares Giving Campaign. Our employees can support any 501c3 or eligible charity of their choice. ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer comprised of people with different experiences, strengths, and backgrounds who share a passion for advancing quality and equity in education. We are dedicated to building teams that reflect the various backgrounds, experiences, and identities of those we serve. The Talent Acquisition team strives to ensure candidates enjoy a fair and equitable hiring process. We believe our differences empower us to be a better team, making better decisions and delivering better results. From: Educational Testing Service #J-18808-Ljbffr