Strategic Operations Director, Transformation Office

Strategic Operations Director, Transformation Office – Rowan University

Job no: 501279
Work type: Regular Full-Time
Location: Glassboro, New Jersey
Categories: Managerial

The Strategic Operations Directors in the Transformation Office serve as leaders, program champions, project managers, advisors, and problem-solvers for Rowan University’s highest-priority initiatives. Reporting to the Associate Vice President for Growth, this role manages sensitive, high-impact projects from design through implementation, balancing tactical execution with strategic influence.

We are seeking to hire a team to bring a unique mix of strengths in project management, change management, stakeholder engagement, financial and data analysis, quality improvement, and strategic communication. This high-visibility position is ideal for candidates with consulting experience or those looking to advance a career in strategy and organizational transformation.

The Transformation Office is a new, high-impact unit within the University President’s Office created to help Rowan achieve its most important goals. We work directly with the President, Cabinet, faculty, staff, and students to turn great ideas into sustainable, measurable results.

Our team partners with leaders across academic, administrative, and operational areas to co-design and implement initiatives that advance Rowan’s four pillars: affordability, access, quality, and economic impact. We take a disciplined approach to execution, grounded in data-driven analysis, collaborative problem-solving, and change management best practices.

Every initiative is student-centered, focused on improving the learning experience, expanding opportunities, and strengthening the systems that help students succeed. Faculty and staff are essential partners; we work alongside them to remove barriers, improve processes, and enhance the resources they rely on to do their work.

The Transformation Office is not an oversight body. We serve as a connector, facilitator, and capacity-builder, helping divisions across Rowan achieve shared goals while respecting the expertise and perspectives of our campus community.

• Strategic Impact:
  Direct involvement with initiatives that shape Rowan’s trajectory for the next decade.
• Executive Access:
  Regular engagement with the President, Chancellor, and senior leadership.
• Curiosity and Drive:
  Opportunities to tackle complex problems, ask better questions, and push for greater value.
• Complex Challenges:
  Projects span operational, academic, financial, and technology domains.
• Career Trajectory:
  Builds a portfolio of high-profile accomplishments valued by university leaders, consulting firms, and corporate strategy teams.

• Manage assigned initiatives, including scope, schedules, deliverables, and risk management.
• Conduct process mapping and gap analysis to identify opportunities for efficiency, growth, and service improvement.
• Partner with IT, procurement, finance, and operations to design and implement enterprise-wide solutions.
• Facilitate cross-functional working sessions, often with Cabinet-level leaders, to remove barriers and maintain momentum.
• Develop and execute stakeholder engagement and communication plans for both operational teams and executive audiences.
• Prepare executive-ready presentations, dashboards, and business cases for senior leadership.
• Support Transformation Office meetings by preparing materials, running presentations, and managing follow-up actions.
• Lead quality assurance reviews of initiative deliverables, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and usability.
• Support training, readiness, and adoption activities for new processes, systems, or policies.
• Monitor post-implementation adoption and performance, recommend adjustments, and capture lessons learned for continuous improvement.
• Maintain strict confidentiality when handling strategy, financial models, personnel data, and other sensitive information.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, analytics, or a related field.
• Proven background in operational transformation projects such as procurement optimization, enterprise…