Manager, Operations

About the Role:

The Head of Operations runs several concurrent workstreams at once - systems and platform initiatives, cross-functional projects, and day-to-day department operations. This role exists to turn that workload into real, well-structured projects and run them to completion: standing up project plans in Monday.com, sequencing dependencies and milestones, and managing execution without needing to be told what's next.

This is a hands-on project and program management role, not a strategy or governance role. The right person takes a project, a program, or an ambiguous ask and runs it to done - scoping it, building the plan, managing dependencies, and driving it through execution - without needing it managed for them. This role is funded as an internal operations function, but the skills required are the same skills CALSTART deploys on billable client programs. Depending on organizational need, this person may be temporarily disbursed onto programs to support billable project or program management work, so real program management experience - or a strong working knowledge of how CALSTART's programs are structured and delivered - is essential, not a nice-to-have.

What You'll Own:

Project Execution & Tracking:

• Take ownership of assigned internal projects and programs from intake through close-out, keeping each one moving without daily direction
• Translate the Head of Operations' initiatives into fully structured Monday.com projects - defined phases, tasks, owners, dependencies, and milestones - not just status trackers
• Break ambiguous or loosely defined asks into clear tasks, owners, and deadlines
• Map dependencies and identify critical-path milestones so plans reflect how the work actually has to sequence, not just a task list
• Flag risks, blockers, and dependencies early, and know what belongs in the tracker versus what needs to be raised immediately

Keeping the Head of Operations Organized:

• Support with meeting prep, recaps, and follow-through on action items
• Consolidate the status of multiple in-flight projects into a clear, regularly updated view
• Keep all operations projects tracked in Monday.com and connected to the operations dashboard
• Draft correspondence, meeting agendas, status updates, and internal communications as needed
• Keep Microsoft Teams and shared workspaces organized - channels, files, and follow-ups - so nothing gets lost between meetings
• Support with the new Operations SharePoint site creation and keep the information continuously up to date
• Support with optimizing Microsoft tools for collaboration and efficient workflows such as Loop, Teams, and copilot

Cross-Functional Coordination:

• Serve as a point of coordination across the department's functional areas, making sure handoffs between teams don't stall
• Help prepare and run recurring check-ins and status reviews with functional leads
• Use Teams effectively for day-to-day collaboration - chats, channels, meetings, and file sharing - across a fully remote team

Process & Documentation:

• Maintain a central library of SOPs, templates, and process documentation
• Apply consistent, repeatable steps for how projects are initiated, tracked, and closed out

AI-Enabled Efficiency:

• Use Claude and Copilot as working tools, not novelties - applying real prompt engineering skill to draft, analyze, automate, and problem-solve faster
• Identify where AI tools can remove manual steps from recurring operational work, and build those efficiencies rather than waiting to be asked
• Write clear, structured prompts that produce usable output on the first or second pass, for both self-service work and tools built for others

Who You Are:

Required:

• 5+ years of experience managing projects or programs in a professional services, GovCon, or grant-funded environment - building project plans, sequencing dependencies, and driving execution, not just tracking status
• Proven ability to execute independently - you take a task or project with minimal instruction, find your own answers, and get it done without waiting to be told what's next
• Strong Microsoft 365 skills (Excel including pivot tables/formulas, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint)
• Hands-on experience building project plans in Monday.com (or a comparable platform) from scratch - phases, dependencies, milestones, and owners - not just updating an existing tracker
• Experience in, or strong working knowledge of, the clean transportation, clean energy, or related mission-driven program space - or comparable program/project delivery in a similarly structured environment - so this person can support client program work if organizational need requires it
• Demonstrated use of AI tools (Claude, Copilot, or similar) for real work product - drafting, analysis, automation, or research - with the prompt engineering skill to get reliable results
• Excellent written and verbal communication - comfortable drafting correspondence and updates for an executive audience and presenting to a large group and leading meetings.
• High discretion and ability to handle confidential organizational information
• Comfortable working in a fully remote environment, with strong self-management and asynchronous communication habits

Preferred:

• PMP, or equivalent or 3+ years’ direct experience as a PM or PMO in an agile environment
• Lean Six Sigma certification
• Experience supporting an executive or department lead directly
• Experience with dashboarding/BI tools (Power BI or similar)
• Prior program or project management experience within clean transportation, clean energy, sustainability, or a federally/grant-funded program environment

Working Style - This Matters As Much As the Credentials:

• True multitasker: genuinely energized, not overwhelmed, by juggling several active projects at once
• Self-starter: genuine go-getter who takes a task with minimal instruction, finds their own answers, and runs - this role reduces the Head of Operations' load, it doesn't create a second thing to manage
• Organized by nature: keeps trackers, calendars, and Teams channels current without being asked
• Proactive: surfaces problems before they become fire drills
• Program-ready: comfortable supporting a direct program with deliverable needs if the need arises and able to ramp into program-specific work quickly

First 90 Days - What Success Looks Like:

• Independently managing a full slate of assigned operations projects with minimal oversight
• Building and running fully structured Monday.com project plans - dependencies and milestones included - for the Head of Operations' active initiatives
• Operations SharePoint site developed and greater organizational foundation set for the department’s workflows
• Trusted to take a loosely defined problem and turn it into a tracked, moving project on their own
• Actively using Claude and Copilot to speed up drafting, analysis, and routine operational work