Senior Manager, Operational Planning and Project Management Operations

Position Title: Senior Manager of Operational Planning and Project Management Operations

Location: Washington, DC (Hybrid, 2 days a week in the office)

Department: Strategic Operations, Leadership and Organizational Development

Reports to: Senior Director of Strategic Operations and PMO

Status: Full-time

FLSA Status: Exempt

Salary Range for US Based Staff: $69,329 - $81,563

Organization Overview:

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health, and leadership. With nearly four million athletes and Unified Sports® partners and one million coaches and volunteers in more than 170 countries, Special Olympics delivers more than 30 Olympic-type sports and nearly 50,000 games and competitions every year. Learn more at SpecialOlympics.org.

Position Summary:

As the Operational Planning and PMO Senior Manager, you will play a pivotal role in driving organizational success by enhancing operational planning and project management workflows, aligning strategic plans, and fostering transparency across all levels of the organization. Your primary responsibilities will include maintaining, creating, and standardizing procedures to ensure compliance, managing portfolios, and driving key organization-wide initiatives.

This role requires a strategic thinker with strong reasoning skills, exceptional training capabilities, and excellent written and verbal communication. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including executives, to sustain operational efficiencies, ensure smooth execution of deliverables, and align projects with the mission and objectives of the Special Olympics movement.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage the annual operational planning process, timelines, and guidance to align with the organization's strategic objectives.
• Monitor and analyze the global operational and project portfolios to ensure alignment with organizational priorities.
• Contribute to maintaining and updating operational tools, templates, policies, and procedures.
• Conduct cross-functional collaboration meetings to enhance transparency and operational alignment.
• Assist in communicating timelines and tracking progress against strategic plan targets.
• Manage the PMO by standardizing, supporting, and ensuring compliance for projects across the organization.
• Develop and execute change management strategies for operational planning, project management and organizational standards.
• Assist with training staff on operational policies, procedures, planning, project management, and best practices to enhance efficiency and alignment.
• Review and improve internal project management approaches, policies, tools, and templates to ensure alignment with best practices.
• Introduce and maintain operational and project management dashboards to enable ongoing monitoring and data-driven decision-making.
• Oversee software systems for operations and project management.

Other Responsibilities:

• Collaborate on strategic plan and tracking, ensuring adherence to targets and senior leadership guidance
• Manage Strategic Plan preparation, timelines, and modifications in adherence to and collaboration with Strategic targets and guidance from senior leadership.
• May serve as the project manager for organization-wide special projects to enhance culture, mission, and processes.
• Assist with the management of the Spring and Fall Integration Week (IW) meetings for the Global Leadership Team and ensure organizational priorities are set for organizational annual planning.

Requirements:

• A bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience plus Five or more years of relevant work experience. Experience and/or coursework in the area of leadership, operations and project management is a plus.

• Strong analytical, organizational, and prioritization skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with outstanding attention to detail.
• Proficiency in project management systems, MS Office products, and preferably Smartsheet.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment with strong interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated high standards of ethics, integrity, and professionalism.
• Proven ability to build networks and generate financial resources to support project management initiatives.
• Capacity to work independently and professionally with internal and external stakeholders, including senior executives.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.

*For USA based staff: Special Olympics offers full-time employees a generous and comprehensive benefits package, which includes: medical, dental, vision, HSA, FSA, life insurance, disability, retirement, legal resources, and PTO. 

Special Olympics provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. 

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training. 

**Special Olympics is an E-Verify Employer** 

Salary : $69,329 - $81,563