Job Summary
Reporting to the Executive Director of Nutrition Support Services, the Director of Business Operations directs, supports, and develops the operational and financial strategy, processes, and continuous improvement of NSS including but not limited to finance, procurement and vendor management, communications, staffing and employee support, and data reporting and technical systems support. This role supports procurement activities, vendor relationships and implements financial and operational process improvements.
Responsibilities
- Directly manages the NSS budget and oversees all supporting business operations activities, including but not related to all NSS operational, financial, procurement, talent, and data processes.
- Oversees the NSS position management processes; partners with the Staffing Manager and NSS leadership to track vacancies and manage position numbers from a budgetary perspective; maintains NSS organizational charts and position descriptions; facilitates Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer budget reviews and approvals.
- Supervises, develops, and manages the performance of the NSS business operations team; ensures the team adheres to all NSS and District policies, procedures, and standards.
- Ensures adherence to audit procedures for meal claiming and counting, providing supporting documentation for financial audits and requirements of ISBE and/or the USDA.
- Creates and distributes financial and operational reports and data visualizations for senior District leadership and the public.
- Oversees the submissions process of grant applications and grant management, ensuring fiscal compliance with grant rules and regulations; manages monthly claims, provides programmatic data for dashboard and survey reporting, and supports programmatic audits from the state.
- Ensures the department has the correct operational systems and processes to maximize claims and revenue while streamlining processes; directly oversees the development and maintenance of SOPs and systems; trains, plans, and coordinates with the team to maintain the technology roadmap in partnership with ITS; develops and maintains the department’s dashboards and POS system.
- Oversees the analysis of department data to inform decisions and monitor progress; drives improvements to data infrastructure and resources; develops and maintains indicators to measure the success of nutrition initiatives.
- Partners with the Executive Director to facilitate strategic planning and continuous improvement across NSS; manages NSS usage of districtwide CI system; ensures department level goals align to budget and staffing allocations.
- Other duties and workstreams as assigned.
Qualifications
- Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in accounting, finance, business administration or a related field.
- Experience: Minimum of seven years of business operations experience including budget development and management; minimum of three years of management experience supervising a team of direct reports; experience leading the implementation of cross‑functional projects; experience in the food and nutrition industry with multi‑unit site management strongly preferred; experience with grant and/or contract administration preferred.
- Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Ability to understand, explain, and adhere to CPS policies and procedures; ability to develop and implement strong business plans; strong communication skills (speaking, including presentations, listening, writing); effective strategic planning capabilities; strong leadership and team‑building skills; expert knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management and organizational development; ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups; exceptional organizational, time‑management, and project‑management skills; ability to define problems, analyze data, outline conclusions and action steps, and create compelling and accurate reports and data visualizations; ability to streamline and implement new structures and roles that create speed, efficiency, and support rapidly shifting business demands; strong working knowledge of industry regulations and legislative guidelines.