Please be aware of recruiting scams!

All legitimate communication from our recruitment team will come from an official calstart.org email address via email, we will not text you about a role you have not applied to or shown interest in. We will not perform any interviews via text or Zoom chat.

CALSTART does not ask for any fees or personal information such as social security numbers or bank details during the recruitment process.

About Us:

CALSTART is a mission-driven industry organization focused on transportation decarbonization and clean air for all.

For over 30 years, it’s been CALSTART’s mission to develop, assess, and implement large-scale, zero-emission transportation solutions to mitigate climate change and support economic growth. CALSTART works with businesses, organizations, governments, and communities to create real-life impact toward clean air and equitable access to clean transportation for all. CALSTART provides scientific, technical and policy support for regulatory development and clean technology and infrastructure acceleration.

About The Role:

The Head of Operations serves as a senior enterprise leader overseeing operational aspects of the organization that supports CALSTART’s business and execution team in achieving overall organizational goals and mission. This role will require building and modernizing CALSTART’s enterprise operational infrastructure that is consistent with the growth in scope and size that has occurred over the last five years. This role requires translating vision into execution by developing the systems, processes, and operating discipline required to support a growing, complex organization.

The Head of Operations will lead organization-wide operational transformation and ongoing management. Significant efforts will include identifying how to optimize existing processes and systems or implement new systems that improve organizational efficiency, ensure quality execution, and meet the needs of the larger organization that CALSTART has become. This includes a potential new ERP system, optimization of Salesforce as a core business platform, and the development and governance of standardized operating procedures, SOPs, across the enterprise.

This role will also be responsible for implementing, communicating, and maintaining core processes that support business initiatives and our central HR, Finance, Legal, and Marketing teams.

The Head of Operations is the Senior Leader looking across all the organization and all functional areas to ensure CALSART is aligned and set up for success.

This role reports to the CEO and partners closely with the CEO, Executive Team, Chief of Staff, and functional leaders to ensure CALSTART operates with a spirit of collaboration across all functions and with clarity, consistency, efficiency, and accountability.

What You'll Do:

Enterprise Operations & Execution: Operationalize CALSTART’s strategic priorities by translating organizational goals into scalable operating models, processes, and performance measures.
Establish and oversee an integrated enterprise operating framework that aligns people, processes, systems, and data.
Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Executive Team on operational readiness, risk, and execution.
Ensure CALSTART has the processes to implement and track annual organizational goals.
Systems Transformation (prog. mgmt., accounting, resource planning, & Salesforce)
Lead the end-to-end recommendation on scope, implementation, and adoption of a new ERP system(s), ensuring alignment with Finance, People Resources, procurement, grants, initiatives, and project operations.
Oversee the strategic optimization of Salesforce as a core enterprise system, ensuring it supports business development, partnerships, programs, and reporting needs.
Drive strong change management, data governance, and user adoption across all systems.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) & Process Excellence: Lead the design, documentation, rollout, and ongoing implementation of enterprise-wide SOPs where gaps exist, ensuring consistency, clarity, and compliance.
Establish process ownership and governance models to ensure SOPs are maintained, followed, and continuously improved.
Promote operational excellence through process simplification, automation, and continuous improvement.
Oversee enterprise-wide process to standardize tools, require adherence to enterprise process standards, and sunset duplicative or non-compliant workflows through a collaborative approach with the senior leadership team.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Governance: Partner with Finance and Accounting, People Resources Team, IT, Programs, Legal, Marketing & Communications, and Business Development to align operational practices across the organization.
Design and implement process governance structures aligned to executive-defined decision-right principles.
Ensure operational practices support compliance, risk management, fiduciary responsibility, and internal controls.
Ensure that operational systems and processes supporting programmatic delivery are standardized, scalable, and reliable.

Performance Management & Metrics: Define, implement, and monitor key operational KPIs related to system health, process efficiency, financial-operational integration, and organizational capacity.
Maintain enterprise operational dashboards and reporting infrastructure that provide leadership with clear visibility into operational health and execution readiness, to drive accountability and data-informed decision-making.

People & Change Leadership: Build and lead high-performing operational teams over time, including direct supervision of operational leaders and staff as organizational structure evolves.
Lead and mentor operational leaders and teams, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
Champion change management efforts to support system implementations, process changes, and organizational growth.

What You'll Bring:

10+ years of progressive leadership experience in operations, business transformation, or enterprise management; and experience in a COO, Deputy COO, or equivalent role strongly preferred.
Proven experience working in cross-functional leadership roles, balancing the needs of multiple parts of a large organization.
Demonstrated success building SOPs, operating models, and governance structures in complex, matrixed organizations.
Strong understanding of finance, people operations, technology, and compliance within a mission-driven or nonprofit environment preferred.
Exceptional ability to translate strategy into execution and drive alignment across diverse stakeholders.

Leadership Competencies:

Enterprise mindset with strong execution discipline
Strong people skills and supervisory experience
Systems thinker with attention to detail and scalability
Strong change leader with the ability to influence without direct authority
Data-driven, results-oriented, and operationally rigorous
Trusted partner to executive leadership

Benefits:

We care about your personal well being as much as your professional success and offer generous benefits to full time employees including: 100% company paid comprehensive health benefits for Medical, Dental, Vision, Short Term Disability, Long Term Disability and Life Insurance, Retirement plan with generous company contributions, FSA for Health and Dependent Care, 3 weeks of vacation time in the first year of employment, 11 paid company holidays, paid sick time, paid family leave, and more!

Our inclusive environment focuses on making decisions based on merit without regard to race, color, hair texture, gender, religion, age, nationality, social or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, LGBTQIA+ status, marital status, pregnancy, disability, genetics, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.