Executive Director, Strategic Program Management (Assessment Operations)

Job DescriptionAbout ETS:ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners worldwide to be future-ready. For more than 75 years, we've been advancing the science of measurement to build benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment across cultures and borders. Our worldwide impact extends through our renowned assessments including TOEFL®, TOEIC®, GRE® and Praxis® tests, serving millions of learners in more than 200 countries and territories. Through strategic acquisitions, we've expanded our global capabilities: PSI strengthens our workforce assessment solutions, while Edusoft, Kira Talent, Pipplet, Vericant, and Wheebox enhance our educational technology and assessment platforms across critical markets worldwide. Through ETS Research Institute and ETS Solutions, we're partnering with educational institutions, governments, and organizations globally to promote skill proficiency, empower upward mobility, and unlock opportunities for everyone, everywhere. With offices and partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, we deliver nearly 50 million tests annually. Join us in our journey of measuring progress to power human progress worldwide.POSITION SUMMARYETS delivers millions of assessments across the globe. Our mission is to empower human progress with insightful solutions to navigate the journeys across education, work, and lifelong learning. Assessment Operations (AOps) is the division within ETS that designs, develops, and delivers the creative assessment solutions to equitably support individuals across the globe with opportunities to reach their educational, workforce, and life-wellness goals. The Executive Director, Strategic Program Management, Assessment Operations is a critical role in the success of the portfolio of those assessments, every ready to lead with flexibility and adaptability to our changing market and business landscape with operational excellence and governance across programs.The Executive Director, Strategic Program Management will report directly to the VP Assessment Operations and work in collaboration within a matrixed strategic leadership team responsible for leading assessment development, measurement, systems, and scoring verticals. The Executive Director will establish and lead a new vertical of program management staff responsible for the strategic planning, budgeting, and global execution of all programs. The Executive Director will help establish the AOps Division as a mature and efficient global organization, ready to scale capabilities for growth.As a strategic leader overseeing tactical team leaders and a key leader working across ETS, the Executive Director must excel in communication, negotiation, and analytical problem-solving. They will be responsible for analyzing complex, time-sensitive situations and providing objective data to make strategic recommendations, driving decision-making across programs and AOps verticals. As such, the Executive Director must have deep experience across the verticals within AOps. Experience in management of high-stakes assessments and a deep understanding of assessment development, measurement, and educational technology required.PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIESResponsible for leadership, management, staffing, budget, and performance of global operational delivery excellence functions as outlined below:Establish strategic stakeholder engagement and expectation management by building partnerships across ETS business unit leaders, negotiating service level agreements, timelines, and budgets, and establishing maturity in business operations management to ensure successful execution of each program and across the portfolio of programs.Establish and execute standardized PMO practices and uniform processes across business units and within each AOps vertical.Driving a performance culture, develop and deliver methods to model operational performance data and analytics to identify targeted areas for operational excellence, business and process insights, efficiency and improvement to ensure maximum ROI and budget stewardship.Accountable for program management oversight in relation to managing ODC projects and/or vendors.Develop and deliver governance plans and provide oversight on large-scale, highly visible implementations, establishing KPIs and tracking progress, ready understanding of contractual obligations, and communication with executive level leaders.Drive change management, continuous improvement, and issue resolutions for successful delivery of all programs; transforming business operations with innovative practicesActively engage and partner with AOps and cross-ETS leadership in data driven decision making to support and scale ETS growthDefine and implement strategies and roadmaps for new capabilities and opportunitiesEngage with and influence leaders across AOps and ETS to build trust and strategic partnerships, and execute on a portfolio of strategic and transformational initiatives to drive the objectives of AOpsGovern the portfolio of programs across AOps, ensuring all initiatives internal and external are prioritized and managed to ensure that they are on track to achieve committed outcomes within approved budgets and timelines, managing and providing executive reporting on the progress and performance of AOpsPromote an environment of inclusion and diversity.Recruit, manage, develop, organize and direct departmental staff to meet goals.Adhere to ethical standards and comply with the laws and regulations applicable to your job function.Experience and SkillsKNOWLEDGE/SKILLSProven record of strategic leadership of highly complex assessment or educational technology programsProven leadership and management of large, diverse organizations with a track record of strategic thinking and problem solvingAbility to establish credibility, effective partnership and influencing skills, and interactions with all levels across a diverse organization, to include excellence in written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication.Establish experience with high-value and demand of internal and external clients and stakeholders, and managing financial and deliverable expectationsExperience leading teams through change in both organizational and operational designsComfortable with complex, ambiguous, and challenging situationsEver curious, proactive, and mission drivenEDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.At least 12 years’ of demonstrated experience successfully leading complex business operations, preferably in educational assessments and/or technologyExperience leading large teams through organizational transitionsExperience leading program management for highly complex portfolio of programsEstablished and caring manager of peopleStrong success as a positive influencerHabitual curiosity and commitment to lifelong learning#LI-MM1#LI-REMOTEETS believes in a Total Rewards philosophy for our employees, and they include:Health, Vision, Dental insurance plans to choose fromGenerous continuous learning support, from individual learning grants to up to 6 classes a year for tuition reimbursement as well as on-line learning access!Generous PTO and vacation time to balance your work and lifeAdditional 8 hours of PTO for volunteer workRetirement plan (401(a)) and traditional Roth (403b) with company contributionCommuter Benefits, Pet Insurance, 1 year subscription to Calm AppETS is mission driven and action orientedDiversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is at the forefront of the ETS employee's daily work. To further foster an inclusive environment ETS is home to a wide variety of Affinity groups that celebrate the diversity of our talented employees.How about cultivating growth, innovation, and continuous transformation for the next generation of rising professionals as leaders? ETS offers multiple Business Resource Groups (BRG) for you!Are you passionate about volunteering and being active in your career and community? ETS offers our Center for Advocacy & Philanthropy (CAAP) where we encourage ETS employees to become active volunteers in their communities and schools through the ETS Cares Giving Campaign. Our employees can support any 501c3 or eligible charity of their choice. ETS is an Equal Opportunity Employer comprised of people with different experiences, strengths, and backgrounds who share a passion for advancing quality and equity in education. We are dedicated to building teams that reflect the various backgrounds, experiences, and identities of those we serve. The Talent Acquisition team strives to ensure candidates enjoy a fair and equitable hiring process. We believe our differences empower us to be a better team, making better decisions and delivering better results. Full-Time/Regular