Director, Dean's Office Operations & Strategic Initiatives

The Johns Hopkins University School of Government and Policy (SGP) seeks a Director, Dean's Office Operations & Strategic Initiatives to provide strategic leadership over the office's operations and its highest-discretion initiatives. Reporting to the Chief of Staff and Senior Associate Dean of Strategy, the Director will work in close collaboration with the school leadership, faculty, and key internal and external partners. The Director also manages a small team responsible for executing the office's administrative and strategic-initiative portfolio and architects the operational infrastructure that gives School leadership visibility into the status of key initiatives School-wide. The role requires a mature, discreet, strategic thinker with demonstrated experience managing sensitive relationships, exercising independent judgment under ambiguity, and developing junior staff — paired with genuine excellence in executive administrative operations.

Johns Hopkins’ first new academic division since 2007, the School of Government and Policy is anchored at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in the nation’s capital. It draws on the university’s 150-year research tradition to develop innovative, evidence-based solutions and prepare the next generation of policy and public sector leaders to advance evidence-based solutions for the policy and governance challenges that matter most.

The person filling this position will be working in a start-up environment – creating processes and procedures, navigating unexpected obstacles, and adapting to change frequently. An agile mindset and flexible approach to daily responsibilities is needed as we define new ways of working within a well-established university. We are seeking a solution-focused person with a demonstrated ability to create new paths to achieve results.

Specific Duties and Responsibilities

Office & Executive Operations Leadership

• Provide oversight and management of daily administrative functioning of the Dean's Office and Strategy team, including scheduling standards, correspondence quality, and materials turnaround and record keeping.
• Oversee the development and delivery of quality and professional materials, briefings, and talking points prepared for the Dean and senior leadership— ensuring materials reflect the right narrative, audience, and level of polish before they reach senior leadership.
• Coordinate agenda-setting and preparation for leadership team meetings, all-staff meetings, and the annual leadership retreat.
• Prepare the Chief of Staff/Senior Associate Dean (and, as directed, the Dean) for key meetings — researching issues, drafting agendas, conducting follow-up, and briefing on critical points and sensitivities.

Partnership Strategy & Senior Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Facilitate the design and build-out of the School's partnership strategy, working closely with the Senior Associate Dean of Strategy and Chief of Staff, faculty and School leadership — identifying who the School's key partnerships should be with, and why.
• Design and facilitate senior-level engagements with key external and university stakeholders to shape and advance strategic initiatives and convenings.
• Serve as a senior relationship owner for internal and external senior-stakeholder engagements and reports, exercising discretion in ambiguous or sensitive matters; advise the Chief of Staff/Senior Associate Dean on resolution of sensitive issues as they arise.

Strategic & Institutional Planning, Pilot Incubation & Tracking Infrastructure

• Draft institutional strategic planning workstreams at the direction of the Chief of Staff/Senior Associate Dean of Strategy.
• Lead cross-functional planning efforts to shape, launch, and scale new School-wide initiatives.
• Identify, scope, and manage the incubation of new pilot initiatives in partnership with the Sr. Strategic Project Manager and Chief of Staff and Senior Associate Dean of Strategy — assessing viability and sustainability before recommending scale-up, continuation, or sunset.
• Own and maintain the School-wide tracking and check-in infrastructure.

Team Leadership & Development

• Directly manage project support staff, overseeing execution of both administrative and strategic-initiative work, including appropriate-level support on active pilot initiatives.
• Actively liaise with counterparts in other divisions across JHU and within SGP.

Success Depends, At a Minimum, Depends On

• Demonstrated excellence in high-level administrative operations and executive support, including materials preparation and meeting management at the executive level.
• The ability to build and manage relationships with senior stakeholders with discretion, tact, and sound judgment.
• Demonstrated experience translating ambiguous, relationship-heavy work into concrete institutional strategy.
• The ability to design and maintain tracking systems that give senior leadership real visibility without requiring their day-to-day involvement.
• The ability to coach and develop junior staff, particularly around relationship-management skills that go beyond process-following.
• Comfort operating in a founding-phase institution without an established playbook.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree required.
• Five years of progressively responsible relevant experience required.
• Additional education may substitute for required experience, and additional related experience may substitute for required education beyond a high school diploma/graduation equivalent, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.

Classified Title: Director of Special Projects
Job Posting Title (Working Title): Director, Dean's Office Operations & Strategic Initiatives (School of Government & Policy)
Role/Level/Range: ATP/04/PG
Starting Salary Range: $102,295 - $179,375 Annually ($135,000 Targeted; Commensurate w/exp.)
Employee group: Full Time
Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:30AM - 5:00PM
FLSA Status: Exempt
Location: District of Columbia
Department name: Staff
Personnel area: School of Government & Policy