Director, Operations Excellence in Chicago, Illinois at AHEAD

The Director, Operations Excellence will serve as the operational conscience of AHEAD’s end-to-end operational processes — bringing cross-functional visibility, structured accountability, and continuous improvement discipline to the systems and workflows that power our client experience. This leader will own a holistic view across AHEAD’s operations, from issue identification and root cause analysis to corrective action tracking and executive reporting, ensuring that our client-facing platforms — including Hatch, Astra, and future AI-enabled tools — are backed by clean, consistent, and reliable operational data.

This is a foundational role with direct executive sponsorship from the COO. The Director will build and lead the Operations Excellence function from the ground up, working cross-functionally to establish the accountability infrastructure that AHEAD needs to scale. The right candidate will thrive at the intersection of process rigor, cross-functional influence, and executive communication — and will bring a track record of driving measurable operational improvement in complex, growing environments.

• Own the centralized view of operational quality issues across the quote-to-cash process, ensuring issues are tracked, routed to the right owners, and driven to resolution with clear accountability and timelines.

• Lead rapid triage and cross-functional coordination on the most critical and time-sensitive issues, serving as the primary escalation point for operational quality failures that span multiple teams.

• Identify systemic patterns across the issue queue, distinguishing one-time exceptions from structural process gaps, and facilitating root cause analysis with relevant data-producing teams.

• Track corrective actions from identification through closure, maintaining accountability across teams and escalating to senior leadership when resolution is at risk.

• Conduct a structured assessment of current-state operational quality gaps across the quote-to-cash process, producing a prioritized issue registry with root cause analysis and recommended corrective actions.

• Establish a repeatable operating rhythm: cross-functional accountability meetings, issue tracking cadence, and executive reporting format.

• Define the escalation framework — including clear criteria for when issues are escalated, to whom, and what decisions are required at each level.

• Publish a baseline operational quality scorecard covering SLA performance, issue volume and aging, and top systemic themes.

• Define business requirements for central ticketing solution. Update operational workflows to reflect implemented solution and desired escalation paths.

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or related field.

• 10+ years of experience in operations, process improvement, quality management, or a related cross-functional leadership role within a complex organization.

• Demonstrated track record of driving accountability and measurable improvement across organizational boundaries through influence, data, and executive partnership.

• Experience building or leading a quality management function in a scaling technology or services organization is strongly preferred.

• Experience with B2B client platforms, order management ecosystems, or IT distribution/services operations is a plus.

• Certification in project management, change management, Lean, or Six Sigma is a plus.

• Natural systems thinker with the ability to identify patterns behind recurring problems and translate them into clear, actionable improvement plans.

• Strong facilitation and follow-through — comfortable leading structured problem-solving conversations with senior and executive stakeholders across functions.

• Proven ability to build governance structures and drive adoption of documented processes and standards in environments where authority is shared.

• Solid project management capabilities to prioritize, coordinate, and advance multiple improvement efforts simultaneously.

• Clear, direct communicator who can translate operational complexity into concise executive updates, dashboards, and reports.

• Collaborative mindset with an ability to build trust and drive alignment across teams with competing priorities.

• Deep curiosity about how end-to-end operational ecosystems connect — from CRM and client platforms to order management, logistics, and financial systems.

• Enthusiastic advocate for continuous improvement, with an unwavering commitment to operational excellence and data integrity.

• Familiarity with Salesforce, Jira, ServiceNow, or similar operational tooling preferred.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.

If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at privacy@ahead.com.

You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to apply for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview. Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.