Chief Operating Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Location West Orange, NJ 7052 Date Posted September 14, 2026 Job ID 15355 Employment Type Retained

Scion Executive Search has been engaged to conduct the search for a Chief Operating Officer for Spectrum360, a leading Northern New Jersey nonprofit providing special education, adult services, and enrichment programs for people with autism and related disabilities. This is a pivotal opportunity for an experienced enterprise operator and people leader to strengthen a complex, mission-driven organization and help expand its capacity for long-term impact.

ABOUT SPECTRUM360:

Established in 1961, Spectrum360 provides education, socialization, therapeutic support, and pathways to greater independence for children, young adults, and adults with autism and related disabilities. Across multiple Northern New Jersey campuses, Spectrum360's programs create a continuum of support that evolves alongside the approximately 500 individuals it serves.

Through Academy360 and Path360, students ages 3 through 21 receive individualized education while building the skills and confidence needed for adulthood. Independence360 carries that commitment forward through day habilitation, vocational development, and opportunities for greater independence, while FilmAcademy360 and CulinaryAcademy360 provide creative, hands-on pathways for individuals to discover their strengths, develop new capabilities, and connect with their communities.

Spectrum360 is entering an important phase of organizational development. Its programs are strong and demand remains significant. The next Chief Operating Officer will help the organization build the leadership capacity, operational discipline, and cross-functional alignment needed to sustain quality, navigate complexity, and create room for thoughtful growth.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer will serve as a senior enterprise leader with responsibility for the integration, effectiveness, and continuous improvement of Spectrum360's school and adult-service operations. The COO will connect program realities with organizational strategy, ensuring that decisions are grounded in service quality, regulatory requirements, workforce needs, financial sustainability, and the practical realities of a complex, multi-site organization.

This is not a conventional desk-based operations role. The COO must move fluently between enterprise priorities and immediate operational decisions, handling complex exceptions while strengthening the systems, leaders, and decision-making structures that allow routine work to occur closer to the point of service. The role requires a leader who can see patterns, surface blind spots, and bring clarity to situations where competing needs do not produce an obvious answer.

The successful candidate will pair rigor with humanity. They will establish accountability, develop leaders, and advance cultural change without losing the trust of a long-tenured and deeply mission-committed workforce. They will be a candid, solutions-oriented partner to the CEO and a credible leader across clinical, educational, administrative, and operational teams.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Enterprise Operations and Organizational Integration

• Lead the effective integration of school, adult-service, admissions, facilities, technology, and related operational functions across Spectrum360's campuses.
• Translate organizational strategy into clear operating priorities, decision rights, accountability structures, and practical execution plans.
• Strengthen communication and coordination across programs and shared services so that information reaches the right people and issues are resolved at the appropriate level.
• Balance near-term operating demands with sustained attention to organizational development, service quality, and long-term readiness.
• Build durable institutional knowledge, incident-response discipline, and continuity across critical operating processes without creating unnecessary complexity.

People Leadership and Culture

• Lead, coach, and develop senior program and operational leaders, strengthening their ability to manage performance, exercise judgment, and lead through change.
• Advance a culture of transparency, teamwork, accountability, and respectful communication across a workforce with varied professional backgrounds and levels of experience.
• Address performance and organizational issues directly while using sound judgment, empathy, and an incremental approach that builds sustainable commitment.
• Partner closely with Human Resources to strengthen management practices, succession depth, talent development, and employee engagement.
• Clarify and reinforce reporting relationships and chain-of-command expectations while remaining accessible and responsive to staff.

Financial Stewardship and Strategic Growth

• Bring an analytical, operational perspective to budgeting, forecasting, staffing models, enrollment planning, and resource allocation.
• Test assumptions, identify financial and operational blind spots, and ensure that program plans are grounded in historical performance, demand, capacity, and cost realities.
• Partner with the CEO, finance leadership, and program leaders to evaluate growth opportunities, new service models, and revenue diversification initiatives.
• Help create the leadership and operating capacity required for Spectrum360 to serve more individuals and pursue mission-aligned expansion responsibly.

Quality, Risk and Regulatory Leadership

• Maintain disciplined oversight of program quality, safety, security, compliance, and risk across education and adult-service environments.
• Ensure policies and procedures are clear, usable, consistently applied, and proportionate to the risks they are intended to address.
• Exercise sound judgment in complex personnel, regulatory, and operational situations where precedent and organization-wide implications must be considered.
• Guide effective response to critical incidents and ensure that lessons learned translate into practical improvement.

Executive Partnership and Governance

• Serve as a trusted operating partner to the CEO, bringing concise analysis, clear recommendations, and candid counsel.
• Escalate the right issues at the right time, keeping the CEO informed without shifting routine operational decisions upward.
• Help distinguish management decisions from matters requiring board visibility or action and represent operational priorities to the Board when requested.
• Model integrity, discretion, shared accountability, and organizational loyalty across all leadership relationships.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Significant senior leadership experience in a complex, multi-site, regulated direct service organization. Relevant settings may include disability services, behavioral health, healthcare, human services, education, or adjacent mission-driven environments.
• Demonstrated responsibility for substantial programs, operations, and workforces at a scale comparable to Spectrum360.
• Evidence of strengthening an under-structured, rapidly growing, or operationally challenged organization while maintaining service continuity and trust.
• Proven success developing leaders, elevating management performance, and creating a culture of accountability among both emerging and long-tenured staff.
• Strong business and financial acumen, including the ability to evaluate budgets, operating models, staffing assumptions, program economics, and growth opportunities.
• Experience operating within meaningful regulatory, compliance, safety, and quality requirements. Familiarity with New Jersey special education or developmental disability systems is valued but not required.
• Credibility leading clinical, educational, or other professional service teams is essential.
• Exceptional judgment, communication, listening, conflict-management, and problem-solving skills.
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or relevant professional credentials preferred.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Spectrum360 will offer a competitive executive compensation and benefits package. The anticipated salary for this role is $200,000 commensurate with experience and qualifications. Relocation support may be considered for the selected candidate.

Applications and Nominations:

Spectrum360 has retained Scion Executive Search, a national executive search firm specializing in nonprofit recruitment, to lead this search. Review of applications, nominations, and expressions of interest will begin immediately and continue on a confidential basis until an appointment is made. For immediate consideration, please apply with your resume and cover letter formatted in Microsoft Word, via: https://scionexecutivesearch.com/job/15355/

Please Address Applications to:

Sydney Burnham

Senior Executive Search Principal

Scion Executive Search

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