Senior Vice President, Business Operations
Location: Dayton, OH area
Reports to: Founding Member & Sr. Technical Director and President
About Our Client
Our client is dedicated to providing the highest quality of service to our clients and employees, and is a trusted partner to leading companies and organizations across the automotive, aerospace, and defense industries. As a result of continued growth and success, we are looking for energetic professionals to join our team.
Position Summary
The Senior Vice President, Business Operations is a senior executive responsible for leading, integrating, and scaling the corporate and business operations of our client and its affiliated companies. This role establishes and maintains the organizational infrastructure, leadership structure, business systems, processes, controls, workforce capabilities, and corporate services required to support the Company's continued growth, providing enterprise-level leadership across Finance and Accounting, Business Assurance, Compliance, Audit, HR and People Operations, Talent Acquisition, Corporate Operations, Facilities, IT and Business Systems, Marketing and Communications, and Sales and Business Development support. The Senior Vice President develops capable functional leaders, establishes clear accountability and decision authority, eliminates unnecessary dependency on executive leadership for routine operations, and builds a structure that can scale as workforce, revenue, contracts, and affiliated businesses grow. The Senior Vice President maintains executive accountability for assigned functions regardless of whether activities are performed internally, through subordinate leaders, or through third-party providers.
Key Responsibilities
Enterprise Business Operations & Scalability
- Lead, manage, and provide executive oversight of the Company's business and corporate operations, translating executive strategy into scalable operating models, objectives, and execution plans.
- Design and continuously improve the organizational infrastructure required to support growth in workforce, revenue, customers, contracts, facilities, and affiliated companies.
- Establish clear functional ownership, decision authority, escalation paths, and accountability, building an operating environment where routine activities don't depend on the CEO or President.
- Evaluate existing practices to determine what should be standardized, improved, or redesigned, and identify and correct inefficiencies, gaps, bottlenecks, and resource constraints.
- Establish repeatable, documented, and scalable processes, and management/systems/process/policy controls across assigned functions.
Executive & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Serve as the senior executive integrating the Company's corporate and business-support functions, working directly with the CEO, President, VPs, Directors, and functional leaders.
- Build, lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing Business Operations leadership team, recommending organizational structure and realignment as requirements evolve.
- Coordinate activities across Business Operations, Engineering, Program Management, Client Delivery, Product Development, and Manufacturing, resolving cross-functional issues and constraints.
- Establish mechanisms for tracking strategic initiatives through completion and provide executive leadership visibility into significant risks and major business initiatives.
Financial Management & Business Assurance
- Provide executive oversight of finance, accounting, budgeting, forecasting, cash management, and financial reporting functions.
- Partner with Finance and executive leadership on annual budgets, forecasts, capital requirements, and resource priorities, monitoring expenditures and cost drivers.
- Ensure financial decisions are based on documented analysis and appropriate approvals, and maintain oversight of the broader business-assurance environment (accounting, compliance, controls, audit readiness).
Compliance, Standards, Policy & Audit Readiness
- Provide executive oversight of compliance, certification, standards, policy, audit, and business-assurance functions, including FAR, DFARS, DCAA, DCMA, GAAP, ISO, and CMMC requirements.
- Ensure appropriate readiness for government, customer, financial, quality, cybersecurity, and internal audits, and that findings and corrective actions are tracked and closed.
- Promote an operating environment where business decisions and outcomes are documented, traceable, and audit-ready.
People, Talent & Workforce Development
- Provide executive oversight of the Company's people strategy and workforce infrastructure, establishing a scalable people-operations model as headcount grows.
- Oversee workforce planning, recruiting, talent acquisition, onboarding, professional development, succession planning, and retention.
- Provide executive oversight of employee administration systems (ADP/HRIS, payroll, benefits, records) and ensure onboarding/offboarding and performance management processes are consistent and documented.
Corporate Operations, Facilities & Infrastructure
- Provide executive oversight of facilities, leases, physical infrastructure, corporate services, and vendors, ensuring locations have appropriate technology and administrative infrastructure.
- Provide executive oversight of business information systems in coordination with technical and security personnel, planning proactively for growth.
- Evaluate and maintain accountability for third-party providers and outsourced functions, and support domestic and international affiliated-company operations.
Marketing, Sales & Growth Support
- Provide executive oversight of the Company's marketing, communications, and corporate brand, including digital presence and strategic marketing activities.
- Provide executive oversight of the infrastructure supporting sales, business development, and market expansion, including lead management, capture support, and sales reporting.
- Ensure Sales, Marketing, Program Management, and executive leadership stay coordinated on capabilities, priorities, and growth objectives.
Strategic Execution & Performance Management
- Establish a mechanism for translating executive direction into defined actions, owners, timelines, and measurable outcomes, and lead cross-functional initiatives.
- Establish and maintain KPIs, operational metrics, dashboards, and executive-level reporting on financial, workforce, and operational performance.
- Conduct periodic reviews of business functions and promote a culture of accountability, disciplined execution, and continuous improvement.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Operations Management, Engineering, HR, Organizational Leadership, or related field.
- Significant progressive leadership experience in business operations, corporate operations, or finance, including leading multiple business functions and senior functional leaders.
- Demonstrated experience building, restructuring, or scaling organizational operations, processes, systems, and internal controls.
- Strong financial and business acumen (budgeting, forecasting, resource planning) and understanding of compliance, internal controls, and audit readiness.
- Demonstrated experience with workforce planning and talent-management functions, and the ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence stakeholders at all levels.
- Strong executive-level communication, negotiation, analytical, and problem-solving skills, and ability to travel as required.
Preferred Qualifications
- Master's degree or MBA.
- Executive leadership experience within aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, engineering services, or another highly regulated industry.
- Experience scaling an organization through significant workforce, revenue, or geographic growth, with federal contracting (FAR/DFARS) and government compliance experience.
- Familiarity with DCAA, DCMA, GAAP, ISO, CMMC, and other audit/regulatory environments; experience implementing ERP, HRIS, financial, or compliance systems.
- Experience managing domestic and international operations and overseeing third-party providers; Lean, Six Sigma, PMP, or SHRM certification a plus.
Leadership Competencies: Enterprise Leadership, Organizational Scaling, Strategic Execution, Business & Financial Acumen, People Leadership, Cross-Functional Leadership, Delegation & Accountability, Compliance & Risk Management, Audit Readiness, Change Management, Data-Driven Decision Making.
Compensation: $160,000-$200,000 depending on experience.
This is a true enterprise-level seat, reporting straight to the Founder and President, with real ownership across accounting, compliance, and audit outcomes, not several layers removed.