Associate Director of People & Operations

Overview of Watson Institute :

Watson Institute powers transformative Fellowships in partnership with leading corporations and foundations to support highly promising entrepreneurs and leaders from underserved backgrounds. The Fellowships provide proven entrepreneurship and leadership skills training, committed mentorship, community development stipends, long-term Alumni support, and access to a global community of peers, mentors, and opportunities.

In partnership with Google, JPMorganChase Foundation, Walmart.org, Wells Fargo, Ford Philanthropy, SAP, Truist Foundation, BMO, Comcast, Western Union, and several private foundations, Watson Institute ’s programs will reach over 2,400 rising leaders this year.

Alumni of Watson Institute ’s Fellowships have raised over $190 million, created over 2,300 paid jobs, and impacted over 11 million people around the world through initiatives they have helped lead. 93% of Watson Institute alums are employed, continuing their education, or building a venture. 85% of Watson Institute Alumni use a skill they learned while in a Watson Institute -powered program up to 12 years later. Watson Institute ’s Alumni have been selected to Y Combinator, the Echoing Green Fellowship, and 11 have been named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 lists. Alums continue their education at Harvard University, New York University, and Princeton University, among others.

Associate Director of People & Operations - Mission Statement:

The Associate Director of People & Operations designs the systems, policies, and team resources that enable Watson Institute to become the highest performing team our employees have ever been part of in the social impact sector. This role transforms complex growth periods into clear policies, scalable processes, and beautifully designed resources that strengthen our culture and empower our team to do their best work.
Associate Director of People & Operations – Role:

Designing People Systems & Strategy - 50%:
Lead the research, design, and implementation of systems, policies, and resources that enable Watson Institute to become the highest performing team our employees have ever been part of in the social impact sector:

- As Watson Institute continues to grow, proactively research emerging best practices and evaluate leading approaches to develop thoughtful, scalable systems, policies, and resources that strengthen our team.

- Think strategically about Watson Institute ’s future growth by anticipating the people and operational priorities that growth will create and building scalable systems to support it. Approach growth as something to prepare for and enable, with a solutions-oriented mindset, ensuring our policies, processes, and resources can sustain the organization as it evolves.

- Lead high impact organizational initiatives including professional development planning, management training, workplace culture decks, and other strategic priorities as Watson Institute continues to grow.

- As Watson Institute continues to expand its contractor workforce, help define what an exceptional contractor experience looks like at Watson Institute by creating a gold standard approach to how we engage, support, and collaborate with contractors while appropriately recognizing the unique nature of their engagement.

- Partner with leaders across Watson Institute to identify operational challenges, research innovative solutions, and translate these solutions into practical systems that enable our team to do their best work.

- Approach every project with the mindset that excellence is found in the details, producing work that is thoughtful, polished, and ready for organization-wide implementation.

- Design clear, polished, and visually compelling systems, guides, playbooks, and other resources using Canva (or similar graphic design platforms).

- Translate strategy into execution by developing clear project plans, establishing timelines and milestones, coordinating cross functional implementa