Senior Director of Operations

ABOUT US | HR&A Advisors, Inc. (HR&A) is an employee-owned company advising public, private, non-profit, and philanthropic clients on how to increase opportunity and advance quality of life in cities.

We believe in creating vital places, building equitable and resilient communities, and improving people’s lives.

From Brooklyn to London, Medellin to Hong Kong, we have guided hundreds of clients in transforming real estate and economic development concepts, and public infrastructure, first into actionable plans and then into job-producing, community-strengthening assets. Our clients include real estate owners and investors, hospitals and universities, cultural institutions and philanthropies, community development organizations, and governments.

HR&A has offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Raleigh, Washington D.C. and the Bay Area. We come from diverse backgrounds, have a breadth of lived experience, and share a passion for cities. We are former city officials, executive directors, planners, lawyers, architects, and economists.

Hear more about the HR&A experience from our staff.

Learn more about careers at HR&A on our website here.

THE ROLE | HR&A is building a new operational infrastructure to support its transition to a four-studio business line model. At the center of that infrastructure is a growing team of embedded studio operations professionals — people who sit inside each studio and provide dedicated financial, operational, and staffing support to studio leads. The Senior Director of Operations is the person who ensures that model works. This role will sit on our New York City or Washington D.C office.

Reporting directly to the Chief Finance and Operations Officer (CFOO), the Senior Director of Operations serves as the operational right hand to the CFOO — directly managing the embedded studio operations team, leading firm-wide operational initiatives, and ensuring that HR&A’s systems, standards, and processes are running at full effectiveness across all studios and offices. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role that sits at the intersection of finance, operations, studio leadership, and firm-wide strategy.

The Senior Director of Operations will join HR&A at a pivotal moment. In the near term, this person will carry direct studio operations responsibility across multiple studios while the embedded studio ops team is built out beneath them in phases. As that team grows, the Senior Director will transition from doing to leading — managing a team of studio ops Directors and focusing increasingly on firm-wide strategic initiatives. The ideal candidate is energized by both the hands-on work of building a model from scratch and the longer-term opportunity to lead a high-performing team. The ideal candidate brings operational excellence, financial fluency, and the interpersonal skills to work credibly alongside senior consulting leaders.

RESPONSIBILITIES | Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

Team Leadership and Management

• Directly manage, develop, and hold accountable a growing team of embedded studio operations Directors, each responsible for the financial, operational, and staffing health of one or more studios

• Recruit, onboard, and integrate new studio ops team members as the model is built out, shaping the team’s composition, culture, and standards from the ground up

• Serve as a day-to-day resource, thought partner, and escalation point for studio ops team members, helping them navigate complex situations and build their skills over time

• Conduct regular check-ins to track progress against business goals while modeling HR&A’s commitment to inclusiveness, equity, and a high-performance, continuously improving culture

Studio Operations

• In the near term, carry direct studio operations responsibility across multiple studios while the embedded ops team is built out — executing high value activities including business planning and execution support at the studio level.

• Ensure every studio has the operational support it needs to deliver excellent work and grow its business and identify gaps, risks and inconsistencies across studio operations.

• Serve as the primary operational interface between the CFOO and studio leads, ensuring studio leads have the financial data, staffing visibility, and operational support they need to execute their business plans

Firmwide Systems and Standards

• Build, manage, and continuously improve firmwide operational execution by owning standardized systems and processes that ensure consistent performance across all studios

• Lead the rollout of new firmwide systems, tools, and processes as directed by the CFOO, managing change effectively across a multi-studio, multi-office organization

• Partner with HR&A Labs and IT to identify and implement technology and AI tools that improve how studios manage projects, track finances, and coordinate staffing

• Ensure all studio ops team members are inputting accurate, timely data into firmwide reporting and dashboards, maintaining the integrity of the firm’s financial and operational reporting

Firmwide Strategic Initiatives

• Lead firm-wide operational initiatives on behalf of the CFOO — including system rollouts, 2030 strategic plan implementation milestones, process redesign efforts, and other high-priority projects that span multiple studios or functions

• Co-own the firm-wide operational meeting rhythm — designing, facilitating, and following up on cross-studio operational meetings, leadership check-ins, and quarterly ops leadership gatherings

• Develop and roll out firmwide operational policies, compliance standards, and playbooks, ensuring consistent adoption across all studios and offices

• Manage special projects and strategic initiatives as directed by the CFOO, including organizational changes, new office openings, and cross-functional process improvements

Financial Operations

• Monitor firmwide utilization, realization, and revenue trends across all studios, flagging issues and recommending corrective actions to the CFOO

• Support the CFOO in the annual budgeting process, coordinating inputs from studio ops team members and ensuring studio-level data is complete and accurate

• Identify opportunities to improve financial discipline across studios — including scoping practices, pricing, and invoice management — and drive improvement through the studio ops team

Proposals and Business Development Support

• Maintain the firmwide pipeline tracker, aggregating data from all studios to give the CFOO and executive leadership team a live view of business development activity across the firm

• Identify cross-studio proposal opportunities and coordinate the involvement of multiple studio ops team members in joint pursuit efforts

• Track firmwide win/loss data, identify patterns, and surface insights to the CFOO and studio leads to strengthen the firm’s BD performance over time

Knowledge Management

• Contribute to the development and maintenance of HR&A’s firmwide knowledge management ensuring that institutional knowledge is captured, organized, and accessible across all studios

• Ensure the firmwide knowledge library is kept current and that new staff can access existing knowledge rather than rebuild from scratch

CFOO Support

• Serve as an extension of the CFOO’s operational capacity — taking on responsibilities and decisions that would otherwise require the CFOO’s direct attention, freeing the CFOO to focus on executive leadership, financial strategy, and people and culture

• Prepare analyses, briefings, and materials for the CFOO and represent them in operational meetings across studios, ensuring alignment and continuity in leadership discussions

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS | The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications:

• Ten or more years of professional experience, with at least five years in a senior operations, practice management, or chief of staff role in a professional services or consulting environment

• Demonstrated success leading and building high performing operations teams from the ground up, with the ability to manage through phased growth by balancing hands-on execution with designing scalable structures and transitioning responsibilities to a growing team

• Strong financial fluency — able to read and act on P&L data, budget reports, utilization analyses, and AR reports without requiring significant support

• Experience designing and implementing firmwide operational processes, tools, and standards across a complex, multi-office organization

• Demonstrated ability to lead firm-wide strategic initiatives, managing cross-functional stakeholders and driving implementation across a multi-studio or multi-practice environment

• Exceptional organizational, communication, and relationship building skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, maintain complex systems, and serve as a trusted partner to senior leaders and staff at all levels

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where systems are still being built and priorities can shift quickly

• Experience with financial and project management platforms such as Sage Intacct, Salesforce, or Concur preferred

• Commitment to HR&A’s mission and values, including a demonstrated commitment to inclusion and diversity

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS | The base salary range for this position is $150,000–$195,000 plus annual performance bonus. Where an offer falls inside the pay range is dependent on experience. HR&A offers competitive compensation packages based on qualifications and experience.

HR&A is an employee-owned company, meaning you will have the opportunity to benefit from the firm’s growth over time through participation in an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Each year, the firm will contribute funds to this long-term wealth-building account and may make contributions to other retirement accounts. HR&A also provides a comprehensive benefits package that goes well beyond coverage of 90–95% of healthcare premiums, dental and vision coverage.

HOW TO APPLY | HR&A is committed to attracting and retaining a talented, diverse, and high performing team of professionals dedicated to solving the challenges of urban life. Women, people of color, members of the LGBT community, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are strongly encouraged to apply.

To apply, click here. Please submit your cover letter and your resume as a single PDF document. Applications without this requested cover letter will not be reviewed.

As part of our ongoing work to build a hiring system that mitigates bias and is based on candidate merit and performance, we ask that you submit a version of your resume and cover letter that has your school information removed. Please list your degree, e.g., B.A. Economics; however, remove all references to undergraduate and graduate schools you have attended.

All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to their race, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status, medical condition, veteran status, or any other basis as protected by federal, state, or local law.

For more information, please contact us at [email protected].