Vice President of Operations

~ The East Bay SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is among Oakland’s venerable institutions, founded in 1874 “to eliminate animal cruelty, neglect and overpopulation by providing programs and education that support people and companion animals.” ~

The consummate operations executive who will be highly successful in this position will appreciate the privilege of overseeing the staff, facilities, and infrastructure – as well as certain programmatic functions usually outside of the operations function -- that support an institution of unparalleled prominence in the region it serves and preeminence in its field of service.

Position Overview

Considerable resources are required to sustain this level of service to a region of 2.5 million residents. With a budget of about $10 million, about 90 staff (including 6 full-time veterinarians), and revenues from earned income and contributed income, some 95% of this latter from individual gifts, the breadth of community charitable support is rarely in the nonprofit world so remarkable. Contributed income supplemented by income from endowment generates about 70% of annual revenues, with the balance earned from program services.

While this is a financially healthy organization, earned income through community education, advocacy, animal training, etc. will continue to be critically important to the organization’s financial profile, and it is the Vice President of Operations who, in addition to typical operations functions, oversees those earned income-generating departments. The challenge of administering these programmatic functions will be of special interest to the superior candidate for this position.

The Vice President of Operations is one of four Vice Presidents reporting to the President. The Vice President of Operations is responsible for the efficient and effective operation of two animal shelters and adoption centers, facility maintenance for three campuses, as well as advocacy, public education, volunteer and foster care services, and animal behavior and training. These responsibilities include supervision of all non-medical staff in the shelters, coordinating closely with the Vice President of Medical Services who is responsible for overseeing the veterinarians and staffs of the clinics.

Reporting Relationships:

The Vice President of Operations reports to the President & CEO, is an integral participant in the senior leadership team, and supervises all functions that are not fundraising, financial, or medical - while acting as a very involved peer and resource to the vice presidents primarily responsible for those functions.

Responsibilities

The Vice President of Operations works closely in support of and in partnership with the President and other vice presidents in creating, executing and continuously evaluating for effectiveness a comprehensive strategy that maximizes the condition and usefulness of facilities, and the qualities of service provided by all staff. S/he is primarily responsible for the oversight of all functions outside of development, finance, and medical clinic services – and for the integration of those functions overseen with all functions overseen by his/her peers. The Vice President orchestrates the complex activities of an able and hard-working staff and ensures that all operations support the mission and services within and outside of operations. The Vice President is an effective partner to the other vice presidents, to the President, and, when called upon, to the Board in all operations activities.

Specifically, the Vice President:

• Provides dynamic support to the President, Board and program directors on all matters related to shelter operations, including medical support, to volunteer involvement throughout and including foster care of animals in the community, to dog behavior and training, to public education and advocacy, to the maintenance of all facilities and infrastructure, and generally to all functions not administered by the vice presidents of finance, clinic veterinary services, and fundraising/marketing/communications.
• The Vice President of Operations provides guidance, authority, and approval of humane euthanasia outcomes for shelter animals.
• Anticipates changing community needs with vision and imagination, facilitates long-range strategic and operational planning, and is responsible and accountable for the business-like implementation, including budget development and management of staff, volunteers, and all internal and external resources, of all plans affecting functions for which the Vice President is administratively responsible.
• Develops tactical plans, establishes goals and objectives, measures progress, defines the criteria for success, and has the ability retrospectively and prospectively to evaluate progress, to inform the President and Board of this progress, and to demonstrate the pragmatism and flexibility to recommend changes in direction based on tactical outcomes against strategic plan.
• Demonstrates as a curious and effective career-long natural leader, and as student of best practices how East Bay SPCA can be highly creative, mobile, adaptable, and competitive in increasing its effectiveness in all programs and operational functions for which the Vice President is responsible.
• Participates actively in regional, statewide and national associations to ensure that East Bay SPCA’s achievements are disseminated and leveraged by other organizations, even as East Bay SPCA is enabled by information from others to imitate creative and productive emerging practices in all functions for which the Vice President is responsible.

Qualifications

The Vice President of Operations has generalist experience, judgment and capabilities that will enable him/her to be an effective contributor to the leadership team of East Bay SPCA and to the Board, while bringing informed, wise oversight to both the programmatic and administrative functions reporting up to this position. The Vice President will also have all those leadership skills that will enable him/her to represent the organization articulately and effectively to key external stakeholders, to collaborating professionals and organizations in the system of animal welfare, in the business and nonprofit sectors, and to the community at large. The successful candidate will be a dedicated, results-driven, high-energy professional of unquestionable integrity.

Specifically, the Vice President:

• Is passionate about the mission of East Bay SPCA and genuinely enjoys companion pets and their owners, appreciating the joy of working in pet-friendly offices. Has other core qualities: empowering, inspiring, strategic, and transparent.
• Has expertise in managing staff, facilities, information technology, and all operational infrastructure, while at the same time has experience in program management, ideally involving public education, advocacy, volunteers.
• Has a can-do, roll-up-your-sleeves, no-job-too-small attitude, manages details and prioritizing well while maintaining oversight of the big picture, and has the ability to inspire colleagues and volunteers to accomplish many small things greatly.
• Has highly developed oral and written communication skills, and the vision, charisma, and dynamism necessary to project and promote the mission of East Bay SPCA, internally and externally.
• Demonstrates facility in tapping into information technology expertise to ensure that IT infrastructure supports the organization’s work to the highest level affordable.
• Proficiency preferred in Microsoft applications, Shelter Buddy, Avimark, and Active Network, or ability quickly to learn new IT applications.
• Demonstrates ability to be an active and effective member of the executive leadership team, anticipating community needs, leading, managing, and assessing strategic change within a complex, diverse, and rapidly changing environment, with demonstrated ability to work effectively in diverse communities.
• Inspires trust and respect, is sensitive to competing interests and styles of staff, understands the tensions between financial resources and programming, works respectfully and collaboratively with peers and demonstrates the ability to maintain a holistic view of the leadership team and the organization.
• Has the sound judgment to hire staff well, to nurture, motivate, reward, and mentor staff, to facilitate and coordinate staff as a partner-leader, to be accountable and to expect accountability, to avoid micromanagement whenever possible as a wise delegator while being able to step in when necessary to ensure completion of key tasks and to support and encourage staff learning. Is able to make difficult personnel decisions when necessary and in a timely, constructive way.
• Demonstrates business and financial acumen, recommends and oversees budgets, revenues and expenditures, costs out projects and then monitors the implementation of projects within approved budgets, maintains internal controls and financial discipline, and works closely with the President, Vice President of Finance, the other vice presidents, and Board to ensure the financial well-being of the organization. Is experienced in risk management, and in environments where compliance with regulatory and safety requirements are important to operations.
• Is comfortable handling dogs and cats of all temperaments, in an animal shelter environment.
• The ideal candidate will have experience in the field of animal welfare, in animal rescue, sheltering, and behavior training. Must be sensitive to needs of pet owners.
• Must demonstrate grace under pressure.
• Must have the willingness and ability to make sensitive and wise decisions about animal end-of-life. Must complete a 2-day class within six months to qualify for California Certified Euthanasia Technician and register for Veterinary Assistant Controlled Substance Permit.
• Has exceptional listening skill, compassion, centeredness and maturity, a collaborative style, durability and adaptability to the vicissitudes of the nonprofit environment, high energy, and a healthy sense of humor.

Education:

• Lifelong learning and educational achievement appropriate to the complexity of the position.

Compensation

• Competitive, negotiable based on salary history and experience, with exceptional benefits.

Additional Information

The East Bay SPCA is a happy and highly professional place in which to work or volunteer. The President has a background in zoology and finance, is a former Peace Corps volunteer, served as the Assistant Director of a major metropolitan zoo, and is highly respected as a charismatic leader, exceptional administrator, and a fearless, passionate and articulate animal welfare advocate.

Rarely do senior operations positions include functions that are at the programmatic center of an organization’s mission – public education and advocacy, shelter management, volunteer recruitment and engagement, final responsibility for life-and-death decisions requiring special euthanasia certification – and it will be this rare opportunity to oversee both program and operations that will appeal to the superior candidate.

For the senior operations executive, the healthy working environment, the quality of the facilities, the effectiveness of the operations staff, as well as the marriage of program and operations, together with the gratifying partnership with a President who is very committed to well-managed and integrated operations functions, make this an unusually attractive opportunity.

To Apply

Robert M. Fisher and Michael Loscavio of Rusher Loscavio Fisher Nonprofit Executive Search are privileged to provide recruitment counsel to the East Bay SPCA. All discussions with prospects for this position will be treated with utmost discretion and in strict confidence.

We would be grateful to receive inquiries, expressions of interest, nominations and applications (with resumes) addressed to both of the following: mloscavio@rll.com and bfisher@rll.com.