The Business Planning & Operations Director is responsible for leading, designing, operating, and continuously improving the planning, capacity management, and business operating mechanisms that enable effective prioritization, resource allocation, and execution readiness across the organization.
This role serves as the bridge between customer demand, business priorities, organizational capacity, and delivery execution. Working closely with customers, executive leadership, Product, Technology, Delivery, Customer Success, Finance, and Enterprise PMO teams, the Director ensures that strategic initiatives are properly planned, prioritized, governed, resourced, and positioned for successful execution before entering delivery.
This is a hands-on leadership role that combines strategic planning responsibilities with direct ownership of planning processes, governance activities, resource management models, planning technology, executive reporting, and decision-support materials. The successful candidate must be equally comfortable engaging with executive leaders and customers on strategic priorities while personally building the frameworks, governance structures, capacity models, reporting, and planning tools that translate strategy into execution. This role requires a builder's mindset, balancing strategic leadership with a willingness to directly create, implement, and continuously improve the planning capabilities that support the organization.
The Director acts as a trusted advisor to both customers and executive leadership by providing strategic planning guidance, organizational insights, capacity analysis, and governance leadership that improve business outcomes, execution readiness, and investment decisions.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Business Planning & Strategic Alignment
· Facilitate annual, quarterly, and ongoing planning processes across the organization.
· Develop planning frameworks, governance processes, decision-making cadences, and planning standards that improve organizational alignment and execution readiness.
· Partner with customers and internal leaders to translate strategic priorities into executable roadmaps, milestones, resource plans, delivery strategies, and measurable outcomes.
· Support prioritization discussions by providing visibility into capacity, operational dependencies, constraints, risks, and tradeoffs.
· Establish consistent planning artifacts, templates, and reporting framework designed to improve transparency and decision-making.
· Coordinate cross-functional planning activities to ensure alignment across business and technology teams.
· Facilitate executive planning sessions and operational reviews that drive alignment and accountability.
Capacity Planning & Resource Management
· Own enterprise capacity planning, resource forecasting, and workforce planning processes.
· Develop and maintain capacity planning models that align customer demand, strategic priorities, available resources, skills, and organizational constraints.
· Analyze resource utilization, allocation trends, delivery demand, and capacity forecasts to identify risks, constraints, and optimization opportunities.
· Lead planning discussions related to staffing strategies, sourcing decisions, investment priorities, and resource tradeoffs.
· Provide executive leadership and resource managers with data-driven recommendations regarding capacity, workforce planning, investment decisions, and organizational readiness.
· Maintain visibility into organizational capacity, resource commitments, skills availability, and future demand through dashboards, reporting, and planning reviews.
Identify resource gaps, overcommitments, and capability constraints and develop mitigation strategies that support business and customer objectives.
Business Operations & Governance
· Establish and manage operational cadences that support planning, prioritization, and leadership decision-making.
· Facilitate governance forums, planning reviews, and operational checkpoints.
· Maintain planning and operational standards across teams to improve consistency, accountability, and transparency.
· Support development and tracking of operational objectives, key results, and performance measures.
· Drive accountability for planning commitments, action items, and operational follow-through.
· Evaluate and improve governance processes to increase organizational effectiveness and planning maturity.
Reporting, Analytics & Decision Support
· Develop executive dashboards and reporting that provide visibility into planning performance, capacity utilization, resource allocation, and strategic initiatives.
· Analyze trends, risks, constraints, and operational inefficiencies and provide actionable recommendations.
· Produce business insights that support prioritization, investment decisions, and organizational planning.
· Establish KPIs that measure planning effectiveness, operational efficiency, capacity utilization, and resource optimization.
· Prepare executive-level presentations and planning materials for leadership review.
· Act as a trusted advisor to executive leadership by providing scenario analysis, recommendations, and operational insights that support strategic decisions.
Planning Systems & Operational Enablement
· Serve as the business owner for enterprise planning and operational reporting platforms, including Smartsheet and related planning tools.
· Design and optimize planning workflows, dashboards, governance processes, intake mechanisms, and reporting capabilities.
· Drive adoption of planning technologies and automation opportunities that improve operational visibility and decision-making.
· Ensure planning data integrity, consistency, and usability across stakeholders.
· Evaluate emerging tools, capabilities, and industry best practices to continuously improve planning maturity and operational effectiveness.
· Business Transformation & Process Optimization
· Identify opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness through process simplification, standardization, and operational redesign.
· Assess and optimize planning, prioritization, and resource management processes to improve execution outcomes.
· Support organizational change initiatives that strengthen planning discipline, operational maturity, and cross-functional collaboration.
· Develop recommendations for improving operating models, governance structures, and decision-making mechanisms.
· Promote a culture of continuous improvement through data-driven decision-making and operational excellence.
Leadership & Influence
· Influence leaders, customers, and stakeholders with and without direct authority.
· Build strong partnerships across Customer, Product, Technology, Delivery, Customer Success, Finance, and executive leadership teams.
· Provide work direction and guidance to interns and temporary resources as assigned.
· Support onboarding, training, and development activities to build planning and operational capabilities.
· Foster collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning within the team environment.
Additional Responsibilities
· Support special projects and strategic initiatives as assigned.
· Perform other related duties as required.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES:
· Strong understanding of strategic planning, business operations, capacity planning, and resource management practices.
· Demonstrated ability to build and operationalize planning frameworks, governance processes, and business operating mechanisms.
· Advanced analytical and problem-solving capabilities with strong attention to detail.
· Expertise in Smartsheet administration, reporting, dashboards, workflow automation, and operational reporting.
· Ability to synthesize complex information into actionable insights for executive audiences.
· Strong facilitation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
· Experience developing executive reporting, KPIs, scorecards, and operational dashboards.
· Ability to influence without direct authority across cross-functional teams.
· Strong organizational and project coordination capabilities.
· Experience supporting business transformation, organizational change, and operational improvement initiatives.
· Strong business acumen and ability to balance strategic priorities with operational realities.
MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS:
· Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Finance, Information Technology, Operations Management, or a related field required. Typically, 10+ years of experience in strategic planning, business operations, management consulting, professional services, portfolio planning, enterprise transformation, or related disciplines.
· Demonstrated experience supporting executive planning processes, operational governance, and business decision-making.
· Experience developing capacity planning models, resource forecasting approaches, and operational reporting frameworks.
· Advanced experience with Smartsheet required.
· Experience with Jira, Microsoft 365, Power BI, and related reporting platforms preferred.
· Experience building or operating enterprise planning, resource management, or business operating systems preferred.
· Experience in financial services, fintech, SaaS, consulting, or technology organizations preferred.
· Experience supporting Agile, hybrid, or scaled planning environments preferred.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS
· Ability to report to work in person and to attend work-related functions/activities.
· Ability to work at a desk and use a computer for extended periods.
· Ability to lift, carry, and move objects up to 10 pounds occasionally.
· Ability to occasionally travel as required.
· Ability to type and utilize various software programs efficiently and operate general office equipment.
· Ability to work in an office setting with moderate noise levels.
· Additional physical demands include, but may not be limited to, frequent talking or hearing, occasional push/pull, stoop/kneel, bend/twist, and reach to retrieve or move items in a typical office environment.
· Must be able to work scheduled hours and overtime as needed.
· This role has been designated as a Hybrid role, which gives employees the opportunity to work from home on Mondays and Fridays and working in the office on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
· Exceptions to the designated work arrangement may be made based on business needs .
· Ability to concentrate and focus on details when reviewing documents, analyzing data, and performing computer-based tasks.
· Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines while maintaining accuracy and efficiency.
· Ability to problem-solve efficiently and make sound decisions.
· Ability to manage job-related stress and interactions with clients, colleagues, or external parties.
· Ability to communicate ideas clearly in both verbal and written form.
· Ability to work with others in a collegial and collaborative manner.
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION : Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their position.
