Vice President of Operations

About This Role

This executive role is responsible for ensuring a consistent and high-quality customer experience across the company's portfolio of classified facilities. The Vice President of Operations leads the Site Leads, who are the on-the-ground owners of each facility, and develops the operating model for all sites. This position reports to the CEO and requires someone who thrives in a fast-scaling environment.

Responsibilities

• Maniacally advocate for the customer, deeply know their requirements, manage the holistic feedback cycle on product performance, and ensure the company always makes decisions with a customer-first mentality
• Own the portfolio operational budget and aggregate site P&L, working with cross-functional partners to ensure revenue and expenditures meet or beat budget
• Own the aggregate operational performance of the Nooks portfolio across every site and product line
• Develop and manage against operational metrics that provide simplistic but holistic insight to customer usage and product feedback
• Build and scale the site operating model so every location delivers to one consistent Nooks standard
• Lead a team that takes extreme ownership of the delivery of Nooks products and the customer experience, working in tandem with the cross-functional teams that make that possible
• Hire, develop, and directly manage the Site Leads as the single points of accountability for their facilities, set and hold the standard for what a great Site Lead does
• Run the operating cadence
• Serve as mentor to Site Leads and broader site teams, ensuring Nooks is a culture that fosters growth, challenge, and empowerment to succeed
• Serve as the senior operational internal client to IT/Cyber, Security, Facilities, Growth, People, and Finance
• Own, manage, and evolve the governance that makes the matrix model work: internal service-level commitments, decision rights, and escalation paths between sites and functions
• Resolve conflicts between Site Leads and functional leaders, and serve as the executive escalation point when a site and a function can align
• Develop, implement, and evolve standard operating procedures for each location, ranging from required components like site safety to differentiating elements of the Nooks brand, such as a culture of hospitality and customer-centric service
• Ensure the Security and IT/Cyber policies and protocols set by the CSO and the VP of IT/Cyber are followed at every site by all employees, contractors, and visitors
• Represent Nooks Operations externally with defense partners, visiting government officials, and industry forums to support the portfolio
• Extend your standing in the security and defense community to build Nooks' credibility and advance the nascent CIaaS category through conferences, panels, and industry associations
• Act as a visible, credible operational voice for the CIaaS model, turning personal reputation and trust into pipeline, partnerships, and talent for Nooks

Requirements

• 10+ years of operations leadership, including multi-site or portfolio-level operational accountability
• Direct experience operating in classified or defense environments, with practical command of ICD 705 and NISPOM
• A track record managing senior operational leaders
• Demonstrated P&L ownership and the judgment to translate operational decisions into financial outcomes
• A U.S. government Top Secret/SCI clearance, or the ability to obtain and maintain one
• Experience standing up or scaling a multi-site operating model in a high-growth or venture-backed company
• Fluency operating in a matrixed environment where functional teams are governed centrally and coordinated at the site
• Authorized to work in the United States
• U.S. citizenship is required
• Eligible for and committed to obtaining and maintaining a U.S. government security clearance as a condition of employment

About the Company

Nooks pioneers Classified-Infrastructure-as-a-Service (CIaaS) by designing, building, and operating Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities (SCIFs) and other secured, classified environments for the defense and national security community. The company works with agencies, contractors, and mission-driven organizations to deliver the physical infrastructure that makes classified work possible.