Director of Operations & Culture

Overview

The Culture & Operations Director strengthens the Hawai‘i and Palmyra Business Unit (BU) by leading organizational effectiveness, people and culture support, and operational alignment during a period of significant organizational change. The role helps the BU translate Division and organization-wide initiatives into clear BU practices, communications, and systems. The Culture & Operations Director builds long-term resilience across culture, operations, and cross-functional coordination, ensuring staff and programs have the support needed to deliver results.

The Culture & Operations Director reports to the State Deputy Director and serves as a cross-functional integrator and organizational effectiveness lead for the Hawai‘i and Palmyra BU. They partner with the State Deputy Director, People Team, Finance, Operations, and Program Directors and Leads to establish shared goals and clear success factors; to design and implement practical operating rhythms; and to embed change-management practices that support staff through Division and organizational shifts.

This position will be based out of the Honolulu Office and the expectation of the role is to be in office 2-3x per week.

• Lead culture & engagement practices within the BU—facilitating two-way communication, staff engagement activities, and manager support; and building routines that sustain a healthy, connected, high-performance culture.
• Drive operational excellence and systems alignment—mapping workflows, clarifying roles and handoffs, strengthening internal controls, and improving cross-team coordination across Finance, Operations, HR, Culture & Engagement, and programs.
• Translate strategy into execution—turn Division/TNC initiatives into BU-level processes, timelines, and communications; monitor progress against goals; and adjust plans with stakeholders.
• Provide finance-adjacent leadership (non-finance technical role)—work with Finance leads to ensure staff understand core processes, deadlines, and implications of organizational finance changes, while maintaining ownership of operations and culture deliverables.
• Coach and enable leaders and teams in change-management tools and practices; anticipate risks and interdependencies; and facilitate issue resolution across functions.
• They will leverage enterprise standards and contribute to skill transfer across the BU with an emphasis on cross-functional planning, process improvement, and organizational effectiveness.
• Map and improve BU operating mechanisms (planning cycles, meeting rhythms, decision rights, role clarity, intake/triage).
• Act independently and in supervisor’s stead, as needed; exercise independent judgment to identify and solve problems;
• Strengthen internal controls and risk-mitigation practices; ensure alignment with TNC policy and Division guidance;
• Demonstrate sensitivity in handling confidential information;
• Champion inclusive, values-aligned culture; facilitate feedback loops; and coordinate staff communications;
• Support HMT in adopting TNC change-management practices to guide teams through Division and organizational shifts;
• Partner with Finance leads to communicate timelines, dependencies, and impacts of organizational finance changes; improve staff understanding of how financial systems intersect with BU operations, without serving as a finance technical specialist;
• Model collaborative, systems-oriented leadership across the BU and Division;
• Ensure that BU processes adhere to Conservancy policies and procedures; support audit readiness and documentation standards in partnership with functional leads;
• Coach and enable leaders and teams in change-management tools and practices; anticipate risks and interdependencies; and facilitate issue resolution across functions.
• Exercise independent judgment; act on behalf of the State Director and State Deputy Director as delegated;
• May manage or participate in complex negotiations;
• Serve as a liaison across functions and with Division partners to ensure consistent standards and effective information flow;
• May supervise one or more administrative or professional staff, including training and professional…