Senior Director, Strategic Operations and Program Management

Description
Sprout Social is hiring a Sr. Director of Strategic Operations and Program Management to build and lead a critical new function that drives execution excellence across the company’s highest priority initiatives.

Why join Sprout’s People team?
Sprout’s People team champions a strong, inclusive culture by ensuring teams have the talent, programs, and operating support they need to achieve ambitious goals. Our work sits at the intersection of strategy, execution, and organizational effectiveness, partnering closely with leaders to turn priorities into meaningful, measurable outcomes.

About the Role
Sprout Social is building an enterprise PMO to bring greater rigor, clarity, and accountability to how our most important cross-functional initiatives are executed.

Reporting to the Chief People Officer, you will serve as the operational engine behind Sprout’s top company-wide priorities. You will translate strategy into action by designing the infrastructure, operating rhythms, and decision frameworks that ensure initiatives move from planning to results with speed and focus.

This is not a traditional PMO role centered on schedules and status reporting. You will act as a trusted advisor to executive leaders, pressure testing initiative design, identifying and removing blockers, and helping leaders make informed trade-offs. You will be equally comfortable building frameworks from scratch and rolling up your sleeves to drive progress day to day.

From day one, you will operate at both the strategic and operational levels, shaping how initiatives are scoped and prioritized, surfacing systemic issues that slow execution, and serving as a thought partner to senior leadership on where the organization should focus next.

What You’ll Do

Build and scale the enterprise PMO

• Establish the operating model, core rituals, and tooling to manage Sprout’s top six cross-functional company priorities
• Create clear, lightweight visibility into progress, risks, dependencies, and decisions needed without unnecessary bureaucracy
• Design measurement and reporting systems that provide genuine insight into initiative health and execution effectiveness
• Use data to inform prioritization and resource allocation by analyzing effort versus impact, velocity, and cross-initiative dependencies
• Partner closely with initiative owners to surface trade-offs, remove blockers, and accelerate decision making
• Codify how Sprout executes major initiatives, iterating on what works and evolving the model as the business scales

Drive execution of critical company initiatives

• Own end-to-end program management for six high-stakes, cross-functional initiatives
• Translate executive vision into executable plans with clear ownership, milestones, and success metrics
• Track leading and lagging indicators to identify early warning signs and course correct before issues escalate
• Provide portfolio-level oversight by identifying patterns across initiatives, distinguishing systemic issues from one-off challenges, and advising on sequencing, integration, and resourcing
• Anticipate dependencies and conflicts across initiatives and run effective operating rhythms to maintain momentum
• Distill complex, multi-threaded work into clear updates, decisions needed, and next actions for senior leaders

Partner on strategic planning and organizational effectiveness

• Partner with the CPO and executive leadership team on annual and long-range strategic planning
• Connect company strategy to day-to-day execution, ensuring leaders and teams have a clear line of sight to priorities and outcomes
• Identify organizational friction points and capability gaps that slow execution, and design interventions that improve velocity
• Develop frameworks and tools that strengthen decision making and execution effectiveness across the organization
• Evolve from managing the initiative portfolio to helping shape it by making recommendations based on capacity, dependencies, and strategic value

Manage and develop the function

• Hire, coach, and develop one direct report to support program management execution
• Build a scalable operating model and determine when additional program management capacity is needed as the company grows

What You’ll Bring

• 12+ years of experience in strategy, operations, program management, or management consulting, including 5+ years in a leadership role
• Proven track record leading complex, cross-functional, high-stakes initiatives from strategy through execution
• Deep experience building programs, operating rhythms, and execution frameworks in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills, including designing measurement frameworks and translating insights into action
• Exceptional communication skills and executive presence, with the ability to partner credibly with C-suite leaders

Preferred qualifications

• Experience in high-growth technology or SaaS environments
• PMO or program management certification (PMP, PgMP)
• MBA or relevant graduate degree
• Experience in organizational design, change management, or organizational effectiveness
• Background in management consulting, internal strategy, or enterprise PMO roles
• Experience supporting executive or board-level strategic planning

How You’ll Grow

Within 3 months:

• Build strong relationships with senior leaders and initiative owners
• Take ownership of major initiatives already in flight
• Establish core success metrics and operating rhythms for the PMO

Within 6 months:

• Provide consistent, high-quality portfolio visibility and insights to executive leadership
• Lead planning and prioritization cycles with a clear execution lens
• Establish the PMO as a trusted partner in how Sprout executes strategy

Within 12 months:

• Be indispensable to how Sprout turns strategy into results
• Build systems and rhythms that materially improve execution effectiveness across the company
• Continue evolving the function through innovation, insight, and strong operational leadership

This timeline represents an ideal progression and may evolve based on business needs and priorities.

Our Benefits Program 

We’re proud to regularly be recognized for our team, product, and culture. We invest in our team with a comprehensive, competitive benefits program:

• Comprehensive Health & Wellness: Premium BCBSIL medical, dental (high/low plans), and vision (Eyemed) insurance for you and your eligible dependents.
• Premium Mental Health Support: Full, free access to Modern Health for you and your dependents, including coaching, therapy sessions, and digital wellness resources.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) plan with a 50% company match on your first 6% of contributions (a 3% total match).
• Financial Security: 100% employer-paid Life and Disability insurance for your peace of mind.
• Flexible Paid Time Off: A flexible PTO policy, supplemented with additional company-wide Rest & Recharge days throughout the year.
• Paid Parental Leave: Up to 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents to support you in expanding your family.
• Annual Lifestyle Stipend: A $1,000 USD annual Lifestyle Spending Account to spend on your physical, mental, and financial well-being.
• Work From Home Support: A one-time $550 USD stipend to set up your home office, plus a monthly $50 USD stipend for internet.
• Giving Back: 16 hours of paid volunteer time annually, plus a $100 annual match for your charitable donations.
• Additional Financial Perks: Access to pre-tax commuter benefits, subsidized child/eldercare (Care.com), discounted pet insurance (Figo), and no-cost personalized financial wellness support through Your Money Line.

*This list is for informational purposes only. Benefit offerings are discretionary and subject to change and do not constitute a contract or guarantee of benefits.

Whenever possible, Sprout wants to provide our team with the flexibility to work in the location that makes the most sense for them. Sprout maintains a remote workforce in many places in the United States. However, we are not set up in all states, so please look at the drop-down box in our application to see whether your state is listed. Few roles require an office setting. If your position requires a physical presence in a Sprout office, it will be evident in the job listing and your offer letter.

Individual base pay is based on various factors, including whether you’re located in Zone 1 or Zone 2, as well as relevant experience and skills. In the United States, we have two geographic pay zones. For this role, the expected base pay ranges for new hires are:

• Zone 1 (CA, NY, WA): $237,600.00-$297,000.00 USD annually
• Zone 2 (All other US states): $216,000.00-$270,000.00 USD annually

The listed ranges represent earning potential in this position. These ranges were determined by a market-based compensation approach; we used data from trusted third-party compensation sources to set equitable, consistent, and competitive ranges. We also evaluate compensation bi-annually, identify any changes in the market and make adjustments to our ranges and existing employee compensation as needed.

Base pay is only one element of an employee's total compensation at Sprout. Every Sprout team member has an opportunity to receive restricted stock units (RSUs) under Sprout’s equity plan. Employees (and their dependents) are covered by medical, dental, vision, basic life, accidental death, and dismemberment insurance, and Modern Health (a wellness benefit).  Employees are able to enroll in Sprout’s company’s 401k plan, in which Sprout will match 50% of your contributions up to 6% with a maximum contribution. Sprout offers “Flexible Paid Time Off” and ten paid holidays. We have outlined the various components to an employee’s full compensation package here to help you to understand our total rewards package.

Sprout Social is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on identity- race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged or sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Because Sprout Social is a federal contractor, we affirmatively recruit individuals with a disability and protected veterans. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our latest DEI Report.

If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please contact us by email at accommodations@sproutsocial.com and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. We'll do all we can to ensure you're set up for success during our interview process while upholding your privacy, including requests for accommodation. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please click here (1) Equal Opportunity Employment Poster and (2) Sprout Social's Affirmative Action Statement. 

Additionally, Sprout Social participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law

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