Director, Global Operations

• Set the direction for CHAI’s internal AI transformation in partnership with the C-suite and the Innovation team, and provide strategic and management oversight to the manager who delivers it – covering organization-wide rollout coordination, training and enablement, AI governance and policy, pilot coordination, and vendor relationship management.
• Lead and facilitate cross-functional operational initiatives across CHAI’s global and country teams, including complex priorities that cut across departmental lines.
• Identify and drive process improvements across CHAI’s internal operations, designing better ways of working and ensuring changes are implemented durably.
• Provide executive oversight of CHAI’s global safety and security function, led day-to-day by an Associate Director, Safety & Security; serve as the senior organizational escalation point for significant incidents.
• Build and oversee an effective, right-sized knowledge management system for CHAI that is aligned with the organization’s AI transformation goals.
• Lead a Global Operations team of six FTEs – providing direction, coaching, and meaningful investment in each team lead’s development.
• Serve as PMO for high-priority cross-functional initiatives at the request of CHAI Leadership.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent and at least 12 years of relevant professional experience, including demonstrated success in a leadership role with direct management of teams and cross-functional accountability.
• Strong operational generalist background with the credibility and range to oversee functions where you are not the deepest subject-matter expert.
• Genuine working knowledge of AI tools, their capabilities, and limitations, and how they can be applied to transform enterprise workflows; deep technical expertise on AI is not required, but the ability to lead CHAI’s internal AI adoption agenda credibly and engage substantively on AI strategy is.
• Demonstrated experience leading change management or organizational transformation initiatives, including shifting staff behaviour and building new ways of working across a distributed workforce.
• Prior experience navigating ambiguity and providing organizational direction in decentralized environments with limited formal structure.
• Proven ability to build and manage high-performing teams, with experience in coaching and developing staff at the mid-manager level.
• Willingness to travel internationally, up to 30% annually.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience improving how work gets done across an organization – whether through process redesign, restructuring teams, building new operating models, or leading operational change initiatives.
• Experience working closely with C-suite leaders to make data-driven recommendations and drive successful execution on leadership priorities.
• Experience in fast-paced and high-rigour sectors, such as management consulting or tech.
• Experience in global health, international development, or a comparable mission-driven sector.
• Exposure to safety, security, or risk management functions in an international operating context.
• Experience managing geographically dispersed teams across multiple countries, time zones, and cultural contexts.