Our client is a world-class engineering and construction firm headquartered on the east coast. Due to extraordinary growth and the need to continuously improve internal systems and processes in step with the increasing quality of its customers and personnel; our client is interested in adding an exceptionally talented leader to lead its corporate administration, a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).
This newly created role will direct over 250 employees within the enterprise Service Centers, excluding the CFO domain, with multi-functional support responsibilities to include: Human Resources, Recruiting, Legal, Contracts, Management Information Systems (MIS), Education and Training, Facilities, and Travel, at a minimum; with the potential for significant engagement with the Purchasing and Logistics, Security, and Call Center operations. The primary mission of the candidate will be to create an organization that supports the Operating Divisions (P&L Centers), providing world class services that are business and growth enablers while maximizing the quality, productivity, and cost-efficiency of Service Center operations. The candidate will work in concert with each Operating Division to establish their specific needs and priorities, while establishing common procedures to effectively support the entire enterprise.
RSMR is seeking executive candidates of the highest caliber with significant experience in some aspects of the Service Center functional support areas (“domains”) listed above. Equally important, ideal candidates will have strategic planning, financial analysis, and operational experience and fully understand the pressures inherent in running a P&L center, in order to tailor their systems, procedures and process improvements to most effectively support the needs of the Operating Divisions.
Job Scope:
- Provide direct daily management and direction of all CAO domain Service Center staff, serve as the focal point for interaction with the CEO, CFO and Operating Divisions with respect to CAO domain activities.
- Provide inputs to corporate management on strategic planning and organizational design processes, combined with recommendations and insights that contribute to overall corporate direction.
- Develop and execute human resource management policy and programs that contribute to the retention, motivation, and development of world class employees capable of meeting current and future organizational needs and objectives.
- Develop and execute recruiting policy, programs and outreach initiatives that meet the diverse, expanding, and mission critical needs of the Operating Divisions.
- Establish Legal and Contracts Administration frameworks that address both strategic needs of the corporation as well as tactical Operating Division requirements with an emphasis on cost efficiency and risk mitigation.
- Ensure internal MIS operations are effectively structured to meet current and planned organizational growth and capacity.
- Develop sophisticated Education and Training programs, using both in-house and outsourced providers, that are directly tied to enterprise career paths and are continuously evolving to meet changing technology and marketplace imperatives.
- Oversee the delivery of physical working environments that provide a positive, productive climate for enterprise operations through the effective execution of maintenance and general building services. Provide strategic facilities planning, focused on long term geographic and cost effectiveness considerations, in support of projected continued corporate expansion.
- Develop employee travel and relocation programs that effectively accommodate the company’s continued domestic and international expansion.
- Conduct an organizational analysis designed to 1) define and improve performance standards, 2) increase efficiency and output in accordance with standards, and 3) optimize cost/benefit ratios.
- Develop To-Be business processes within CAO domain Centers, using individual expertise, extrinsic benchmarks, and intrinsic business objectives from Operating Divisions and develop time-phased implementation plan to enable changes.
- Conduct gap analysis with respect to As-Is and To-Be states and define time-phased execution plans to enable recommended enhancements to processes, products, performance, and measurable business outputs.
- Establish precise, quantifiable performance metrics to measure outputs of CAO domain centers and routinely assess capacity and capabilities against benchmarks and intrinsic objectives. Develop internal customer satisfaction measures and matrices to continuously gather feedback on performance.
- Develop and/or validate cost models/budgets for CAO domain Centers; develop strategies to implement cost model and budgetary enhancements to reduce costs and/or increase efficiencies of Service Center operations.
Education / Experience Required:
- Bachelors Degree required, Masters Degree (MS, MIS, MBA) strongly preferred.
- Twenty-five (25+) years of progressively advancing responsibility and leadership positions within an engineering or technology-based enterprise.
- Demonstrated leader of complex organizations in technically diverse and demanding industries.
- Exceptional communicator with proven personnel skills.
- Analytical thinker with the ability to engage equally at strategic and tactical levels.
- Results- and process-driven manager with a focus on measurable planning and performance.
- Critical problem solver with track record of proactively identifying and resolving challenges.
