The Director of Campus Services Strategic Initiatives & Engagement leads and supports cross-functional efforts to achieve short- and long-term goals that enhance how Campus Services operates, how we serve students, faculty, and researchers, and how our teams positively experience their work. This role weaves together people strategy, business improvement, internal communications, and data-informed decision-making to drive meaningful, measurable change across a diverse and increasingly aligned Campus Services portfolio.
Partnering closely with Campus Services leadership, Human Resources, and departmental leaders, the Director: (1) advances a coordinated strategy to ensure Campus Services is a workplace where everyone can thrive, (2) drives high-impact operational improvements aligned with key performance indicators (KPIs), and (3) strengthens communication and connection across teams and throughout Campus Services.
Job-Specific Responsibilities:
People Strategy & Workforce Engagement (~30%)
In partnership with the Senior Director for Human Resources, lead continued development and execution of the Campus Services people strategy, informed by engagement surveys and employee feedback
- Facilitate data collection and translate survey results (e.g., Pulse Survey), focus groups, and other feedback into clear priorities and action plans.
- Partner with HR to integrate engagement priorities into goal setting, performance reviews, and leadership expectations.
- In collaboration with HR, design and facilitate leadership and manager engagements and learning experiences, in partnership with HR, CWD and leaders.
- Provide thought partnership to leaders and managers on workforce engagement, change, and recognition practices.
Business Improvement & Strategic Initiatives (~20%)
In partnership with the Associate Vice President for Finance, Strategy and Technology, lead cross-functional initiatives that simplify and improve Campus Services wide business processes in ways that improve organizational performance and individual team member job satisfaction, with emphasis on:
- Jettisoning low/no-value work.
- Identifying opportunities to use automation tools to simplify processes.
- Standardizing and simplifying recurring processes where possible.
- Connect Campus Services business units with the appropriate partners, tools, and resources in support of larger, unit specific projects.
- Establish and manage an intake and prioritization approach for improvement efforts aligned with Campus Services strategy, financial realities, and capacity.
- Coordinate design, planning, and disciplined execution of high-impact initiatives that span multiple departments or functions.
- Support leaders in building āstop / simplify / automateā practices into department-level planning and operations.
KPI, Analytics & Data-Informed Decisions (~25%)
In partnership with the Campus Services leadership team, HR and finance partners, leverage the existing KPI foundation with a focus on people, customer satisfaction and financial performance to support leaders in using KPIs as tools for improvement, not just reporting.
- Translate complex data into clear narratives, insights, and options for decision-makers.
- Works with business units to design evaluation approaches for major initiatives (people, financial performance, customer satisfaction) and communicate findings with recommendations for action plans, pivots or pilots/scaling.
- Serve as the lead support resource to business unit leads in executing the customer satisfaction data collection framework.
- Advise department leaders on aligning local initiatives with Campus Services-wide priorities, minimizing duplicative efforts, and ensuring that changes are sustainable in a leaner environment.
Internal Communications & Cross-CS Convening (~25%)
Build strong working relationships with Campus Services administrators and communications professionals and Harvard Public Affairs and Communications (HPAC) to share opportunities, align and organize information, and distill complex updates into clear, actionable communications.
- Coordinate internal communications related to engagement, change, and key strategic initiatives.
- Connect Campus Services business units with the appropriate partners, tools, and resources.
- Design and facilitate cross-Campus Services convenings (e.g., Senior leadership team, extended leadership team, peer learning groups, community of practice) that encourage transparency, shared learning, and alignment.
- Develop tools, templates, and guides that help leaders communicate consistently and effectively with their teams.
- Create communications collateral that are rooted in Campus Servicesā mission and guiding principles and advance a culture of grounded optimism, shared purpose, recognition, and continuous improvement.