Senior Manager, Operations Excellence

Who We Are

We are Tennis! The USTA (United States Tennis Association) is the national governing body for the sport of tennis and the leader in promoting and developing the sport’s growth on every level in the United States, from local communities to the crown jewel of the professional game, the US Open.

Why Work for the USTA?

We are a passionate team of staff and volunteers focused on growing the sport of tennis and making it accessible to all. We are committed to removing barriers and creating opportunities for ALL to participate. Don’t know tennis? Don't worry, you can still find yourself in the game!

The Role

We are seeking a Senior Manager, Operations Excellence, to serve as a Process Architect and Strategic Fixer within the Technology department. This is a leadership position for an individual who is not a remote resource but a dedicated teammate at the heart of our operations. You are the engine of efficiency tasked with ensuring our teams have the logical workflows and clear requirements they need to achieve their goals.

Although this role resides within the Technology department, its impact is organization-wide and is not strictly limited to technical initiatives. We are moving away from reactive "order taking." As our Senior Manager, you will be proactive rather than reactive: you will hunt down broken processes, identify friction points, and propose the strategic projects necessary to fix them, whether they require a technology solution or a purely operational adjustment. You are Outcome Focused: your success is not measured by the delivery of a document, but by the measurable achievement of departmental goals, project success, and organizational excellence.

Clear Responsibilities: How You Will Lead the Team

• Strategic Operational Leadership: Act as a "Critical Friend" and senior guide for the organization, providing the analytical muscle to push, support, and drive daily operations toward peak performance across both technical and non-technical domains.
• Proactive System Discovery: You will not wait for a project to be assigned. You will audit current workflows to find the "white space" and bottlenecks that slow the organization down, proposing structural fixes that improve the business machine regardless of whether a technical change is involved.
• Operational Project Oversight: Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of identified process improvement initiatives. This includes defining project scope, establishing timelines, coordinating resources, and monitoring progress to ensure that operational enhancements are delivered successfully and on schedule.
• Friction and Value Stream Analysis: Use Lean principles to deconstruct complex tasks, identify non-value-added steps, and design "To-Be" workflows that accelerate speed-to-market for United States Tennis Association initiatives.
• Root Cause Investigation: Lead high-level investigations into operational "pain points" to identify structural solutions, moving beyond symptoms to address underlying business processes.
• Consensus and Guidance: Facilitate workshops to harmonize conflicting priorities among team leads, providing the data-driven guidance and leadership needed to reach a unified path forward for the organization.

Concrete Deliverables: Your Contribution to the Engine

You are responsible for creating and maintaining a library of high-value assets for the organization, ensuring there is zero ambiguity in our operations:

• Optimized Process Models: "As-Is" and "To-Be" workflows utilizing Business Process Model and Notation or Unified Modeling Language standards.
• Business Requirement Documents: Crystal-clear, executive-level specifications that translate complex team needs into actionable business logic.
• Strategic Gap Analysis Reports: Roadmaps detailing the distance between current capacity and our future-state operational goals.
• Operational Use Cases: Deep-dive documentation defining exactly how our people and tools interact to produce results for players and members.
• Implementation Toolkits: Practical documentation and guidance to lead the team through the adoption of new operational standards.

Communication and Interpersonal Requirements

• Foundational Communication Proficiency: You must demonstrate expert-level proficiency in written, oral, and active listening skills when engaging both technical and non-technical resources. Although this position is within the Technology department, much of your work will involve non-technical business operations; therefore, you must be able to communicate effectively across all functional units of the United States Tennis Association.
• The Strategic Storyteller and Technical Bridge: You must be able to translate complex data models and "messy" operational flows into simple, compelling narratives for executive leadership and non-technical stakeholders. Conversely, you must be able to translate high-level business strategies into precise, logical requirements for technical teams when appropriate. Your communication must bridge the gap between pure business operations and technical execution.
• Active Listening and Facilitation: You must be an expert at leading dynamic workshops and elicitation sessions. This requires superior active listening skills to synthesize information from technical subject-matter experts and business owners alike, keeping the group focused on the ultimate operational outcome, regardless of the domain.
• The Diplomat: You must navigate departmental politics and conflicting priorities with grace. You are expected to use your communication skills to drive consensus among diverse technical and business groups, influencing decision-making across the organization without needing formal authority.
• Professional Challenge: You must be comfortable acting as a "Critical Friend," which involves professionally challenging existing assumptions or "the way we have always done it" mindsets through constructive, clear dialogue with both technical leads and business executives across the organization.

Who You Are

• Professional Experience: Eight to ten or more years of high-impact experience in Business Analysis, Project Management, Process Engineering, or Operations Management, with at least three years in a management or lead capacity.
• Analytical Mastery: You have a deep mastery of the International Institute of Business Analysis framework and a proven track record of applying it to solve complex organizational problems.
• Certification or Equivalent (The "Flex" Requirement):
  • Highly Preferred: International Institute of Business Analysis Certified Business Analysis Professional.
  • Also Valued: Project Management Professional, Lean Six Sigma (Green or Black Belt), Certified Business Process Professional, or Project Management Institute Professional in Business Analysis.
  • Experience Substitution: We will accept ten or more years of documented, practical experience applying International Institute of Business Analysis, Project Management, and Lean standards in complex corporate or sports management environments.

Technical Toolkit

• Visualization: Expert in Visio, Miro, or Lucidchart. You must be able to tell a compelling story using a flowchart.
• Execution and Documentation: Mastery of Jira for task management, Monday.com, and Confluence for knowledge base and wiki creation.
• Data Analysis: High proficiency in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to track and report on departmental throughput and Key Performance Indicators.

Why You Will Want This Role

• True Ownership: You are the "owner" of our process architecture. You have the autonomy to identify what is broken and the authority to lead projects to fix it across the entire organization.
• High Visibility: You are not buried in a back office. You are an integral part of the Technology team, providing guidance that directly impacts the United States Tennis Association's digital transformation and broader operational success.
• Focus on the Work: We have stripped away technical User Acceptance Testing and methodology wars. You focus purely on Process, People, Projects, and Operations, delivering value whether the solution is technical or purely structural.

Are you ready to drive excellence from the inside out? Let us build something better together.

Note - This position can be located in Orlando, FL or White Plains, NY and designated as "hybrid/flex".

What We Offer

At the USTA, we know people are our most important asset. For this reason, we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to meet the needs of a diverse workforce!

• Flexibility: Our Hybrid with Flexibility approach combines a balance of remote working with in-office collaboration to spark teamwork and creativity.
• Comprehensive benefits designed to meet your unique needs: Medical, dental, vision, access to doctors virtually, a flexible spending account to manage your health and dependent care expenses, and life and disability insurance are a small part of our offerings.
• Time to recharge and energize: Generous paid time off policy - including vacation, sick, personal, and paid holidays, parental leave, and a paid winter recess.
• Plan for your future financially and professionally: 401(k) with employer matching (up to 3%), promotional and growth opportunities, Learning and Development programs to learn on the job, and up to $5,000 for tuition reimbursement, per academic year.
• Mental and emotional wellness: Resources for overall well-being including mental health and meditation benefits.
• Other cool perks: A personalized health management program, pet insurance, commuter benefits, identity theft protection, discounts with our network of partners, and fun events are just a few of the optional benefits available.

The expected range for the base salary for this position is $100,000.00 to $120,000.00. This range does not include any additional pay or benefits for which a person may qualify. The actual base salary offered is determined by several variables, including, as appropriate, the applicant's qualifications for the position, the years of relevant experience, their unique skills, and the location from which they will be performing the job.

Come One, Come All

We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested; we'd love to learn how you can “serve” our team with your unique experience!

USTA is dedicated to providing equal employment opportunities for all individuals, regardless of age, disability, national origin, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, pregnancy, veteran status, marital status, family status, alienage or citizenship status, creed, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.