Deputy Executive Director & Chief Operating Officer (Coo)
Deputy Executive Director & COO of international society for optics and photonics professionals, providing members and scientific community with educational resources.I led all aspects of daily operations as COO, from finance, legal, IT, and HR, to building services, customer service, conventions, and meetings. My work required excellent communication skills and disciplined attention to details as I reported to the Chief Executive Officer while managing four departments, four department heads, and a 70-member staff. The society grew and met its strategic objectives as I led internal restructuring, established best practices for each unit, and improved operational functions. Communications among departments also improved under my leadership as I instituted cross-organizational initiatives and led weekly senior management team meetings to break down organizational silos.In the first six months, I guided the organization to improve work quality, productivity, and departmental/organizational bench strength, in addition to hiring a new CFO, CIO, and senior director of meetings and conventions. Implementing new selection processes allowed us to attract and retain a strong staff and reduce turnover by 8% within 12 months. In addition, I decreased the cost of benefits programs by negotiating competitive pricing and cutting organizational expenses by $40,000 while maintaining level and quality of employee benefits. Operations became more efficient once we better aligned our talent with organizational objectives and created more efficient processes throughout the organization.Following my strategic vision, the Board also unanimously approved a $2.4 million strategic investment plan for technology infrastructure and software systems; it was the first board-approved draw from reserve funds in the organization’s history. Financial processing improved as well after I created new financial practices that supported board reporting deadlines and other efficiencies.