Senior Manager of IT Strategy and Operations

About Elemental Excelerator

Elemental Excelerator is a nonprofit investor dedicated to scaling climate solutions for deep community impact. With a 14-year track record, we invest in companies pioneering essential solutions to pressing climate challenges, making neighborhoods and homes cleaner, healthier, and safer. We've invested in over 160 climate companies to date and successfully stewarded $180 million in government and philanthropic resources, leveraging our expertise to de-risk technologies and attract additional investment. Core to our work supporting innovation and entrepreneurs, and essential to our five-year strategy, is the central role of social equity and community impact in the implementation of climate technologies. 

We are a dedicated, passionate and diverse team that thrives in a fast-paced environment driven by a shared desire to maximize impact. At Elemental, where we are constantly pushing the edge of innovation, we find ourselves at an exciting inflection point - with more federal funding into climate solutions and philanthropic engagement than ever before, we will be steadily growing our team to meet the moment. Join us at Elemental Excelerator and be part of the next phase of our journey. 

About the role

Elemental is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking Senior Manager of  IT Strategy and Operations to join our team. The successful candidate will be an innovative, tenacious, and empathetic problem solver who understands the transformative impact of technology in driving results.

In this role, you will lead the company’s strategic technology planning and ensure the effective implementation of those plans. In addition to developing and implementing a strategic technology plan, you will oversee the various vendors and partners that provide the SaaS and other service solutions in Elemental’s IT infrastructure. This is a new team within the organization that will ultimately be expected to lead us to a tech stack that enables us to scale our team and impact as an organization.

This position will report to the General Counsel. The role will be tasked with developing plans to serve all of the various business units within the organization and collaborating with all of them on their execution. In this role, you will implement innovative solutions to address immediate challenges and ensure long-term scalability. You will spearhead the phased development of Elemental's technology stack, evaluating and implementing tools and technologies to support the organization's growth. 

As the initial sole member of the internal technology team, you will collaborate with external vendors and specialists to source specific expertise as needed, managing and overseeing external resources to complement internal capabilities. Additionally, you will establish and enforce robust security measures and compliance standards for all technology systems, addressing data privacy and security concerns. 

Key Responsibilities Include:                         

Strategic Leadership:

• Develop and execute a technology strategy aligned with Elemental's mission and organizational goals.
• Drive the implementation of innovative solutions to address immediate challenges and support long-term scalability.
• Lead the phased development of Elemental's technology stack, incorporating elements such as database/warehouse, ERP solutions, and advanced analytics tools.
• Evaluate and select appropriate tools and technologies to support the organization's growing needs.
• Regularly assess the technology landscape, ensuring that the chosen solutions remain competitive and aligned with Elemental's evolving needs.
• Implement a continuous technological evaluation process to optimize the overall tech stack.

Collaboration, Training, and Support:

• Work closely with the team leads to align IT initiatives with the team and organizational OKRs.
• Develop comprehensive training programs for staff to ensure effective adoption of new technologies.
• Provide ongoing support to facilitate a smooth transition and enhance user proficiency.

Vendor & Partner Management:

• Evaluate and manage relationships with external vendors, ensuring that services and solutions align with Elemental's commitment to sustainability.
• Negotiate contracts and agreements with a focus on optimizing costs and environmental considerations.

Policies, Compliance, and Risk Management:

• Develop and enforce IT policies and procedures that align with Elemental's commitment to sustainability and compliance with relevant regulations.
• Identify and mitigate IT-related risks, ensuring the resilience and reliability of systems supporting our environmental initiatives.
• Develop and enforce comprehensive data retention and destruction policies to ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, and organizational requirements.
• Establish data governance frameworks that define how data is managed, stored, and destroyed, aligning with best practices and industry standards.

Budget Oversight:

• Develop and manage the IT budget, providing accurate forecasts and ensuring cost-effectiveness in technology investments that align with Elemental’s mission.

Innovation and Research:

• Stay abreast of industry trends and emerging technologies related to clean energy and sustainability, recommending innovations to enhance Elemental's technological capabilities.

About You 

You could be a great addition to our team if you have a software engineering background in systems, data, machine learning, or other related fields. You bring a passion for Elemental’s mission to scale climate solutions for deep community impact. You are knowledgeable and eager to continue learning and building technology solutions and are skilled in all things IT related and are ready to dig in and build. And you are flexible, hard working and collaborative.  

Qualifications (even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications, we still encourage you to apply!)            

Desired skills:                              

• Significant experience working with technical teams to develop data solutions within the social or climate sector.
• hands-on experience in relevant technical leadership and people management, including performance management, goal setting, coaching, development, and engagement.
• Strong technical proficiency in IT infrastructure management, security, and project management.
• Detail-oriented with outstanding organizational skills and demonstrates the ability to balance multiple projects and deadlines.
• Possess strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to communicate and present complex technical concepts concisely and persuasively to both technical and non-technical audiences at all levels, including within the organization, at the executive level, and with external partners.
• Can demonstrate proficiency in a wide spectrum of technology systems such as CRMs, ERPs, databases, data warehouses, and data lake technologies.

Standout skills:                                                                                     

• Excellent analytical, mathematical, research, and creative problem-solving skills.
• Prior experience in a startup or climate tech environment..

Compensation & Benefits

This is a full-time "at-will" position working at least 40 hours per week. You will be asked to travel for work periodically. 

The salary range for this role is $93,000 - $155,700, which is based on market data and the organization's compensation philosophy. Also, please note that while we strive to benchmark against for-profit companies and try to be as competitive as possible, we are a non-profit. Our offer will be within the range as required by certain state laws and individual salary offers will vary within the range depending on location, relevant education, knowledge, skills, and experience. We also offer comprehensive employee benefits, including a professional development stipend and three weeks paid time off (more details here). 

Location

We will consider candidates located in the Honolulu and San Francisco Bay Area. We are asking employees to come into the office at least one day a week to build community with the team. Currently, most people come in 1-2 times a week, but we encourage those who are interested to come in more often if they’d like.

Other Details:

We will accept and review applications on a rolling basis. Although all applications will be considered, we may be unable to respond to all inquiries. Please note that we do read cover letters, so we advise spending adequate time on them to share your relevant stories and experiences with us. We also ask that you refrain from using tools like Chat GPT and keep the cover letter to 1-2 pages long.                                                   

Elemental is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and has a strong commitment to diversity. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, including, but not limited to, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) communities; people who have disabilities; veterans, and people from low-income backgrounds. 

Elemental is also committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, activities, programs, and employment opportunities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other applicable laws.