Associate Director, Business Operations

students, staff, administrators, faculty, and guests while promoting excellence in every experience. The Associate Director leads delivery of high-quality, customer-centric outcomes across all business operations and auxiliary enterprises. This role owns operational budgets with integrity, champions the Division’s values and principles for both contracted and non-contracted staff, and serves as a thought-partner to the Director and the broader campus community. The Associate Director leads cross-functional coordination across multiple revenue streams, balancing student, faculty, and staff experiences with contract obligations and service delivery excellence.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Management & Operations:

Leads operations and directly supervises the Mail & Copy Center team of three full-time employees and seasonal/temporary workers, with full accountability for team performance and service outcomes. Serves as the Director’s operational proxy for Dining, leading vendor relationships, service delivery, and customer experience in alignment with the Director’s strategic direction.

Provides day-to-day operational leadership for parcel and mail receiving and processing, ensuring regulatory compliance (city/state/federal), service excellence, and customer-centric outcomes. Develops and maintains standard operating procedures, leads safety training, and serves as the main point of contact for emergency response preparedness. Leads cross-functional coordination across the portfolio aligning enrollment and admissions patterns with service planning. Applies sound judgment and problem-solving in complex decision-making.

Sentiment Analysis and Feedback Management

Sustains a guest satisfaction rating of 75% or above across all business operations units, with measurable year-over-year improvement driven by data-informed action. Collaborates with cross-functional teams, including service partner leads and campus stakeholders to ensure timely and thoughtful responses to guest feedback and service inquiries. Accountable for quarterly benchmarks for guest satisfaction scores and presenting findings with actionable, data-informed recommendations.

Cross-Divisional Engagement & Campus Partnerships 

Leads cross-divisional engagement efforts to strengthen the division’s role as a collaborative campus partner. Builds and maintains relationships with key university stakeholders including The Dean’s Office, Student Affairs, Planning Real Estate and Facilities, Academic Departments, Residential Life, Campus Events and Public Safety.

Represent Business Operations in university-wide planning initiatives, committees, and sustainability efforts. Identify opportunities to integrate Business Operations into broader campus programming, events, and student success initiatives. Serve as a Division ambassador at university events, orientations, and community engagement functions.

Administrative: Leads administrative operations across the portfolio, including purchasing and procurement of goods and services, data analysis, revenue and expense tracking, and maintenance of standard operating procedures. 

Leverages technology and data to identify efficiencies and modernize business unit operations. Communicates operational status and insights to the Director; partners with Finance, HR, and divisional stakeholders to ensure adherence to University policies and industry best practices. Manages project calendars, deadlines, and deliverables with accountability for outcomes.

Policy & Compliance: Conducts annual policy review, proposes updates, implements and upholds policies specific to the division.  

• Proactively reviews operational practices for relevance, consistency, and alignment with institutional standards.
• Ensures compliance through internal audits, reporting functions, and engagement with University partners including Finance and HR.

Financial Stewardship: Owns budget management for the Mail/Copy Center and contributes to annual revenue and expense forecasting, budget development, and ongoing financial management across the broader business operations portfolio in partnership with the Director. 

Organizes and analyzes productivity and budgets against OKRs, tracking variance and surfacing budget variances with actionable recommendations. Exercises fiscal stewardship by leading contract management activities and identifying creative approaches to improving operational efficiencies and cost controls.

Qualifications

BA/BS required with a minimum of five years’ experience managing business or auxiliary operations, including direct supervision of a team, in hospitality, higher education, or a comparable industry; or a combination of education and experience that is commensurate. Financial acumen with an ability to understand and track key performance indicators, manage budgets, and support variance analysis. Technologically savvy and able to leverage data to modernize and gain efficiencies across business units. Strong communication skills with demonstrated ability to build collaboration with students, staff, faculty, and administrators. Adept at leading a variety of work teams. Proven skills in operations, project management, team development, and contract management. Strong organizational, interpersonal, and conflict resolution skills with strict attention to detail and a customer/student-centric orientation. Experience working with diverse groups in an educational or other non-profit organization. Demonstrated ability to work with faculty, students, and staff; self-motivated, goal-oriented, strategic thinker, and able to work both independently and as part of a team. Experience in project management is highly desirable. Strong computer skills in Windows and Mac platforms. Experience using and supporting Workday or similar ERP software.

Required Documents

• Resume
• Cover Letter

Expected Hiring Range:

$83,790 - $118,608

With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change

Additional Information

Northeastern University offers benefits-eligible employees a competitive and comprehensive package designed to support your health, financial security, and overall well-being. Employees joining our New York City campus will begin with benefits equivalent to those of the institution formerly known as Marymount Manhattan College until benefits transition to Northeastern's full plans effective January 1, 2027. Northeastern will provide further information in advance of that transition.

Current NYC campus benefits include:

Medical and dental insurance Retirement plan Life and disability insurance Paid vacation, sick time, leave of absence, and other applicable paid time off Tuition benefits for employees, dependents, and spouses

About Northeastern University

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experiential lifelong learning. Our approach of integrating real-world experience with education, research, and innovation empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create worldwide impact.     

Our global university system provides our community and academic, government, and industry partners with unique opportunities to think locally and act globally. The system—which includes 15 campuses across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, 300,000-plus alumni, and 3,000 partners worldwide—serves as a platform for scaling ideas, talent, and solutions.  

The university’s residential campuses for undergraduate and graduate degrees are located in Boston, London, and Oakland, California. Our research and graduate campuses are in the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant; Arlington, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Miami; New York City, New York, Portland, Maine; Seattle, Washington; Silicon Valley, California; Toronto; and Vancouver. 

Northeastern’s personalized, experiential undergraduate and graduate programs lead to degrees through the doctorate in 10 colleges and schools across our campuses. Learning emphasizes the intersection of data, technology, and human literacies, uniquely preparing graduates for careers of the future and lives of fulfillment and accomplishment.  

Our research enterprise, with an R1 Carnegie classification, is solutions oriented and spans the world. Our faculty scholars and students work in teams that cross not just disciplines, but also sectors—aligned around solving today’s highly interconnected global challenges and focused on transformative impact for humankind.

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