Program Operations Lead

About the Organization

Adventure Scientists is a nonprofit organization on a mission to protect the planet by pairing scientists with individuals uniquely capable of gathering difficult-to-obtain data. Our team collaborates with scientists worldwide to solve pressing environmental challenges, from biodiversity to climate change. Every role here offers a chance to make an impact on a global scale!

About the Role

We’re looking for a strategic and hands-on Program Operations Lead to join our full-time team!

One day you may be helping the team untangle a portfolio-wide capacity challenge; the next, you may be improving a workflow, helping design a project, solving a cross-functional bottleneck, or stepping in to keep an important piece of work moving.

As our international portfolio grows, you’ll also help the team deliver complex conservation work across countries, cultures, time zones, and operating environments, building systems that create consistency while remaining responsive to local context.

That’s why this is a role for someone who genuinely enjoys making good work easier to do. Someone who can coach, organize, simplify, troubleshoot, build, and execute – sometimes all in the same week – and have fun doing it!

If you love the outdoors, team leadership, operational problem-solving, and the deeply satisfying art of helping great people do great work, this role is for you!

Responsibilities

People Leadership & Team Enablement

• Support the Programs team, creating an environment where people feel trusted, empowered, and equipped to own their work.
• Provide thoughtful guidance on priorities, decisions, stakeholder coordination, project challenges, and professional growth, adapting support to different working styles and experience levels.
• Strengthen communication, feedback, and decision-making practices so the team has the clarity, context, and support needed to succeed.

Portfolio Oversight & Capacity Planning

• Maintain a clear view of the full domestic and international portfolio, identifying capacity gaps, competing priorities, operational risks, and opportunities to better connect work across teams, geographies, and time zones.
• Partner with the team on assignments, timelines, staffing, and tradeoffs, considering workloads, strengths, interests, and development goals.
• Help the organization assess new opportunities and significant project changes through transparent, participatory decisions grounded in available capacity and resources.

Program Operations & Systems

• Build and improve practical systems, tools, workflows, documentation, and operating rhythms that make project delivery more consistent, visible, and sustainable.
• Develop clear processes and standard operating procedures for moving projects from organizational consideration into implementation, including the operational, logistical, and cross-cultural considerations involved in international delivery.
• Create feedback loops, address recurring challenges, and reduce operational friction while preserving flexibility across different countries, cultures, partners, geographies, volunteers, and field realities.

Execution Support

• Help the team navigate complex delivery challenges, shifting priorities, dependencies, and cross-functional needs.
• Step in selectively with problem-solving, hands-on capacity, or temporary coverage during absences, high-demand periods, and unexpected project needs.
• Review plans and materials for operational readiness and support effective collaboration across Programs and other organizational functions.

Budget & Resource fluency

• Help the team understand and actively manage budgets, spending, forecasts, and resource needs in partnership with Finance.
• Ensure financial considerations and tradeoffs between scope, timelines, staffing, and resources inform planning and prioritization.
• Surface financial risks or inconsistencies early and support timely, responsible decision-making.

Skills & Requirements

• 7+ years of hands-on experience in project or program management in a remote or hybrid, dynamic environment.
• 5+ years of experience in people leadership, with demonstrated success coaching, developing, and supporting a team with varied roles and working styles.
• Proven experience overseeing a portfolio of concurrent programs, including some exposure to international program management, capacity planning, and prioritization
• Strong experience navigating the operational complexities of international work, including cross-cultural collaboration, multiple time zones, local partner contexts, and differing logistical, financial, or regulatory environments.
• Strong experience building and improving operational systems, including workflows, planning tools, documentation, dashboards, standard operating procedures, and team rhythms.
• Demonstrated ability to translate organizational priorities into practical plans while balancing strategy, team capacity, budgets, timelines, and delivery realities.
• Solid financial fluency, including experience working with program or project budgets, forecasts, spending, resource allocation, and scope-related financial decisions.
• Experience working effectively in a remote and on-site environments, with strong organization, follow-through, and comfort operating across shifting priorities.
• Experience with tools (Asana is preferred), timelines, dependencies, documentation, dashboards, or reporting systems.
• A love for the outdoors, adventure, conservation, and the kind of practical optimism it takes to make ambitious projects real!

Extra Awesome Qualities

(preferred but not required)

• Experience in project design: launching, managing, or improving complex projects with multiple stakeholders, timelines, constraints, and moving pieces.
• Experience in conservation, environmental science, citizen science, field research, or another mission-driven organization.
• Familiarity with international budgeting, contracting, compliance, procurement, or currency-related considerations.
• Experience supporting work involving external partners, volunteers, multiple geographies, or complex field logistics.
• Experience scaling pilots or short-term projects into sustainable programs and operating structures.

Optional (but preferred) Certifications

• PMP (Project Management Professional) or PRINCE2 certification.
• Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or other Agile certifications.

Location

• Hybrid from Bozeman or Montana preferred
• Remote (US-based) candidates will also be considered

We would be especially excited to find someone based in Bozeman or elsewhere in Montana. For this role, being close to Adventure Scientists’ office and leadership team could create more opportunities for in-person collaboration and deeper connection to the day-to-day rhythm of the organization.

At the same time, we care most about finding the right person for this role. We know that exceptional program and conservation leaders live all across the country, and we remain open to strong remote US-based candidates who can bring the right mix of hands-on execution, team leadership and steady operational judgment.

Compensation

$89,000 – 109,000 per year

Adventure Scientists offers competitive compensation based on experience, with a commitment to supporting work-life balance, professional growth, and well-being!

The exact salary for this role will be shared during your first conversation. We offer non-negotiable salaries to ensure fairness, transparency, and equity for everyone in the hiring process. This approach allows us to uphold our commitment to pay consistency, eliminate bias in the hiring process, and create a culture of trust and clarity for all team members.

Hiring Process

At Adventure Scientists, we believe in a transparent, enjoyable, and thorough hiring experience that ensures mutual alignment.

• Get-to-know-you Conversation, 20-60 min: Your first call will be with our Talent Partner to discuss your experience and fit with our mission.
• Collaboration Project, 40 min: Then, we’ll invite you to work on a short project that reflects the type of work you’ll do, offering insights into our team-oriented approach.
• Meet the Manager, 60 min: The third step includes a conversation with the Hiring Manager, allowing you to learn more about the role and the team you may join.
• Culture Interview, 60 min: The next discussion will be with a different staff member, exploring how your values fit into Adventure Scientists’ mission.
• Team Panel Interview, 90 min: Final discussions with team members and other stakeholders, designed to gauge mutual compatibility.
• Reference Check: We’ll connect with professional references to better understand your past experiences, strengths, and working style.
• Offer: If everything aligns, we’ll extend an offer and discuss next steps for joining the Adventure Scientists team!

Throughout the process, we’ll keep you updated so you’ll always know what to expect. Typically, the entire hiring process spans 1 to 3 months.

Adventure Scientists is proud to be an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to achieving our mission. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives, and we’re committed to providing a fair and supportive hiring process for everyone. We consider all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, religion, formal education, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or any other status. If you have any questions about the Application process, please don’t hesitate to let us know, we’re here to help!