Sr. Manager, Strategy and Mission

Battelle delivers when others can’t. We conduct research and development, manage national laboratories, design and manufacture products and deliver critical services for our clients—whether they are a multi-national corporation, a small start-up or a government agency.

We recognize and appreciate the value and contributions of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences and welcome all qualified individuals to apply.

Job Summary

The Senior Manager, Strategy and Mission provides leadership across multiple workgroups responsible for shaping the organization’s strategic direction, advancing growth initiatives, cultivating external partnerships, and supporting cross-functional alignment. This role serves as a strategic partner to senior leadership on the Battelle Education team, guiding the development and execution of departmental plans, identifying opportunities for external expansion, and cultivating partnerships that advance the mission.

The Senior Manager is accountable for the performance of strategic priorities and growth initiatives across the organization, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives, financial sustainability, and the annual operating plan. This role helps shape the design, direction, and scaling of strategic initiatives, bringing field insight and cross-functional perspective to inform decisions.

Responsibilities

• Develops departmental strategies that reflect organizational priorities, financial targets, and growth goals.
• Leads managers and project teams in implementing the organizational strategic framework, ensuring clarity of priorities and alignment to outcomes.
• Ensures strong leadership team alignment and execution by establishing operating norms (agendas, decision tracking, follow-through) and leading key strategic planning and alignment sessions, with day-to-day meeting facilitation distributed across team members.
• Shapes strategic decision-making by integrating field insights, implementation learning, and external perspective into senior leadership to inform strategic decision-making.
• Leads decision-making and strategic alignment of proposals, ensuring opportunities align with priorities, capacity, and financial goals
• Identifies new opportunities for state, district, funder, and industry expansion to support organizational growth and mission priorities.
• Designs partnership and expansion models that are sustainable, scalable, and aligned with organizational capacity and goals.
• Cultivates and manages external relationships, including funders, partners, state agencies, districts, and industry stakeholders.
• Oversees the development, review, and approval of proposals, ensuring alignment with strategic and financial considerations.
• Owns and actively manages a portfolio and pipeline of initiatives from intake through execution, ensuring a steady flow of prioritized, high impact work aligned to strategic growth objectives.
• Drives early-stage scoping and qualification of new proposals and engagements, establishing clear scope, implementation plans, risk assessments, and success metrics to support go/no go decision making.
• Partners with cross functional leaders to translate pipeline opportunities into executable projects, ensuring readiness for launch and scalability of delivery.
• Balances near term delivery with long term pipeline health by forecasting demand, identifying capacity gaps, and sequencing work to maximize strategic impact and on time outcomes.
• Proactively identifies and mitigates cross departmental operational risks that could impact pipeline conversion, project execution, or client/partner commitments.
• Collaborates with finance and leadership to build, manage, and optimize departmental budgets, ensuring pipeline growth and execution plans are financially viable and sustainable.
• Owns pipeline visibility and accuracy, evaluating forecasted opportunities against scope, resourcing, timelines, and revenue to inform investment and staffing decisions.
• Translates pipeline demand into resource and staffing projections, ensuring the organization is positioned to convert opportunities into delivered outcomes.
• Drives operational and process improvements that increase pipeline conversion, improve forecast reliability, and enhance overall business efficiency and performance.
• Sets performance expectations, provides coaching, and supports professional growth within the team and fosters a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability across internal and external teams.
• Serves as an internal and external spokesperson for strategic initiatives, growth efforts, and organizational impact.
• Develops and contributes content for thought leadership, including briefs, presentations, public engagements, and partner communications.
• Represents the organization at regional and national events, strengthening visibility and reputation in areas of strategy, impact, and mission-aligned growth.
  
  

Key Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Public Policy, Education, Leadership, or related field; 10 years of experience in strategy, organizational growth, or cross-functional project leadership; or an equivalent combination of education and/or experience in a related field.
• Experience leading managers or multiple workgroups in a complex organization.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing organizational strategies, operational plans, or large-scale initiatives.
• Proven ability to build partnerships and influence leaders, funders, or external stakeholders.
• Strong financial acumen, including experience with budgeting, forecasting, or project financial management.
• Experience developing proposals, evaluating opportunities, or managing a strategic project portfolio.
• Demonstrated ability to solve complex organizational or operational problems using data, insight, and cross-functional coordination.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, facilitation, and organizational skills.
• Ability to travel up to 30%.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Business, Public Administration, Public Policy, Organizational Leadership, or related field.
• Experience working with districts, state agencies, philanthropic partners, or education-related initiatives.
• Experience leading strategic expansion, market analysis, or partnership development.
• Experience managing consulting-style engagements, proposal development, or business development pipelines.
• Demonstrated thought leadership through writing, speaking, or presenting to external audiences.
  
  

Benefits: Live an Extraordinary Life

We care about your well-being, not just on the job. Battelle offers comprehensive and competitive benefits to help you live your best life.

• Balance life through a compressed work schedule: Most of our team follows a flexible, compressed work schedule that allows for every other Friday off—giving you a dedicated day to accomplish things in your personal life without using vacation time.
• Enjoy enhanced work flexibility, including a hybrid arrangement: You have options for where and when you work. Our Together with Flexibility model allows you to work 60% in-office and 40% remote, with Monday and Tuesday as common in-office days, dependent on team and position needs.
• Take time to recharge: You get paid time off to support work-life balance and keep motivated.
• Prioritize wellness: Stay healthy with medical, dental, and vision coverage with wellness incentives and benefits plus a variety of optional supplemental benefits.
• Better together: Coverage for partners, gender-affirming care and health support, and family formation support.
• Build your financial future: Build financial stability with an industry-leading 401(k) retirement savings plan. For most employees, we put in 5 percent whether you contribute or not, and match your contributions on top of that.
• Advance your education: Tuition assistance is available to pursue higher education.
  
  

A Work Environment Where You Succeed

For brilliant minds in science, technology, engineering and business operations, Battelle is the place to do the greatest good by solving humanity’s most pressing challenges and creating a safer, healthier and more secure world.

You will have the opportunity to thrive in a culture that inspires you to:

• Apply your talent to challenging and meaningful projects
• Receive select funding to pursue ideas in scientific and technological discovery
• Partner with world-class experts in a collaborative environment
• Nurture and develop the next generation of scientific leaders
• Give back to and improve our communities
  
  

Vaccinations & Safety Protocols

Battelle may require employees, based on job duties, work location, and/or its clients’ requirements to follow certain safety protocols and to be vaccinated against a variety of viruses, bacteria, and diseases as a condition of employment and continued employment and to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated. If applicable, Battelle will provide reasonable accommodations based on a qualified disability or medical condition through the Americans with Disabilities Act or the Rehabilitation Act or for a sincerely held religious belief under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and related state laws).

Battelle is an equal opportunity employer. We provide employment and opportunities for advancement, compensation, training, and growth according to individual merit, without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, age, genetic information, disability, veteran-status veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable Federal, state, or local law. Our goal is for each staff member to have the opportunity to grow to the limits of their abilities and to achieve personal and organizational objectives. We will support positive programs for equal treatment of all staff and full utilization of all qualified employees at all levels within Battelle.

The above statements are intended to describe the nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, activities and skills required of staff members. No statement herein is intended to imply any authorities to commit Battelle unless special written permission is granted by Battelle's Legal Department.

For more information about our other openings, please visit www.battelle.org/careers