Vice President of Strategy, Innovation & Program Management Office (PMO)

Why join our team?

With a mission that spans the globe, the USO provides a rewarding and fulfilling work environment. Our team is exceptional, and we offer generous paid time off, including volunteer days and military leave. We have a remarkable 401k match, comprehensive benefits, and opportunities for training and education reimbursement. Our team members are passionate about putting the mission first, and we have a lot of fun while doing it. Working for the USO isn't just a job – it's a calling, and we believe in doing what you love and loving what you do.

A Certified Great Place to Work®

Don’t just take our word for it—our people have spoken. According to the Great Place to Work® 2025–2026 survey

• 96% feel good about how we support the community
• 94% are proud to tell others they work at the USO
• 92% say their work has special meaning—it’s not “just a job”
• 91% felt welcomed from day one
• Over 88% agree all employees are treated fairly, regardless of race or gender
  
  

The Vice President of Strategy, Innovation, and PMO serves as an enterprise integrator—connecting strategy, impact, and operations into a unified system that drives execution and improves organizational performance. The VP leads the development and execution of the organization’s five-year strategic plan, fosters innovation, and strengthens project and portfolio management to ensure priorities are translated into measurable outcomes. This role partners with executive leaders and key stakeholders to align enterprise priorities, surface risks and tradeoffs, and ensure consistent governance, performance visibility, and cross-functional delivery in service of USO’s mission.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities (*Essential Duties)

• Lead the development, execution, and maintenance of USO's Five-year Strategic Plan, working closely with key executives and internal and external stakeholders. *
• Provide quarterly executive and board-level updates on the progress of the strategic plan, inclusive of risks and mitigations impeding progress. *
• Translate the five-year strategy into a credible, measurable, and executable enterprise roadmap for Board oversight—defining priorities, milestones, investments, owners, and success measures. *
• Develop staffing, processes, and procedures to inspire, capture, prioritize, and measure ideation and efficiencies across the organization.
• Develop and evolve an innovation framework, ensuring successful incubation models are transitioned effectively to fruition.
• Provide direction and guidance to various business units in developing specific business plans and strategies that align with the overall strategic plan. *
• Assist executive leadership in assessing internal and external factors (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) to ensure sustainability and growth of USO's mission. *
• Engage business leaders to identify innovative growth and efficiency opportunities to achieve strategic performance targets with respect to fundraising, program operations, and administrative functions. *
• Assess, transform, and optimize the PMO, Innovation, ensuring people, processes, and technology are included, and develop a strategic roadmap to improve capability and maturity. *
• Lead large-scale, complex corporate strategy projects that are cross-organizational in nature and large, impactful national partnerships. *
• Align operational analytics with strategic objectives. *
• Own and mature the enterprise impact and performance system (including Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) to connect strategy to outcomes—establishing measures, dashboards, and review cadences that enable decision-making and clear communication of results. *
• Follow service member survey data and trends to respond to their needs with new ideas and opportunities for improving program and services offerings.
• Allocate resources to maintain the organization's existing strategic objectives while accounting for new projects. *
• Encourage creative thinking in employees and find ways to nurture innovative thinking across all areas of the organization. *
• Attend and actively participate in required training and/or meetings, including but not limited to New Teammate Orientation, USO training programs, Leadership training, culture/team based training, or departmental huddles.
• Other duties as assigned.
  
  

Job Specifications

• Bachelor's degree in the field of business, strategy, education, or related field. Master's degree in a related field preferred.
• 10 years of progressive management experience with at least three years at the senior management or executive level, preferably in a similarly complex organization. 7 years of experience in a supervisory capacity.
• Verifiable track record of leading strategic planning staff in a mission-driven, complex organization focused on both quantitative and qualitative outcomes and measures.
• Ten years of leadership experience in strategic planning, operations, process improvement, project management, and change management. Preferences include five years of non-profit experience and five years of military experience.
• Demonstrated leadership skills in strategic planning, operations, process improvement, project management, and change management.
• Entrepreneurial, hands-on style with the ability to delegate tasks and hold others accountable for delivery in a high-growth environment.
• Demonstrated understanding of the role that culture and building strong teams play in company success.
• Ability to rally a large group of people towards key goals, strong verbal and written communications, and interpersonal interactions, e.g., partnering, collaboration, conflict management, and facilitation.
• Demonstrated capability in cross-functional leadership and experience working in a matrixed environment.
• Passion for driving performance against goals while creating a positive, fun, and productive environment.
• Demonstrated ability to formulate strategy and lead the implementation of operational initiatives to meet it.
• Strong organization, analytical, and motivating skills.
• Collaborative communication style that builds relationships with other departments, not barriers.
• Proven track record of turning research and analytical insights into business-impacting results.
• Demonstrated ability to both lead and be part of high-performing teams.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with senior management and the organization as a whole.
• Ability to draw conclusions from quantitative and qualitative analysis to develop business solutions.
• Experience leading diverse initiatives and fostering departmental collaboration.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to persuasively sell ideas. High-energy, passionate leader with a commitment to the process.
• Excellent organizational skills, with strong attention to detail, accuracy, and accountability.
• Ability to use sound, independent reasoning, and judgment to establish work priorities and be flexible to respond to continually changing priorities and shifting deadlines in a fast-paced working environment.
• Unequivocal commitment to the highest standards of personal and business ethics and conduct.
• Must be a strong advocate for the USO’s mission.
  
  

Details

• This position is located in Arlington, VA. Preference will be given to local candidates within commuting distance to the location.
• Resume and cover letter are required for full consideration.
• Background check – education, criminal and driving required.
• The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibility and essential functions of this position but should not be considered to be an all-inclusive listing of work requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned including work in other areas to cover absences or relief to equalize peak work periods or otherwise balance the workload.
  
  

If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some direct quotes from employees

• The organization truly cares about the people who work here.
• There is great consideration given and extended in the following areas organizational core values for all, work-life balance, impact we can actually see (and even experience as a staff member- the feeling of making an impact is priceless), autonomy with respect to current position within the organization.
• Everyone is friendly and easy to talk to. We collaborate well together and share ideas and interests to create fun activities for our overall goal in the community. I couldn't think of a better organization to work for.
• The mission alone provides a positive and meaningful purpose, where people should want to work and be a part of. Most of the people who work for the USO and volunteer for the USO have giving hearts and want to make a difference. This also makes the organization a place where people would want to work.
• The mission and opportunities to make a Difference are amazing. There is no doubt that the USO is one of the most forward-facing, frontline serving nonprofits that I know of.
  
  

Apply today. Join the mission. Join Team USO.