Bonsai Leadership Group is honored to partner with Ocean Conservancy in its search for a Senior Director, Executive Strategy and Integration. Download the full position announcement here.

ABOUT OCEAN CONSERVANCY
Ocean Conservancy works to protect the ocean from today’s greatest global challenges. Together with its partners, it creates evidence-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it. Learn more about Ocean Conservancy at www.oceanconservancy.org.

THE OPPORTUNITY
Ocean Conservancy seeks a highly trusted senior leader to serve as Senior Director, Executive Strategy and Integration (Senior Director), a newly designed role within the Executive Office. This is a rare opportunity to work in deep partnership with the CEO at a moment when focus, discipline, and executive leverage matter more than ever.

The Senior Director plays a central role in shaping how Executive Office priorities move from intent to action. This strategic leader is responsible for bringing clarity, structure, and judgment to the CEO’s agenda, decisions, and commitments, ensuring that time and attention are directed toward the work that most advances the organization’s mission and strategic priorities.

Operating with a high degree of trust and autonomy, the Senior Director exercises judgment on behalf of the CEO to establish discipline around priorities, guide decision readiness, and ensure accountability to maintain momentum across the Executive Office and allow others to execute effectively. This role is for a leader who is energized by complexity, comfortable holding boundaries, and skilled at translating strategic intent into consistent execution.

The Senior Director leads the Executive Office and directly manages the Senior Executive Assistant and Board Engagement Manager, aligning executive coordination, board engagement, and CEO preparation into a cohesive, high-functioning system. Success in this role requires maturity, discretion, and the confidence to redirect work, say no when necessary, and reinforce disciplined ways of working in service of Executive Office effectiveness.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
With the support of a small, high-performing team, the Senior Director will have the following primary responsibilities:  

Executive Office Strategy and Integration

• Serve as the senior strategist within the Executive Office, designing and stewarding frameworks that ensure priorities, decisions, and commitments of the Executive Office are managed with clarity, discipline, and intentional sequencing, and consistently followed across executive and senior leadership through influence rather than direct authority

• Anticipate patterns, risks, and overload that could dilute the CEO’s effectiveness, strategic focus, or leadership presence

Executive Stewardship and Accountability

• Steward the norms, processes, and discipline of the Executive Office, ensuring consistent adherence across leaders and stakeholders

• Provide clear, principled leadership in redirecting work, resetting expectations, and making trade-offs when priorities compete

Strategic Prioritization and Stewardship

• Design, establish, and steward the strategic prioritization framework that governs how requests, issues, and opportunities are assessed and elevated to the CEO

• Establish and maintain systems to track executive-level initiatives, decisions, and commitments across functions, ensuring sequencing, follow-through, and completion

• Ensure work reaching the CEO meets agreed-upon standards of readiness, importance, and clarity, intervening as needed to redirect, refine, or sequence appropriately

• Provide strategic oversight of the prioritization and sequencing of CEO access, decisions, commitments, engagement, and attention, in close coordination with the Senior Executive Assistant

Executive Office Decision-Making Framework and Discipline

• Design, steward, and continuously refine the Executive Office decision-making framework and process

• Establish clear expectations for how decisions are framed, what constitutes decision readiness, and when CEO involvement is required

• Exercise judgment on behalf of the CEO to advance, redirect, or delegate decisions within established parameters, maintaining clarity, confidence, and control over decision flow

Executive Leadership Alignment & Strategic Focus

• Ensure executive leadership commitments translate into action by establishing clear owners, timelines, and review points, and by addressing unresolved issues or stalled progress

• Design and steward disciplined operating rhythms for Executive Leadership Team and Senior Leadership Council activities

• Establish strategic frameworks for executive agendas, planning cycles, and follow-up mechanisms that reinforce accountability and discipline in decision making

• Oversee preparation for executive-level performance, alignment, and accountability conversations

Stakeholder Management and Engagement

• Develop and steward a strategic approach to stakeholder management and engagement on behalf of the CEO, aligning relationships with organizational priorities and leadership objectives

• Support intentional cultivation of key internal and external relationships, ensuring engagement is purposeful, timely, and appropriately sequenced

• Establish discipline around the volume, timing, and nature of demands placed on the CEO, balancing responsiveness with strategic value

Strategic Readiness and Public Presence

• Establish processes that support the CEO’s external thought leadership, including identification and elevation of relevant trends, insights, and perspectives

• Set standards and oversee preparation frameworks for public-facing leadership moments, including speeches, panels, and high-level convenings

• Ensure continuity of strategic readiness, presence, and decision quality during periods of travel or sustained demand

Executive Office Leadership

• Lead and manage the Executive Office, including direct supervision of the Executive Assistant and Board Engagement Manager, with a focus on strategic alignment, role clarity, and execution discipline

• Set direction, expectations, and standards for scheduling, CEO preparation, board management, and executive coordination, ensuring consistent, high-quality execution

• Ensure clear delineation between strategic ownership and operational execution within the Executive Office

• Steward contracts and vendor agreements supporting the Executive Office

• Provide strategic oversight of Board and Executive Office budgets
  

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
The ideal candidate will bring many of the leadership experiences and qualifications outlined below. Candidates are not expected to possess every qualification, but must demonstrate the judgment, presence, and maturity required to operate effectively within an Executive Office.

• 7+ years of senior leadership experience in national and/or global nonprofit organizations

• Sound ability to operate as a trusted advisor to a CEO or senior executive in complex organizational environments

• Excellent capacity to hold senior leaders, including CEOs, accountable to priorities, decisions, and commitments through clear process, trusted relationships, and principled communication

• Skilled in leveraging systems-level thinking to integrate strategy and operations through executive prioritization, decision readiness, and follow-through

• Exceptional interpersonal skills marked by high emotional intelligence, discretion, and sound judgment

• Ability to maintain a confident executive presence when engaging senior leaders as strategic partners, providing clear counsel, constructive feedback, and disciplined follow-through

• Influential leader with the judgment and presence to drive outcomes without formal authority and navigate ambiguity with steadiness

• High-trust leader with experience guiding teams in roles requiring discretion, judgment, and executive alignment and coordination

• Superior written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to reflect executive voice, tone, and intent

• Relevant experience in conservation, environmental, or adjacent fields is helpful but not required 

TRAVEL
Approximately 10-15% of your time will be spent traveling for team meetings and retreats.

LOCATION
Ocean Conservancy embraces a hybrid work structure requiring employees to reside in one of the following US states: AK, CA, DC, FL, MD, OR, VA, TX, WA, or WV. This structure allows staff the flexibility to work virtually and in person while building strong connections across the institution.  

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
The expected minimum starting salary for this role is $165,000, with an anticipated starting salary dependent upon the hired candidate’s location, qualifications, background, and experience. In addition, Ocean Conservancy offers a comprehensive benefits package to include:  

• Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance for employees, spouses (both same sex and opposite sex), domestic partner, and dependent children (effective day one of employment) 

• Short- and Long-Term Disability (free for employee) 

• Basic Life Insurance (free for employee) 

• Healthcare and/or Dependent Care Reimbursement Account 

• Retirement Planning - 100% vested upon hire; can begin contributing at hire. After 1 year, Ocean Conservancy will open a 401(a) account for you and will contribute 6% of your monthly salary whether you participate in the 403(b) or not.  

• 15 paid vacation days, 11 holidays, 12 sick days, and two personal days
  

JOIN THE CANDIDATE POOL
Bonsai Leadership Group has been exclusively retained for this search. For consideration, join the candidate pool by submitting your resume and a concise cover letter outlining your interest in the role here.

Expressions of interest will be reviewed and evaluated as received. All expressions of interest, nominations, inquiries, and discussions will be considered strictly confidential.

If you need an accommodation to submit your materials for consideration, please contact us at careers@bonsaileadershipgroup.com.  This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of your interest in this position.  

Ocean Conservancy encourages applicants with a diverse level and range of relevant skills and experiences to apply. A 100% match is not required. Ocean Conservancy wants to support employees’ career growth, and in return, its employees help it grow into a stronger, more inclusive institution.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Ocean Conservancy provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.