Director, Central Operations, Process Optimization

About Nava

Nava is a consultancy and public benefit corporation working to make government services simple and effective. Since 2015, federal, state, and local agencies have trusted Nava to help solve highly scrutinized technology modernization challenges.

As a client services company, we guide agencies constrained by legacy systems to a future with sharp user experiences built on secure, reliable, fault-tolerant cloud infrastructure. We bill for our time, offering our expertise and problem-solving approach to help our government partners enhance their digital products and services. People are at the heart of our work, from members of the public who rely on benefit programs to government agency staff. Through human-centered design and modern engineering best practices, we help our government partners understand user needs and deliver on their missions more effectively. This focus gives everyone at Nava the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, impactful, and deeply connected to public good.

Position summary

Nava is at an inflection point. We are building toward an AI-native future, and the operational infrastructure to support that transformation does not yet exist. The Director, Central Operations, Process Optimization is a net-new role created to build it. This is a rare opportunity to shape what operational excellence looks like at a company that is serious about doing this differently.

The person in this seat is responsible for understanding how Nava's internal operations actually work today, identifying where they fall short, and leading the work to make them measurable, scalable, and increasingly automated.

That work starts with process mapping, but it does not end there. The ultimate lens for this role is operational transformation in an AI-native way. You will lead the assessment of which operational problems should be solved with tooling, which with agentic AI, and which with redesigned human-led processes. You will own that framework and lead its adoption across Nava's operations. And you will own the change management required to make new ways of working actually stick: building buy-in, driving adoption, and bringing cross-functional teams along through meaningful change.

This is a 0-to-1 builder role for someone comfortable working in ambiguity, confident designing from first principles, and energized by the challenge of making transformation real, not just designed. You will work in close partnership with the VP, Ops & Automation and will be a key voice in shaping how Nava operationalizes its AI-first direction. As the function matures, you will have the opportunity to build and lead a team.

All duties will be in service of Nava's values: Be Active Stewards, Delivery over Dogma, Build Together, Innovation Requires New Perspectives, and Progress Takes Work.

This role is open to Director or Senior Director, Central Operations, depending on experience.

What you'll do

• Inventory and map Nava’s core internal operations across cross-functional teams and shared services; identify the highest-impact gaps and sequence improvement work accordingly
• Design and implement improved processes that reduce manual effort, increase consistency, and produce measurable outcomes; establish and maintain a living process inventory across the org
• Own the change management required to make transformation stick: build stakeholder alignment, drive adoption of new frameworks and ways of working, and bring cross-functional teams along with clarity and conviction
• Lead the evaluation and decision-making process for where Nava should build AI-powered solutions, use external tools, or optimize human-led processes; developing a clear framework for assessing and prioritizing these investments