Head of Operations for Foundry by Aviture/The Garage

Foundry by Aviture / The Garage

Foundry exists to turn consequential problems into durable companies. Across The Garage (venture build), The Lab (R&D), The Good (civic tech), and The Signal (thought leadership), we combine Aviture’s engineering depth with operator discipline to create products that matter—and businesses that last. As Head of Operations, you will design and run the operating system that powers company formation inside The Garage: plan cycles and governance, finance and legal workflows, talent and vendor machinery, and the data layer that keeps everything visible and accountable. Your mission is to shorten time from thesis to pilot, improve capital efficiency, and remove friction for founders—so each venture moves from concept to pilots to first revenue with audit-ready controls and clear runway. Success is measured in on-time pilots, accurate forecasts, clean diligence, and founder outcomes across the Midwest and beyond. foundry.aviture.us.com

Key Responsibilities

• Foundry OS: Design and maintain the portfolio operating system—cadences, OKRs, dashboards, and commit/hold/stop gates across all ventures.
• Portfolio operations: Capacity and resourcing across builds; milestone tracking; unblock issues to hit pilot and revenue dates.
• Finance operations: Budgets and rolling forecasts (platform + venture); month-end close; burn/runway tracking; scenario planning.
• Legal & governance: Standardize data rooms and templates (SAFEs, SOWs, MSAs, term sheets); cap table hygiene; board cadence; outside counsel coordination.
• People & talent ops: Build recruiting pipelines, rate cards, and a contractor bench; hiring SLAs; onboarding within 72 hours; performance mechanisms.
• Compliance & risk: Implement pragmatic controls (SOC2-lite), security/privacy posture, insurance coverage, and—where applicable—ATO roadmaps for gov/mil work.
• Tooling & data architecture: Select and integrate the stack (CRM, finance, project tooling); maintain single-pane dashboards for leaders and founders.
• Vendor & partner management: Negotiate terms and SLAs; manage procurement; measure cost/quality; ensure partners accelerate trust.
• Communications & rituals: Produce crisp operating reviews, venture updates, and “no-surprises” reporting; run portfolio and platform reviews.

Ways of working

• Cadence: Weekly Portfolio Review (milestones, burn, risks); Monthly Operating Review (platform P&L, funnel, runway); Quarterly Planning (OKRs and capacity).
• Mechanisms: RACI, runbooks, playbooks, explicit commit/hold/stop gates, and SLA-based service to ventures.
• Culture: Service mindset to founders; substance over theatrics; low ego, high signal; bias to action and clarity.

Location & travel
Omaha-centric with flexibility; travel for founders, customers, and events (~20–30%).

Compensation / Benefits
Competitive salary plus performance-based upside tied to platform and portfolio outcomes; benefits via Aviture.

• Prior role as COO, Director of Operations, GM, or PMO lead with direct accountability for multi-team or multi-program delivery (e.g., $10–50M scope or zero-to-scale programs).
• Reputation for being future-focused, pragmatic, and disciplined; you install mechanisms and keep them running.
• Fluency across finance, legal/governance, talent, and GTM ops; you know when to use outside counsel and when to move.
• Track record of standing up operating cadence (OKRs/QBRs, dashboards, closes) and improving burn multiple, cycle times, and quality.
• Familiarity with our domains (gov/mil, healthcare, aviation, logistics, data/AI); ATO/SOC experience is a plus.

• PPO or a High Deductible Health Plan, HSA eligible plan, Dental, Vision, and Supplemental Life.
• Generous paid time off that starts accruing on day one.
• Hybrid work environment with quarterly Castaway Week events in the Omaha HQ Office, all expenses paid, from across the country to participate in team-building, collaboration, and fun events.
• Company vacations!!! Previous destinations have included Napa Valley, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas and Aspen.
• Matching 401k with 100% vesting in six months.
• Pick your preferred workstation! Mac? PC? We’ll support you with the tech you need to do your best work.
• Get paid to go to national and international conferences and training, so that you can stay up to date with the latest innovations.
• Flexible work schedules: Work the times that fits your schedule, with all meetings required to be scheduled between 9 am and 3 pm CST.
• Free lunch every Friday and recurring team events for you and your family to enjoy.
• Incentive and bonus pay.
• Opportunities for connection and growth through peer coaching, recurring Lightning Talks to share things we’re passionate about, and a bi-weekly company-wide All Hands.