Operational Excellence and Transformation Associate

Reporting to the Operations Manager, this position will support financial management and transformation initiatives across the Administration & Marketing and Communications divisions.

Position Specific Responsibilities/Accountabilities

• Supports the quarterly forecasting and budget check-in cycle across the Administration & Marketing and Communication divisions.

• Builds variance analyses, scenario models, and financial summaries in support of division-level budget reviews and COO-facing financial reporting.

• Maps current-state workflows, captures stakeholder input, and drafts process improvement findings across transformation initiatives.

• Produces executive-ready deliverables — decks, memos, one-pagers, and dashboards — that translate analysis into decisions at the VP and COO level, with ownership of formatting and quality control.

• Prepares materials for executive and divisional leadership meetings; tracks action items and follows up across the transformation portfolio to ensure implementation discipline.

• Owns project risk logs, milestone trackers, and workstream status boards across the transformation portfolio; proactively surfaces and escalates blockers.

• Conducts peer institution benchmarking and external research to inform recommendations and support divisional leader requests.

• Deploys AI tools and agentic workflows (Claude, CoPilot, ChatGPT) to accelerate research, drafting, and process documentation, modeling AI-enabled operations across the divisions.

Loyola Marymount University Expectations

Exhibit behavior that supports the mission, vision, and values of the university. Promote an environment that supports diversity and inclusivity. Communicate and employ interpersonal actions that model high standards of professional, responsible, accountable, and ethical conduct. Demonstrate a commitment to outstanding stakeholder service.

Requisite Qualifications

• Typically, a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field, or equivalent experience; master’s degree is preferred. Incumbent will be expected to continue upgrading knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to keep abreast of regulation/policy and industry changes.

• Minimum 2 years of related job experience. Internship or prior work in consulting or business operations is preferred.

• Experience working in positions that involve collaboration across multiple departments.

• Knowledge of Higher Ed and related issues and pressures preferred.

• Fluency in M365; hands-on experience with AI tools / agentic workflows required; Workday Financials and Adaptive Financial Planning experience preferred.

• Demonstrated analytical skills and experience using data for decision support; creating complex analytical reports; working with large-scale budgets, including operational and capital budgeting.

• Attention to detail and deadline sensitive.

• Ability to handle confidential information with appropriate confidence and sensitivity.

• Demonstrated experience and success in sensitive communication.

• Exemplary communication skills (both written and oral) evidenced by background in preparing comprehensive reports and executive summaries incorporating business trends, industry trends, customer satisfaction, and other key metrics.

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed. This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of this position.

#HERC# #HEJ#

Staff Regular

Salary range

$71,100.00 - $88,900.00 Salary commensurate with education and experience.

Please note that this position may not be eligible for visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Loyola Marymount University, a Carnegie classified R2 institution in the mainstream of American Catholic higher education, seeks outstanding applicants who value its mission and share its commitment to inclusive excellence, the education of the whole person, and the building of a just society. LMU is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing an environment free from discrimination and harassment as defined by federal, state and local law. We invite all persons in the full diversity of their being, life experience, and beliefs to apply. (Visit www.lmu.edu for more information.)