Messaging, Strategy & Operations Lead

Own Company

Own Company

Operations

Chicago, IL, USA

Posted on May 28, 2026

Description

Overview of the Role:

The Messaging Strategy & Operations Lead works directly with the Sr. Director of Messaging Strategy & Operations, supporting the day-to-day and strategic operations of the Messaging and Solutions Marketing org in [Location]. This role is the connective tissue across a fast-moving, high-visibility marketing organization, keeping priorities aligned, programs on track, and leadership forums sharp.

This isn't a traditional ops role; you won't be building process for process's sake. The right candidate is someone who has learned operations by doing, thrives with range, and rolls with change without losing momentum. One week might be deep in planning and budget coordination; the next might be helping operationalize an internal event or synthesizing feedback for an executive review.

We're also looking for someone with a genuine builder's mindset around AI. Our team is actively experimenting, developing AI-powered tools, running pilots, and finding new ways to move faster and think better. We want someone who's excited to be part of that, not someone who treats AI as optional.

Responsibilities:

  • Serve as the primary operating partner to the Sr. Director, managing priorities, information flow, and follow-through across a complex, distributed org; prepare materials for executive meetings, leadership reviews, and cross-functional forums, ensuring the right context and rigor are in the room

  • Build and maintain operating rhythms: staff meetings, planning checkpoints, action tracking, and decision capture across the leadership team; track Travel & Expense budgets, key deadlines, and planning milestones, surfacing risks and dependencies before they become problems

  • Drive cross-functional coordination on high-priority initiatives including annual planning, quarterly priorities, and headcount planning; support the org's V2MOM process by coordinating method owners, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring readiness at each review milestone

  • Help operationalize major internal events (3-4x per year), coordinating timelines, logistics, and deliverables; use AI tools including Claude Code and our internal Salesforce environment to improve synthesis, streamline workflows, and build AI-powered strategy tools

Required Qualifications:

  • 5-7 years of experience in business operations, strategy & operations, program management, chief of staff, or a related generalist function

  • Strong program and project management skills, able to manage multiple high-stakes priorities simultaneously without dropping threads

  • Excellent written and verbal communication; able to draft executive-level materials and org communications independently

  • Demonstrated ability to build structure in ambiguous environments and drive work forward without heavy oversight

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Experience in marketing, messaging, events, or content functions

  • Strong judgment, discretion, and executive presence, comfortable working across senior stakeholders and diverse teams

  • Hands-on curiosity about AI tools; experience with Claude, Claude Code, or similar platforms preferred; a genuine eagerness to build and experiment is required

  • You thrive with range and aren't precious about lanes; this role will stretch, and that should excite you, not give you pause