Director of Studio Operations

NIKE

NIKE, Inc. does more than outfit the world's best athletes. It is a place to explore potential and push the boundaries of what can be. The company looks for people who can grow, think, dream and create. Its culture thrives by embracing diversity and rewarding imagination. The brand seeks achievers, leaders and visionaries. At Nike, it’s about each person bringing skills and passion to a challenging and constantly evolving game.

VALIANT LABS

Valiant Labs was created to drive disruptive new businesses that serve emerging athlete* needs. Entrepreneurial in spirit and approach, this type of innovation requires us to think and work differently, quickly generating new ideas and validating their potential.

Valiant Labs is always on the look-out for entrepreneurs with the battle scars of failures and successes, who are agile, unafraid of hunting in white space.

DIRECTOR OF STUDIO OPERATIONS

Nike’s Valiant Labs is currently seeking an experienced Director of Studio Operations to help our missions of developing new businesses through lean innovation strategy and principles. We are seeking a world class teammate to help us solve operational needs across multiple startups.

What you’ll be working on

•Help Nike create and test unbranded concepts in-market

•Providing strategic support to Entrepreneurs In Residence (EIR’s) during the planning and execution of each validation phase of their projects. This includes:

      •Concept test brainstorming       

      •Sprint planning        

      •Budget planning

      •Resource allocation

       •Operationalizing the business

•Interface between Nike business units and the startups to help optimize for time / speed. This includes finance, legal, HR, and accounting

•Identify, troubleshoot, solve and deploy new systems and operations for unforeseen problems.

•Identify new operational partners within Nike and help manage relationships and operations

•Manage external Agency relationships & contracts (e.g., MSA, NDA and Vendor Information Risk Assessment procedures)

•Negotiate contracts with vendors and consultants

•Manage and allocate shared resources to be deployed across Innovation Accelerator startups

Relevant experience

•4+ years’ experience in startup operations related work (startup management, contract management, etc.)

•Proven ability to prioritize workloads, manage multiple projects simultaneously and drive results

•A proven record of connecting business challenges with creative and transformative solutions

•Excellent presentation, verbal and written communications skills

•Outstanding ability to collaborate and influence internal and external stakeholders, particularly executive management

•Bias for action

•Ability to cut through complexity whilst delivering practical and pragmatic approaches to a dynamic work environment.

•Experience working on or with startups

Primary location

Portland, Oregon with potential for commuting or other work arrangements that allow for needed flexibility

Schedule

Time dictated by key work streams and cadence of deliverables