Vice President / Chief Operating Officer

The Asia Foundation is an international development organization committed to improving lives and expanding opportunities across Asia and the Pacific. Home to half the people on the planet, Asia and the Pacific are diverse, dynamic, and fast-growing. In an era of sweeping global challenges, what happens there impacts the globe.

The Asia Foundation’s work is as urgent and relevant today as when it was established 70 years ago. Informed by decades of experience and deep local knowledge, the Foundation works in more than 20 countries with a focus on governance, climate action, gender equality, inclusive growth, education, leadership, and international cooperation. Its annual $116 million budget is funded by a wide range of governments and multilateral development agencies, foundations, corporations, and individuals.

The Foundation is revered for its local impact and long-term commitment to each country in which it works across a broad geographic footprint. It has a strong and growing capability and reputation for multicountry and regional programs. With 17 country offices and several satellite teams across Asia and the Pacific, as well as two U.S. offices, the Foundation is operationally complex. The organization’s commitment to being embedded in the places where it works enables exceptional nimbleness, tailoring of programs to local needs, cultivation of sustained partnerships, and responsiveness to contextual dynamics.

As the Foundation has grown, the need to increase operational cohesion and reinforce supporting structures has also grown. The organization is poised to develop a stronger operational backbone to serve country-focused and regional teams and headquarters with a more efficient, supportive working environment.

The Vice President/Chief Operating Officer position responds to the need for global operational leadership. The COO is charged with creating coherent cross-organizational systems, processes, standards, and policies and ensuring their implementation. The overarching goal is to support and improve organizational operations, advance the mission, and help make the Foundation a great place to work.

The COO Mandate

The Vice President/Chief Operation Officer (COO) reports to the President and CEO and is a member of the Executive Team. The COO leads the Operations Team that oversees and supports the organization’s operations across the Asia-Pacific region and in the United States. They are responsible for driving operational excellence, fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards and organizational policies.

The COO will be a dynamic leader with a track record of managing complex operations within a nonprofit or similar environment. The COO will have international operations experience, ideally in connection with Asia or the Pacific. They will have the professional and interpersonal skills to create more seamless, cohesive systems, policies, and processes across headquarters and the country offices.

Responsibilities

Be a visionary operational leader. The COO will develop a big-picture vision and lead the implementation of a cohesive operational backbone that balances the needs of country offices, regional teams, and headquarters. The COO will listen, build trust, and lead systems, processes, and operational solutions and change consistent with the 2025-30 organizational strategic plan. The COO will develop a strategic, operational plan that maps transformation to a seamless, user-friendly operational infrastructure. The plan will guide sequencing, budgeting, and timely implementation.

Enhance communications, inclusivity, and culture. The COO will foster a culture of transparency, fairness, collaboration, inclusion, team building, and problem-solving. In partnership with People and Culture and the Executive Team, the COO will champion responsive internal communications, professional development, and performance management approaches. In collaboration with other Executive Team members, they will develop knowledge management and other systems that contribute to cohesion, engagement, productivity, talent development, and job satisfaction.

Provide valued, effective support to the country offices. The COO will gain a deep understanding of current and emerging country office needs. They will work to create the right balance between centralized support systems and decentralized decision-making flexibility. They will create processes and technology solutions that are supportive, helpful, and valued. Together with the Chief of Asia and Pacific Operations, the COO will proactively work with stakeholders to address the needs and opportunities of country offices.

Ensure operational integrity and reputation. The COO will be a big-picture leader in enterprise risk management, compliance, and security. They will implement comprehensive compliance and risk management frameworks that align with the Foundation’s mission and ethical and legal standards; they will also ensure adherence to regulations and requirements across the U.S. and with diverse global donors and partners. The COO will monitor and identify potential risks and develop mitigation strategies to address them proactively, updating processes as needed. They will prepare emergency response plans to address natural and humanitarian crises, coordinating with local teams and partners for rapid and effective responses.

Represent the Foundation externally. As a member of the Executive Team, the COO will be a compelling external representative and advocate for the Foundation and its initiatives. The COO will build relationships with key stakeholders at government agencies, partner organizations, donors, and peer networks. They will identify opportunities for partnerships and collaboration and represent the Foundation in meetings, conferences, and events.

Personal Assets and Qualifications

The COO will have relevant experience in dispersed international operations, ideally in Asia and the Pacific, and a passion for the Foundation’s mission, vision, and values.

They will have personal assets that include:

Leadership skills, vision, and strategic acumen; orientation to the big picture as well as the details. A dynamic, inspiring personality.
Strong interpersonal, listening, and communication skills.
High emotional intelligence.
Self-confidence combined with humility.
Ability to deal well with ambiguity.
A balance of empathy and backbone: the ability to listen, adapt, and make and implement tough decisions.
Orientation to transparency, problem analysis, and resolution.
Team management and mentoring skills.

The COO will have professional experience, including:

Operational leadership in complex, dispersed organizations in and beyond the U.S., ideally including Asia and the Pacific, in multi-donor funding contexts.
Change management expertise.
A hybrid background that could include nonprofit, government, corporate, and other relevant contexts.
Business acumen, plus knowledge of financial management, measurement, and donor compliance in a complex, regulated environment.

Must be legally eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship

No phone calls, please

The Asia Foundation

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Vice President / Chief Operating Officer