Director of Operations and Strategy

Harvard Hillel

About the Role

Harvard Hillel seeks an exceptional founding professional to institutionalize and sustain The Camel a highly successful Harvard- and MITstudent-led initiative that has emerged as one of the most dynamic platforms for Jewish Israeli and cross-cultural engagement on elite campuses.

Launched in 2024 as a student startup The Camel has been conceived built and led by studentsand has rapidly grown into a high-impact initiative backed by leading figures in business and Jewish its first year The Camel welcomed nearly 2000 students (approximately half non-Jewish) to more than 20 events and culminated in a three-day Hackathon connecting elite Israeli innovators and IDF veterans with Harvard and MIT students.

This role is designed to institutionalize and provide continuity to The Camel while preserving cultivating and strengthening its student-led DNA. The Director will serve as the professional anchorensuring financial rigor operational excellence donor stewardship and long-term sustainabilitywhile fostering student leadership development governance and succession so that The Camel continues to thrive as a student-driven movement.

The Director will work in close partnership with student leaders and maintain a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Camel Student Board supporting their vision and empowering them to drive growth programming and culture.

This is a founding leadership role at a pivotal moment shaping how a successful student startup matures into a durable multi-campus and international institution.

Position Overview

• Title: Director of Operations and Strategy
• Status: Full-time (40 hours/week; flexible as required by programming)
• Reports to: Director of Development
• Dotted-line relationship: Camel Student Board & Executive Director

Key Responsibilities

Institutional Leadership & Continuity for The Camel

• Serve as the founding professional leader responsible for institutionalizing The Camel while preserving its student-led ethos.
• Partner closely with the Camel Student Board and founders to translate student vision into executable sustainable strategy
• Build and maintain the operational financial and governance infrastructure that allows student leadership to succeed year after year
• Implement student leadership succession frameworks ensuring continuity across graduating classes
• Act as steward of institutional memory systems and best practices as student leadership turns over
• Serve as the operational and administrative interface between student leadership Harvard Hillel administration and external partners while supporting student leaders in maintaining and strengthening those relationships.

Financial Management Operations & Stakeholder Stewardship

• Establish financial systems and Implement financial operations for The Camel including budgeting expense tracking accounts payable/receivable and reporting in coordination with student Board
• Manage six-figure to seven-figure program budgets with transparency and rigor
• Support the execution of 3 complex high-production events per month working hand-in-hand with student leaders
• Serve as primary staff liaison to donors advisory board members speakers and strategic partners
• Prepare financial and impact reports for student leadership advisory boards and philanthropic stakeholders
• Coordinate advisory board meetings and donor briefings
• Oversee gift processing vendor payments and donor acknowledgments in compliance with nonprofit and university systems
• Track engagement metrics and outcomes to support fundraising and strategic growth

Required Qualifications

• Bachelors degree and 37 years of progressively responsible experience in operations finance nonprofit management or program leadership
• Demonstrated experience managing budgets and financial reporting and systems
• Strong comfort partnering with student leaders while providing professional structure and accountability
• Exceptional organizational and interpersonal skills
• Experience working with high-level stakeholders donors or advisory boards
• Ability to thrive in fast-paced high-visibility environments
• Willingness to work flexible hours

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $75000 $85000 commensurate with experience
• Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance retirement plan and generous paid time off
• Unparalleled access to influential entrepreneurs investors and philanthropists
• Opportunity to help institutionalize a nationally scalable student-driven model

About Harvard Hillel & The Camel

Harvard Hillel is a Jewish home that welcomes all students to explore Jewish identity culture and community at one of the worlds most influential universities.

The Camel is a student-founded and student-led initiative redefining Jewish and Israel engagement through inspiration innovation and opportunity.

Harvard Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life learning and Israel.

About Hillel International

In 1923 Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life learning and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.

Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.