Director of Operations, Partnerships

Operations Director - Partnerships

Who We Are

4ocean has spent years building world-class ocean cleanup infrastructure - 250 full-time crew, operations in Florida and Indonesia, 50M+ pounds removed, and verified impact systems that no competitor can replicate quickly. Now we're scaling that infrastructure into a B2B revenue engine: Powered by 4ocean, the ocean-cleanup platform for brands that need proof, not promises.

This is the shift from mission-supported-by-brands to mission-powered-by-infrastructure. And infrastructure requires operations excellence at every layer.

The Role

The Operations Director is the internal engine behind the external promise. You ensure that every contracted pound of plastic gets pulled, every impact dashboard gets delivered, every co-branded asset gets produced, and every partner renewal conversation is backed by flawless execution.

You own the operationalization of the "Powered by 4ocean" partnership model: process design, delivery workflows, reporting systems, cross-functional coordination, and continuous improvement. You're the person who makes sure we can scale our partner volume x 10 without breaking.

Reporting to the Managing Director of Partnerships, this role is part head of operations, part program manager, part systems architect. If Account Directors are the face to the customer, you're the backbone that makes their promises possible.

What You'll Do

Design & Execute Partnership Delivery Operations

• Own end-to-end fulfillment of partnership commitments: cleanup operations, impact reporting, co-branded asset production, traceability tech deployment
• Build and manage the delivery calendar - ensuring contracted lbs/year, quarterly reports, and co-marketing assets are delivered on time, every time
• Develop SOPs, workflows, and templates that make partnership delivery repeatable, scalable, and consistent across account teams
• Set and track SLAs for delivery milestones (e.g., impact reports within 15 days of quarter-end, co-branded assets within 30 days of creative brief)

Coordinate Cross-Functional Delivery Teams

• Partner with Cleanup Operations to align partner commitments with crew capacity, geographic operations, and recovery targets
• Work with Marketing/Creative to produce co-branded storytelling assets, case studies, on-pack messaging, and campaign content
• Coordinate with Finance on invoicing, revenue recognition, and contract compliance
• Collaborate with Product/Tech on traceability solutions: QR codes, blockchain verification, API integrations, partner dashboards
• Ensure Sales and Account Directors have real-time visibility into delivery status, capacity constraints, and fulfillment timelines

Build Reporting & Impact Verification Systems

• Own the impact reporting engine: ensure partners receive accurate, audit-ready data on pounds recovered, crew hours, geographies, and environmental outcomes
• Develop dashboards and reporting templates that translate cleanup operations into ESG-compliant, brand-ready formats (aligned with GRI, SASB, CSRD where relevant)
• Implement QA processes to ensure data accuracy, third-party verification readiness, and regulatory compliance (FTC Green Guides, EU Green Claims Directive)
• Build systems that allow partners (and internal teams) to access live impact data via dashboards, APIs, or automated reports

Drive Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Track key operational metrics: on-time delivery %, partner satisfaction (NPS), fulfillment costs per partnership, time-to-first-value
• Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and failure points - then fix them
• Lead regular operational reviews with cross-functional teams to surface issues, align on priorities, and drive accountability
• Build feedback loops from Account Directors and partners into process improvements

Enable Scale

• Design systems and processes that support 10–20x growth in partner count without proportional headcount increases
• Evaluate and implement tools for project management (Asana, Monday, Notion), reporting automation, and partner communication
• Create templates, playbooks, and training materials that enable new hires to deliver partnerships effectively from day one
• Partner with leadership to forecast capacity, resource needs, and operational investment required to hit revenue targets

Own Partner Onboarding & Off-boarding

• Design and execute seamless onboarding for new partners: kickoff calls, delivery timelines, reporting cadence, co-branding guidelines
• Ensure Account Directors have everything they need for successful handoff from Sales
• Manage off-boarding processes for non-renewing partners (final reporting, asset transfer, relationship closure)

Who You Are

Experience & Background

• Minimum 7+ years in operations, program management, or delivery roles, ideally in B2B services, SaaS, or mission-driven organizations
• Proven ability to build scalable processes from scratch, with limited resources, in high-growth or startup environments
• Experience coordinating cross-functional teams (operations, creative, tech, finance) to deliver complex, multi-stakeholder programs
• Familiarity with ESG reporting, impact measurement, or sustainability services is a strong plus
• Background in project management frameworks (Agile, Six Sigma, Lean) and tools (Asana, Monday, HubSpot, Tableau) preferred

Skills & Capabilities

• Systems thinker: You see workflows, dependencies, and leverage points - and you design for scale, not one-offs
• Operational rigor: You track the right metrics, hold teams accountable, and ensure nothing slips
• Cross-functional orchestration: You know how to align teams with different priorities around a shared outcome
• Data literacy: Comfortable with dashboards, reporting tools, and translating operational data into business insights
• Process design: You can take a messy, manual workflow and turn it into a repeatable, documented, scalable system

Mindset & Fit

• Builders mentality: You're energized by creating structure where none exists and improving what's already there
• Mission-driven but business-focused: You care deeply about impact and know that operational excellence is how we scale it
• Comfortable in ambiguity: The "Powered by 4ocean" model is new; you'll be defining how delivery works, not inheriting a playbook
• Bias toward action: You don't wait for perfect - you ship, test, learn, and iterate
• High accountability: You own outcomes, not just tasks; when something breaks, you fix it

Success Metrics (90 Days | 6 Months | 12 Months)

90 Days: Map current partnership delivery workflows, identify top 3 operational friction points, implement delivery tracking system, and lead successful onboarding of 2 new partners

6 Months: Achieve 95%+ on-time delivery across all partnership commitments, reduce average time-to-first-impact-report by 30%, build automated reporting templates, and document SOPs for all core delivery workflows

12 Months: Deliver 98%+ SLA compliance, partner NPS of 60+, operational cost per partnership down 20%, and scalable systems in place to support 2x partner growth with <50% increase in delivery headcount

Why 4ocean

Love what you do:

• Build the operational backbone of the ocean-cleanup infrastructure that brands around the world will plug into

Love why you do it:

• Your systems directly enable millions of pounds of plastic to be pulled from the ocean every year
• Shape how a mission-driven company scales into a category-defining B2B platform
• Knowing that your operational excellence powers environmental impact at scale

Love who you do it with:

• Work cross-functionally with cleanup crews, creative teams, account directors, and C-suite leaders

And then there’s….

• Competitive comp (base + performance bonus)
• Comprehensive health benefits and a 401k plan
• Flexibility - remote work and + flexible PTO 
• Holidays! So many holidays (well above the industry average)

4ocean is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer.