Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Vice President, Business Systems – Central Technology

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: Redwood City • California • United States

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Salary

💰 $297,000 - $424,600 per year

Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Define and own the product vision and multi-year strategy for business systems, ensuring internal platforms are designed around real user needs and aligned with CZI’s organizational priorities.
  • Lead the evolution of Business Systems into a product-led internal tools organization, with clear product ownership, discovery practices, prioritization frameworks, and roadmap discipline.
  • Treat enterprise platforms (e.g., Workday, Salesforce, Coupa, Greenhouse, Ironclad) as foundational infrastructure, designing cohesive workflows and user experiences on top of them rather than relying solely on out-of-the-box functionality.
  • Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing, multidisciplinary team spanning product, program management, engineering, analytics, and systems leadership.
  • Establish governance frameworks and cross-functional decision-making models that support product strategy, tradeoff clarity, and long-term platform health across Finance, People, Grants, Contracts (Legal), and Brand & Communications.
  • Serve as a trusted executive partner to C-level leaders and domain executives, translating organizational strategy and operational needs into clear systems and product direction.
  • Oversee systems architecture, integration strategy, and data flows to ensure platforms are scalable, secure, compliant, and designed for long-term evolution.
  • Drive end-to-end workflow design, automation, and simplification, reducing manual effort while improving usability, transparency, and adoption.
  • Champion change management, continuous feedback loops, and measurable improvement across all enterprise systems.
  • Act as the primary executive voice for Business Systems within Central Technology and in cross-organizational strategic planning.

Requirements

  • 20+ years of progressive experience across enterprise systems, internal platforms, digital operations, or technology leadership, including 5+ years in executive leadership roles.
  • Demonstrated experience owning product strategy for internal tools or platforms, including defining user personas, mapping end-to-end workflows, setting roadmaps, and driving adoption and satisfaction — not just implementing or administering systems.
  • Proven leadership of enterprise platforms at scale (e.g., Workday, Salesforce, Coupa, Greenhouse, Ironclad), with the ability to design thoughtful abstractions, integrations, and user experiences on top of core systems.
  • A track record of leading large-scale systems or platform transformations, delivering measurable improvements in usability, efficiency, and organizational clarity.
  • Strong technical fluency across business systems, integrations, and data architecture — able to partner deeply with engineers, architects, and vendors while maintaining product-level accountability.
  • Experience shifting organizations from reactive, request-driven system support to product-led operating models, introducing roadmaps, feedback loops, success metrics, and clear ownership.
  • Exceptional executive stakeholder management skills, with experience influencing and aligning C-level leaders on priorities, tradeoffs, and long-term systems strategy.
  • Strong understanding of business operations across Finance, People, Grants, Contracts (Legal), and Brand & Communications, and how systems can unify and enable these domains.
  • Proven ability to build and scale inclusive, high-performing teams that balance delivery, quality, and user empathy.
  • Outstanding communication skills, with the ability to translate complexity into clarity for technical and non-technical audiences.
Benefits
  • Provides a generous employer match on employee 401(k) contributions to support planning for the future.
  • Paid time off to volunteer at an organization of your choice.
  • Funding for select family-forming benefits.
  • Relocation support for employees who need assistance moving

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard skills
product strategyworkflow designdata architectureintegration strategyuser experience designchange managementautomationsystems architectureproduct ownershiproadmap development
Soft skills
leadershipstakeholder managementcommunicationmentoringteam buildinginfluencingorganizational clarityuser empathycross-functional collaborationstrategic planning