Senior Manager, Workplace Operations

Zip
San Francisco, CA
Hybrid

Who this role is best for

Best suited to candidates with experience in global workplace operations and a track record of scaling systems within high-growth organizations, working in enterprise tech and corporate real estate domains.

Best fit for

  • Candidates with experience managing distributed teams and multi-site operations in enterprise tech environments
    — “leading Workplace, Facilities, Corporate Real Estate, or Workplace Operations within a high-growth organization”
  • Individuals who have built scalable operational frameworks and playbooks for workplace teams
    — “building, transforming, or scaling a workplace function by establishing the systems, standards, and operating rhythms”
  • Candidates with a background in vendor strategy and contract governance for global operations
    — “Own our global vendor strategy and performance, including sourcing, RFPs, contract negotiations, SLAs, KPI development”

Things to consider

  • Requires leadership over onsite teams and collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders like Finance and brokers
    — “partnering with Finance and our brokers”
  • Involves managing both physical security and employee experience across multiple office locations
    — “Collaborate to develop safety and security programs and processes, including onsite security operations”
  • Candidates must be capable of balancing speed, quality, and cost in a rapidly scaling business
    — “balance speed, quality, and cost across a growing global portfolio”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in creating scalable operational frameworks and location-specific standards
    — “create scalable playbooks, SOPs, escalation paths, incident response protocols”
  • Emphasize your ability to manage global vendor ecosystems and contract governance
    — “global vendor strategy and performance, including sourcing, RFPs, contract negotiations”
  • Showcase your background in facilities maintenance and capital improvement planning
    — “Oversee facilities maintenance programs across the portfolio”
  • Demonstrate your skill in translating operational data into actionable business insights
    — “translating operational data, risks, and tradeoffs into actionable recommendations”
  • Position yourself as a leader who inspires teams to consistently deliver high-quality employee experiences
    — “love rolling up your sleeves to uphold the employee experience and inspire your team to do the same”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Company

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • global vendor strategy
  • operational framework
  • site lead for SF office
  • real estate portfolio management
Typical background
experience in operations managementleadership experience

Skills & requirements

Required

Vendor ManagementReal Estate Portfolio ManagementOperational Framework DevelopmentSecurity ProgramsFacilities Maintenance

Preferred

Budget ManagementTeam Coaching

Stack & domain

Vendor StrategyContract NegotiationsSecurity ProgramsFacilities MaintenanceLeadershipTeam ManagementCommunicationProblem-solvingReal EstateOperationsSecurityFacilities

About the role

Original posting from Zip via Ashby

ABOUT ZIP

Zip is the AI platform for enterprise procurement — built for humans and agents working together. By orchestrating procurement across teams, tools, and suppliers with the help of AI agents, companies can secure the resources they need to innovate faster than ever before.

The world’s most influential enterprises trust Zip, including T-Mobile, OpenAI, AMD, Mars, Dollar Tree, and more. Together they’ve saved over $8 billion and processed over $500 billion in spend. Zip’s team includes product leaders from Apple, Airbnb, and Meta, as well as former procurement leaders from United Health, Sanofi, MGM Resorts, Discover, and NASA.

Backed by Adams Street, Alkeon, BOND, CRV, DST, Tiger Global, and Y Combinator, Zip has raised $371 million, most recently at a $2.2 billion valuation and has been recognized by Forbes Fintech 50, Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, Inc. Best in Business, and LinkedIn Top Startups.

YOUR ROLE

As the Senior Manager, Workplace Operations, you own the operational engine behind Zip's global workplace portfolio and ensure our SF office is running smoothly. You are building the systems, standards, and partnerships that keep every office running safely, consistently and efficiently at scale.

You lead our distributed team of Workplace office managers and security staff across multiple locations, creating the structure, accountability, and support they need to operate with confidence and autonomy. You also manage our real estate portfolio, partnering with Finance and our brokers.

This role is responsible for the operational backbone of Workplace, from vendor strategy and contract governance to security, maintenance, and playbooks, ensuring our teams can deliver a consistently high caliber employee experience without relying on manual effort or heroics.

You balance speed, quality, and cost across a growing global portfolio while continuously raising the operational bar as the business scales.

YOUR IMPACT

  • Own our global vendor strategy and performance, including sourcing, RFPs, contract negotiations, SLAs, KPI development, compliance, credentialing, renewals, and ongoing benchmarking.
  • Build and continuously evolve Workplace's operational framework, partnering with your operational teams to create scalable playbooks, SOPs, escalation paths, incident response protocols, and location-specific operating standards.
  • Serve as the site lead for our San Francisco office, ensuring operations run smoothly and uphold a workplace that is safe and delightful.
  • Manage Workplace's operational budget in partnership with Finance, tracking spend, governing contracts, managing renewals, and proactively identifying risks or opportunities.
  • Coach and develop our distributed onsite Workplace team, establishing clear operating rhythms, coaching, accountability, and consistent service standards across every location.
  • Collaborate to develop safety and security programs and processes, including onsite security operations, emergency preparedness, and incident response.
  • Oversee facilities maintenance programs across the portfolio, balancing preventative maintenance, reactive work, and capital improvements to ensure our spaces remain safe, reliable, and well maintained.
  • Set and uphold the operational standards for every Zip workplace, creating environments that are safe, thoughtful, and consistently delightful for employees, whether they're working from an office or remotely.
  • Lead our real estate strategy and build outs across sites in partnership with Finance and our brokers.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Significant experience leading Workplace, Facilities, Corporate Real Estate, or Workplace Operations within a high-growth organization, including managing distributed teams and multi-site operations.
  • Proven success building, transforming, or scaling a workplace function by establishing the systems, standards, and operating rhythms that enable sustainable growth.
  • Strong financial and operational acumen, with experience managing operating budgets, contract governance, forecasting, and long-range planning.
  • Experience managing global or multi-country workplace operations, with an understanding of regional compliance requirements, vendor ecosystems, and local operational considerations.
  • Experience partnering closely on physical security programs, including access control, vendor management, emergency preparedness, and incident response.
  • Demonstrated ability to operate autonomously in a fast-moving environment while balancing strategic priorities with operational excellence.

HOW YOU LEAD

  • You believe exceptional workplaces are built through disciplined execution, thoughtful systems, and a relentless focus on the employee experience.
  • You love rolling up your sleeves to uphold the employee experience and inspire your team to do the same.
  • You build systems that scale, creating structure, standards, and repeatable processes that enable consistent execution across locations in a tiered model.
  • You bring clarity to complexity, translating operational data, risks, and tradeoffs into actionable recommendations that help leaders make confident decisions.
  • You lead with data, using operational metrics, occupancy insights, employee feedback, and financial performance to continuously improve how we operate.
  • You build trust through partnership, developing strong relationships with frontline teams, cross-functional stakeholders, vendors, and executives alike.
  • You balance urgency with thoughtful execution, knowing when to move quickly and when to invest in long-term, scalable solutions.
  • You take ownership, proactively identifying opportunities, solving problems before they escalate, and continuously raising the bar for operational excellence.

NICE TO HAVES

  • Experience scaling workplace operations across an international portfolio.
  • Experience supporting both office-based and distributed employees through thoughtful workplace programs and operational strategies.
  • Experience implementing workplace technology platforms, operational reporting, or process automation to improve scale and efficiency.
  • Familiarity with capital projects, office openings, relocations, or large-scale workplace transformations.

The salary range for this role is $180,000-$200,000. The salary for this position is determined based on a variety of job-related factors that may include location, relevant experience, education, or particular skills and expertise. This role requires 5 days onsite in our SF office to ensure the office is running smoothly.

PERKS & BENEFITS

At Zip, we’re committed to providing our employees with everything they need to do their best work.

  • 📈 Start-up equity
  • 🦷 100% health, vision & dental coverage options
  • 🍽️ Catered breakfast, lunch, & dinner
  • 🌴 Flexible PTO
  • 🏋️‍♀️ ClassPass membership
  • 🚍 Monthly commuter benefit
  • 🚠 Team building events & happy hours
  • 💻 Home office stipend
  • 🛜 Phone/internet reimbursement
  • 🍼 Paid parental leave
  • 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Fertility stipend
  • 💸 401k plan

We're looking to hire Zipsters and that means hiring people who take ownership, communicate openly, have an underdog mindset, and are excited to increase the pace of innovation for every business in the world. We encourage all candidates to apply even if your experience doesn't exactly match up to our job description. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workspace where everyone (regardless of age, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and more) feels like they belong. We look forward to hearing from you!

Source: Zip careers (Ashby)

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