Remote, US-Based | EST Collaboration | Preference for Bethesda, MD Area
Full-time: $210,000–$240,000
Clarity does not scale itself. Leadership does.
Variate is looking for a Head of Client Operations to oversee our Design Directors and ensure every client engagement delivers measurable business impact with precision, consistency, and speed.
This is not a program management role. This is a systems leadership role.
You will own how client work performs across the firm. You will ensure that Decision Design™ is applied consistently, that teams operate with clarity, and that every engagement turns hesitation into confident decisions and measurable growth.
If you operate at the intersection of leadership, systems, and outcomes, and you measure success by client impact at scale, we want to meet you.
This is a remote, US-based role with collaboration during Eastern Time working hours. You will work directly with executive leadership to scale how Variate delivers clarity across every client relationship.
What You Will Do
Own performance across all client work
Define and enforce what success looks like across engagements. Ensure every program ties to measurable business outcomes including adoption, conversion, and growth. Identify risks early and correct course before momentum is lost.
Lead the system, not just the work
Operationalize Decision Design™ across all engagements. Ensure consistency in how teams design for emotion, logic, and behavior so clarity is engineered into every experience.
Manage and elevate Design Directors
Lead, coach, and hold accountable all Design Directors. Ensure they operate as true client leaders, not project managers. Drive excellence in leadership, decision-making, and client partnership.
Ensure consistency at scale
Build and refine systems that make high-quality delivery repeatable. Standardize how we run programs, manage clients, and measure success without slowing teams down.
Own client health and growth
Oversee Client Impact Plans (CIPs) and Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) across all accounts. Ensure every client relationship is progressing, expanding, and delivering value tied to their business goals.
Drive alignment across teams and clients
Ensure internal teams and client stakeholders operate from shared clarity. Eliminate misalignment before it compounds into delays, friction, or lost trust.
Protect and grow client trust
Set the standard for executive-level partnership. Ensure clients feel confident, informed, and supported at every stage. Trust is not assumed. It is designed and reinforced.
Scale operational intelligence
Turn insights from engagements into firm-wide improvements. Identify patterns across clients and translate them into better systems, faster delivery, and stronger outcomes.
Lead AI-enabled operations
Define how AI enhances delivery across teams. Build systems that increase speed, insight, and consistency without compromising quality or clarity.
Represent Variate at the highest level
Engage with senior client stakeholders when needed. Support business development through operational credibility and proof of performance.
What You Bring
Proven operational leadership
10+ years leading complex client programs, with 5+ years overseeing senior leaders. Experience managing multi-account portfolios with measurable outcomes.
Systems thinking at scale
Deep experience building and running operational systems across teams, including governance, workflows, and performance management.
Outcome-driven mindset
You define success in business terms. You focus on adoption, revenue impact, and client growth, not activity or output.
Executive presence
You communicate clearly and confidently with C-level stakeholders. You simplify complexity and drive alignment under pressure.
Leadership through others
You know how to elevate leaders. You coach, challenge, and hold high standards without creating friction or ego.
Operational rigor
You balance speed, quality, and financial accountability. You understand utilization, margin, and delivery performance.
Client partnership expertise
You understand how trust is built, maintained, and expanded across long-term relationships.
AI and systems fluency
Experience integrating AI into workflows, operations, or delivery systems that improve performance and consistency.
Uncompromising standards
You expect excellence across every engagement. You do not tolerate drift, ambiguity, or avoidable friction.
What Sets You Apart
• You have led operations across a portfolio of high-value client engagements
• You have built systems that improved delivery quality and consistency at scale
• You have managed and developed senior leaders responsible for client success
• You have improved client retention, expansion, or satisfaction through operational excellence
• You are comfortable owning both performance and accountability across teams
• You measure success by client outcomes, not internal activity
What Success Looks Like in the First 90 Days
• Establish clear performance standards across all client engagements
• Strengthen consistency in how Design Directors lead and deliver work
• Improve at least one core operational system that impacts delivery quality
• Identify and resolve risks across active client programs
• Increase executive-level trust across at least one key client relationship
• Create visibility into performance, health, and growth across all accounts
Who Should Not Apply
This role is not for everyone. Do not apply if:
• You have not managed leaders responsible for client outcomes
• You focus on process over performance
• You avoid accountability for results across teams
• You are uncomfortable making difficult decisions that impact people and clients
• You rely on others to define success instead of owning it
• You have not operated at a portfolio or systems level
• You prefer execution over leadership
Variate is where experts come to perform.
Why Variate
Variate designs customer experiences that remove hesitation and create confident decisions. We partner with ambitious brands including Marriott, Carnival, Stanley Black & Decker, and Amerant Bank to transform complexity into clarity and measurable growth.
We work in small, senior teams. No B-teams. No handoffs. Leaders at Variate operate as trusted partners embedded directly with client leadership.
Our work has unified 30+ brands for Marriott to unlock $10B+ growth and driven 400% increases in mobile bookings for Carnival by redesigning critical decision moments.
We do not measure success by what we deliver. We measure it by what changes.
Clients choose Variate for precision, pace, and partnership. Every engagement demands excellence and rewards it in equal measure.
Interview Selection Criteria
Interview invitations will be determined by four factors, in order of importance:
1. Demonstrated operational impact
Clear evidence of improving performance across multiple client engagements. Systems, not just stories.
2. Leadership of leaders
Proven ability to manage and elevate senior talent responsible for outcomes.
3. Client trust and retention
Evidence of building, maintaining, and expanding high-value client relationships.
4. Strategic and systems thinking
Ability to connect operations to growth, clarity, and decision-making.
We assess performance first. Leadership determines scale. Systems sustain it.
Preference will be given to candidates living within 60 minutes of Bethesda, Maryland.
Compensation
We pay for mastery, accountability, and results.
Full-time: $210,000–$240,000