Vice-President of Operations

Who We Are

Global Outreach International (GOI) exists to bring the Good News to Every Nation this Generation by Showing and Sharing God’s Love. We are a Great Missions Family made up of missionaries, home office staff, donors, churches, and board members united around that calling. Our work spans the globe, and the care we give to the people who carry it out is as central to our mission as the mission itself.

Position Overview

The Vice-President of Operations is, first and foremost, a servant-leader. This person serves as a primary advocate and caregiver for our operations team who serve the missionaries, walking alongside them through the full cycle of missionary life: launch, field ministry, and re-entry. Administrative competence matters deeply in this role, but the character and relational capacity to earn trust, give genuine care, and lead with humility matter more.

The Vice-President of Operations serves as a key member of the Leadership Team and holds primary oversight of the operations departments, including strategic planning, human resources, missionary care, missionary kids, and mobilization. This position reports to the Chief Operating Officer, is based at GOI's home office in Tupelo, MS, and requires considerable travel.

The ideal candidate is someone who has lived the missionary life they will be asked to lead and support. They understand from the inside what it means to raise support, cross cultures, establish ministry in a new context, and re-enter life in their passport country. That firsthand experience is not a preference. It is foundational to this role.

Responsibilities

People and Pastoral Leadership

• Builds trust across the operations team by listening well, learning existing systems and culture before implementing change, and leading with genuine care for each person.
• Walks alongside missionaries and staff through challenges, setbacks, conflict, and seasons of growth, offering wisdom, compassion, and accountability.
• Coaches, encourages, and invests in the professional development of direct reports and the broader operations team.
• Maintains the healthy and necessary distinction between missionary care and performance management, protecting the trust missionaries place in the care team.
• Advocates intentionally for remote staff and field missionaries in organizational decisions that affect them.
• Provides accountability for missionaries and their ministries.

Strategic and Operational Leadership

• Develops and communicates long-range strategic direction for the operations department, aligning department goals with the organization's broader mission and strategic plan.
• Improves cross-department communication and collaboration, breaking down silos while respecting the unique responsibilities and rhythms of each department.
• Maintains ongoing evaluation of current systems and procedures, addressing deficiencies and implementing improvements in ways that strengthen sustainability without sacrificing GOI's relational culture.
• Establishes the operations department's organizational structure, including succession planning, and modifies it as conditions warrant.
• Develops policies and processes for each operations department.
• Oversees budget review and approval for the operations departments and contributes to the organization's overall budget formation.
• Oversees compliance with missionary agreements and memorandums of understanding with partner organizations.
• Oversees the planning and facilitation of Missionary Orientation and Training.
• Maintains knowledge of relevant laws and regulations and assesses how changes affect organizational risk.

Supervisory Responsibilities

The Vice-President of Operations directly supervises the following directors, each of whom leads a critical area of the organization's work:

• Director of Human Resources: oversees succession planning, talent management, change management, organizational and performance management, training and development, and compensation.
• Director of Mobilization: leads initiatives supporting the healthy growth of short-term missions, long-term career missionaries, and church partnerships.
• Director of Missionary Care: oversees processes that engage, equip, and support missionaries' spiritual, emotional, and physical wellbeing, and serves as the point person for situations of concern or crisis.
• Director of Third Culture Kid Ministries: develops strategies and services supporting the growth and development of missionary kids and serves as a resource for missionaries and churches concerning third culture kid issues.

Organizational Accountability and Donor Engagement

• Engages with other Leadership Team members to address high-level organizational concerns and contribute to strategic planning.
• Ensures all operations activity aligns with organizational policies and the mission, bylaws, and goals established by the Board of Directors.
• Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders on governance, community engagement, marketing, and fundraising as appropriate.
• Establishes operational benchmarks, timelines, and resources needed to achieve strategic goals, and sets standards for accountability and measurement.
• Communicates plans and priorities from the strategic plan, partnering with others to follow through with coordinated objectives and budgets.

Character and Values

The operations team has asked for a leader who earns trust before implementing change, listens before speaking, and shepherds people as well as they manage processes. Candidates are expected to demonstrate the following:

• Humble and teachable spirit: approaches this role as a learner first, genuinely open to the people, systems, and culture they are stepping into.
• Relational and approachable: accessible to missionaries, staff, and partners at every level, and known for making people feel genuinely seen and valued.
• Accountable and dependable: follows through consistently on commitments and models the accountability they ask of others.
• Servant-hearted: leads with the good of the team and the missionaries at the center, not personal agenda or rapid organizational achievement.
• A clear and honest communicator: creates clarity about direction, expectations, and decisions in ways that build trust rather than uncertainty.
• Personally committed to GOI's mission to show and share God’s love.
• Demonstrates honesty, sincerity, humility, and respect for individuals while modeling GOI's core values.
• Shares agreement with GOI's Statement of Beliefs and commitment to GOI's corporate culture, including maintaining fellowship with a body of believers, working through conflict in a biblical manner, and integrating biblical convictions into daily life and decision-making.

Qualifications

Essential

• Firsthand experience as a missionary serving overseas, including personal knowledge of support raising, cross-cultural ministry, and re-entry. This experience is foundational to leading and advocating for GOI's missionaries effectively and is a primary qualification for this role.
• Demonstrated commitment to GOI's mission, core values, statement of beliefs, and corporate culture.
• Significant experience in strategic planning, business operations, and team development in a nonprofit environment.
• Experience working with senior-level stakeholders to manage shared commitments.
• Strong communication skills with a demonstrated ability to represent GOI to a wide range of audiences internally and externally.
• Demonstrated ability to support managers and cross-organizational teams in achieving strategic goals.
• Meaningful experience in a supervisory or managerial role.
• Undergraduate degree required.

Preferred

• Graduate degree.
• Financial management experience.
• Experience developing and assessing operational processes.
• Proficiency with office technologies and software used in nonprofit operations.

What to Expect in Your First Six Months

GOI's operations team has made clear what they need most from a new leader in the early months: relationship, not rapid change. The person who steps into this role will be expected to:

• Invest time building genuine trust with every member of the operations team before making significant structural or process changes.
• Learn current systems, workflows, and culture with curiosity and humility.
• Listen carefully to understand the distinct needs, rhythms, and concerns of each department.
• Strengthen communication across departments and clarify team structures and roles where needed.
• Begin developing a long-range strategic vision for operations that aligns with GOI's broader mission and direction.
• Identify immediate operational issues that require attention and address them collaboratively.

Compensation and Benefits

GOI offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package including medical insurance, retirement plan, and vacation, holiday, and sick leave plans. Salary is determined by competitive regional market factors with consideration for the candidate's education and experience.