Executive Operations Manager, Bentonville Institute of Technology

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art · Bentonville

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Art and Wellness Enterprises (AWE) is a professional services organization supporting non-profits founded by Alice Walton, including the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Art Bridges Foundation, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Momentary, and Heartland Whole Health Institute.

Job Description:

Job Title: Executive Operations Manager, Bentonville Institute of Technology
Reports to: Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration
FLSA Classification: Exempt

Location: Bentonville, Arkansas (On-site)

About Bentonville Institute of Technology

Bentonville Institute of Technology (BIT) is a new higher education institution being developed in Bentonville, Arkansas to advance new models of STEM education and workforce development. The university is designed to deliver a flexible, experiential educational model that combines rigorous STEM instruction with an entrepreneurial and business-infused mindset.

The institution will focus on areas such as artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, mobility, health technology, energy systems, and entrepreneurship. Through strong partnerships with industry and regional organizations, the University aims to prepare students with practical, high-demand skills needed for the evolving knowledge economy.

The university will develop a distinctive educational model based on experiential learning, stackable credentials, flexible entry and exit pathways, and strong industry engagement. The University plans to enroll its first undergraduate class in 2029 and establish a new national model for innovative STEM higher education. Additional information about the university’s founding vision can be found here: https://www.bentonvilleinstituteoftechnology.org/

Initially, faculty and staff will be hired by Art and Wellness Enterprises and immersed in a broader ecosystem on the Crystal Bridges Campus for Art and Wellness, providing shared operational services and subject matter expertise, in close proximity to the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM). 

Founding Context

• During the institution’s founding and growth phase, the Executive Operations Manager supports multiple senior leaders, manages basic accounting and financial report preparation, and exercises project management responsibility across concurrent workstreams.
• Bentonville Institute of Technology is an artificial intelligence (AI)-native institution—AI is woven into how work is performed, not bolted on. This role is expected to use AI tools fluently and responsibly in daily work—drafting, summarizing, researching, and organizing—and to help model AI-forward operations.

About The Position

The Executive Operations Manager serves as a senior operational resource within Finance and Administration. This role extends beyond traditional executive support, supporting multiple senior leaders during the institution’s founding and growth phase, managing basic accounting and financial report preparation, and exercising project management responsibility across concurrent workstreams.

This is a high-trust, high-visibility role in a build-from-scratch environment that requires extraordinary judgment, initiative, and professional range. The position operates with significant autonomy across multiple principals in a fast-moving, developing institutional environment.

Success in this role requires exceptional organization, financial literacy, sound judgment, adaptability, and the ability to manage complex, competing priorities while maintaining a high level of discretion and follow-through.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Executive Support

• In conjunction with other administrative staff, provide calendar and scheduling support across multiple senior leaders—prioritizing competing demands across principals and protecting time for strategic work.
• Coordinate complex scheduling across multiple executives, board members, external partners, and consultants; serve as a trusted gatekeeper for senior leaders’ time and access.
• Prepare agendas, materials, and logistics for leadership, board, and committee meetings; capture and track follow-ups.
• Coordinate with executive offices on cross-institutional meetings and events.
• Produce and format polished, board-ready documents, presentations, and correspondence to institutional brand standards; exercise independent judgment on content organization and professional presentation.
• Assemble, format, and perform quality control on financial, human resources, and administrative reporting packages for senior leadership and board review.
• Draft, proofread, and manage correspondence on behalf of senior leadership; serve as a first point of contact for the office.
• Route inquiries appropriately across internal and external partners, including the Art and Wellness Enterprises (AWE) shared services team.
• Handle sensitive personnel, financial, and institutional information with the highest discretion.

Finance and Administration

• Perform routine bookkeeping and basic accounting tasks, including coding transactions, reconciling accounts, and processing expense reports, in coordination with finance leadership and staff.
• Prepare and distribute standard financial reports and budget-to-actual summaries; flag variances for finance leadership review.
• Support month-end and fiscal-year-end close activities, maintaining organized documentation for audit readiness.
• Support procurement, purchasing, and expense processes in coordination with division staff and shared services partners.
• Help establish and maintain office systems, files, and administrative routines for a new division.

Project Management and Operations

• Arrange complex travel itineraries and manage expense reporting across multiple senior leaders; maintain vendor relationships for institutional travel.
• Own project management for assigned workstreams: build and maintain project plans, track milestones and action items, facilitate status updates, influence and coordinate others to ensure execution, surface risks, and drive deliverables to completion across multiple concurrent founding initiatives.
• Define project scope, objectives, and deliverables in collaboration with stakeholders, and develop project plans outlining timelines, milestones, tasks, and resource requirements.
• Monitor project progress and performance against established goals, timelines, and budgets, and proactively identify and address deviations, risks, or issues.
• Facilitate project status updates and prepare project reporting to communicate progress, risks, issues, and recommendations to stakeholders and senior leadership.
• Manage project documentation, including project plans, schedules, budgets, status reports, and other project-related documents.
• Identify process gaps, propose workflow improvements, and implement administrative systems that scale as the institution grows.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures, templates, and best practices to support consistent and scalable operations.

AI-Enabled Work

• Use AI tools fluently and responsibly to draft, summarize, research, and organize information, in line with institutional AI guidelines.
• Help adopt AI-forward routines and identify tasks where AI improves speed and quality.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned to support evolving organizational needs.

Qualifications and Requirements

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, management, or a related field. Equivalent experience may be considered for exceptional candidates.
• Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), or equivalent project management certification preferred.
•  5–7 years of experience managing complex projects, with demonstrated success delivering projects on time, within scope, and on budget, including experience managing multi-stakeholder institutional projects and concurrent workstreams.
• Prior experience working in complex organizations such as higher education institutions, nonprofits, startups, or multi-entity organizations strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience providing executive support to senior leaders in dynamic environments requiring discretion, adaptability, independent judgment, and proactive management of competing priorities.
• Experience supporting finance, human resources, or administrative leadership preferred.
• Experience supporting executive operations, Board activities, recurring workflows, process improvement initiatives, and coordination of multiple priorities strongly preferred.
• Accounting software experience (QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, or similar); or exposure to university enterprise resource planning (ERP) financial modules preferred.

Skills and Abilities

• Exceptional organization, judgment, and written and verbal communication; able to manage and prioritize complex, competing demands across multiple stakeholders without loss of quality or follow-through.
• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Excel for financial reporting and data analysis, and comfort learning new enterprise systems quickly.
• Basic accounting competency: familiarity with bookkeeping, reconciliations, expense management, and financial reporting; ability to prepare clear financial summaries from source data.
• Demonstrated project management skills: ability to own and drive workstreams, maintain project plans, and hold stakeholders accountable to timelines.
• Demonstrated discretion with confidential information.
• Demonstrated proficiency using artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as Claude, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, or equivalent, in daily professional work for drafting, summarizing, researching, and organizing information.
• Familiarity with Workday, expense/procurement systems, and document-design standards preferred.

Competencies and Attributes

• Initiative — Anticipates needs, takes proactive action, and maintains strong attention to detail.
• Adaptability — Remains calm, flexible, and effective under shifting priorities.
• Professionalism — Demonstrates trustworthiness, discretion, and a strong service orientation.
• AI fluency — Approaches new tools with curiosity and serves as an early, responsible adopter of artificial intelligence capabilities.
• Communication — Produces polished, professional documents and communications appropriate for the intended audience.
• Financial fluency — Works comfortably across financial tasks, from expense coding to management reporting, without requiring supervision on routine work.
• Force multiplier — Extends the capacity and effectiveness of senior leaders by operating across multiple priorities and scaling support as institutional needs shift.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those required by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

Physical Demands: In the work environment described, this position requires utilizing a computer and a telephone for prolonged periods of time, good hand-eye coordination, bending and stretching, and the physical stamina to lift and transport a minimum of 10 pounds. Visual acuity to review written materials is required for this job.

Work Environment: Work is performed on-site (Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.) in a professional, climate-controlled office environment with standard office equipment, including computers, printers, and telephones. This role requires working in an open setting near colleagues. The noise level is typically low to moderate. The role also requires regular interaction with both the public and internal team members in a professional and courteous manner. Some travel will be required, including overnight trips on occasion. A flexible schedule may be necessary to accommodate business needs, including occasional evening and weekend work hours.

About Art and Wellness Enterprises

Art and Wellness Enterprises (AWE) supports operating non-profits founded by Alice Walton, including the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, Art Bridges, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Momentary, and Heartland Whole Health Institute.

Art and Wellness Enterprises, LLC is an equal opportunity employer committed to building and maintaining a workplace that is free of discrimination and harassment of any kind. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. 

All offers of employment are contingent on successful completion (where permitted by state law) of a confidentiality agreement and background check. In addition, the employee must provide proper identification verifying eligibility to work in the United States.

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