Operations Director Jobs in San Diego, CA
Operations Director jobs in San Diego are concentrated in biotech and life sciences corridors like Torrey Pines and Sorrento Valley, defense and tech clusters in Kearny Mesa, and healthcare systems across Mission Valley and downtown. Employers hiring right now include Illumina, Travere Therapeutics, and BD. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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By standardizing capabilities and translating complex data into action, we reduce friction, increase consistency, and enable growth across the segment; so our businesses can focus on underwriting, distribution, and delivering results.
Assigned functions and teams will change over time as work moves among operating companies, BAM IO, and shared or third-party services. When the role is assigned to an operating company, the Director takes day-to-day direction and priorities from that operating company’s President and is accountable for results in the assigned areas. BAM IO remains responsible for employment, compensation, and performance administration. The position works across Finance, Underwriting, Claims, Operations, IT, Compliance, and other functions to improve service, controls, scalability, cost, and decision-making.
Operations leadership (assigned functions)
- Lead operations functions assigned by BAM IO or an operating company. These may include policy services, premium audit, customer service, and claims operations support.
- Directly manage managers and supervisors and, through them, frontline staff. Set goals, coach, manage performance, allocate workload, and make hiring, staffing, and succession recommendations.
- Own service standards, service level agreements, workload and capacity, quality, cycle time, backlog, and issue escalation for assigned functions.
- For claims operations support, own non-technical claims work, meaning administrative, processing, and support workflows. Technical claims decisions, including compensability, reserving, settlement, and litigation strategy, remain with claims leadership.
- Manage premium audit operations and lead transitions to shared or enterprise audit services when approved.
Project and program management
- Lead project management for reorganizations, operating model changes, and cross-functional initiatives at the operating company and segment level, including workplans, milestones, decision logs, risks, dependencies, and status reporting.
- Lead approved organizational and operating model changes from design through implementation, staffing, and sustained adoption.
BPO and third-party governance
- Own BPO and third-party operational governance for assigned functions and initiatives, including scope, service levels, KPIs, performance reviews, escalation, risk management, and transitions of work in or out.
- Recommend, with business owners, which work stays in-house, moves to BPO, or moves to shared services, based on cost, quality, control, and risk.
Process, controls, data, and AI
- Design, document, and standardize processes, controls, and standard operating procedures to improve consistency, compliance, audit readiness, and scalability.
- Build operating metrics, dashboards, and executive-ready analysis on service, capacity, quality, cost, control, and progress against plan.
- Lead approved process improvement, automation, data, and AI-enabled workflow initiatives from diagnosis through implementation, adoption, and benefit realization.
- Own or support business continuity planning for assigned companies and functions, including documentation, testing coordination, remediation, and readiness reporting.
Segment enablement
- Partner with the VP, Operations Strategy & Transformation and segment leadership to translate priorities into workplans, decision points, measures, and accountability.
- Turn proven operating company practices into segment playbooks where a common approach adds value, while preserving clear ownership of results.
- Facilitate cross-company and cross-functional problem solving. Do not shift work or risk to another team without clear agreement on ownership.
- Develop change management, communication, and training plans so affected teams adopt and sustain new processes, tools, and ways of working.
- Perform other duties as assigned by the SVP, CFOO or, during an assignment, the operating company President.
- Extensive experience leading insurance operations, such as policy services, premium audit, customer service, or claims operations support, in a regulated environment. Workers’ compensation experience preferred.
- Demonstrated leadership of managers and supervisors, including setting expectations, managing performance, and developing teams.
- Strong record of diagnosing operating problems and delivering measurable improvements in service, quality, cost, controls, or cycle time.
- Strong project and program management, including leading reorganizations or operating model changes through implementation.
- Strong background in BPO or third-party operational governance, including service level management, performance management, escalation, and risk mitigation.
- Experience with business continuity planning, operational resilience, or related governance.
- Experience designing processes, controls, standard operating procedures, and operational performance measures.
- Ability to translate automation and AI-enabled tools into practical workflows that teams adopt and sustain.
- Ability to work in a matrix, take direction from more than one leader, and keep priorities clear for teams. Strong judgment and written and verbal communication with senior leaders.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Business, Operations, Finance, Accounting, or a related field. Relevant certifications are a plus.
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Find Operations Director JobsOperations Director Job Market in San Diego
Who's Hiring
- Illumina33

- Travere Therapeutics33

- BD16

- Tr1x16

- Erasca16E
Top Industries Hiring
- Sports & Recreation
- Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
Operations Director Jobs in San Diego: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a operations director job in San Diego?
Start by targeting San Diego's strongest hiring sectors: biotech and life sciences, defense contracting, healthcare systems, and logistics tied to the port and military installations. Employers in Torrey Pines, Sorrento Valley, and Kearny Mesa consistently post operations leadership roles. Candidates who can show cross-functional leadership across supply chain, compliance, or clinical operations, and who have built networks through local industry groups, tend to move fastest in this market.
Which companies hire operations directors in San Diego?
Companies currently hiring operations directors in San Diego include Illumina, Travere Therapeutics, and BD, per current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. The local market includes a strong mix of large defense contractors, multi-site healthcare systems, and mid-size biotech firms scaling their operations teams.
Are there remote operations director jobs in San Diego?
Yes, though remote availability depends heavily on the role. Operations director positions tied to physical sites, lab environments, or military facilities are almost always on-site, while roles focused on vendor management, process strategy, or digital operations lean more hybrid. About 90% of operations director openings tied to San Diego are remote or hybrid as of November 2026. Tech-adjacent and SaaS companies in the downtown and Sorrento Mesa corridors tend to offer the most flexible arrangements.
How can I get a operations director job in San Diego with little or no experience?
The most realistic path is moving up from an operations manager or senior coordinator role within a San Diego biotech, healthcare, or logistics company. Employers like large hospital networks and defense subcontractors often promote internally and value tenure over credentials at the director level. Building visibility through SDMBA events, local APICS chapters, and life sciences networking groups can open doors, as can targeting smaller biotech startups in Torrey Pines or Sorrento Valley that need their first dedicated operations lead.
Which industries hire the most operations directors in San Diego?
San Diego operations director roles concentrate in Sports & Recreation and Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of November 2026. The city's deep base of biotech research firms, military and defense contractors, and large healthcare systems creates consistent demand for operations leadership across compliance-heavy, high-stakes environments.
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