The Pirates are in the midst of another losing season, but there are signs that the front office is operating a bit differently both on and off the field.
Some of those signs are obvious. GM Ben Cherington swung for the fences in the draft, landing four players who were considered (by some) to be first-round talents. Then he continued to restock the farm system with interesting prospects via several sober trade deadline moves.
Some signs are less obvious. The team recently posted a job opening for Director, Strategy & Business Operations (the full job description is also pasted at the bottom of this article), and what’s interesting is both the position itself and this description of the front office culture in the opening section:
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a storied franchise in Major League Baseball who are reinventing themselves on every level. Boldly and relentlessly pursuing excellence by:
- purposefully developing a player and people-centered culture;
- deeply connecting with our fans, partners, and colleagues;
- passionately creating lifetime memories for generations of families and friends; and
- meaningfully impacting our communities and the game of baseball.
At the Pirates, we believe in the power of a diverse workforce and strive to create an inclusive culture centered in Passion, Innovation, Respect, Accountability, Teamwork, Empathy, and Service.
“Reinventing themselves on every level” isn’t messaging created by a recruiter to attract good job candidates. This is an extended mission statement that comes from the executive level, and odds are good that team President Travis Williams was a driving force behind it.
When Williams was hired in October 2019, owner Bob Nutting said: “He will drive a culture of success within our organization.” Williams echoed that sentiment: “We are committed to a refresh of our entire operations.”
Hiring Cherington in November 2019 kicked off the refresh of the baseball operations side. But Williams is a business guy, by trade, having served as COO of the Pittsburgh Penguins and President of Business Operations for the New York Islanders prior to joining the Pirates, so his other hobby is digging into finance, legal, human resources, information technology, marketing, sales, fan engagement and park operations.
Some of that front office change was expedited by the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Last June, the club laid off two dozen staff members, including several department heads. That kind of personnel change was likely inevitable with a new team president in charge of day-to-day operations.
Williams saw the layoffs as an opportunity.
“Through COVID, we’ve had to unfortunately break this organization down a little bit on the business side,” said Williams in a recent podcast with Kiesha Lalama. “But it gave us a real opportunity to build it back up in a way that helps us to do what we need to do in terms of building the brand, building the fan base, improving the fan experience and journey, and continuing to make PNC Park one of the best ballparks in all of America.”
Tellingly, one of Williams’ first business hires was Nayli Russo-Long, who assumed the role of Senior Director, Strategic Planning & Initiatives in April 2020. That was a new position at PNC Park, one in which Russo-Long was well qualified for, having previously served as Chief of Staff at Highmark, a leading health brand in Pittsburgh.
Russo-Long appears to be making an impact. She was quickly promoted to Vice President of Strategy this past January, and then Vice President of People & Strategy in July. She oversees a small team focused on culture and human resources, but given the “strategy” aspect of her role, she is clearly working closely with Williams to reinvent the entirety of the Pirates’ business operations.
That’s supported by the to-be-named hire for Director, Strategy & Business Operations, which will report to Russo-Long. Based on the job description, which lists candidate traits such as “bias for action,” “change agent” and “ability to influence,” this person will be the on-the-ground catalyst for change across all areas of the business. That may mean upgrading platforms (think software), processes and people throughout the front office.
This person won’t operate in a vacuum, of course. Not only will they take direction from Russo-Long and Williams, but they will collaborate with the executive leaders across all business departments to conduct research, develop strategic plans, facilitate quarterly reviews and provide project management for key initiatives. This person will also oversee all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts throughout the company.
Bringing on someone who wakes up every day thinking about change is how change gets done, especially in larger organizations.
The job description talks a lot about communication, collaboration and emotional intelligence. Reporting to Russo-Long, this person will be tasked with facilitating the strategic efforts of the staff and creating the business alignment that goes with creating a people-centered culture.
This dovetails with the mission statement about “purposefully developing a player and people-centered culture.” We have heard a lot about how Cherington is installing a player-centric program that differs from the previous regime’s insistence on a top-down organizational philosophy.
On the business side, a people-centered program means treating staff members as customers, giving them ownership over their direction and investing in their individual success. It means servant leadership that includes regular communication between employees and executives, regarding staff members as family and getting alignment on overall strategy. Much of that culture change appears to fall within Russo-Long’s purview, with close direction from Williams.
An improved culture won’t make the Pirates winners on the field, in and of itself. Instead, what it can do is allow the Pirates to recruit and retain front office talent. That, in turn, can produce better decision-making that is especially powerful when it comes to revenue-generating areas, such as ticket sales, licensing, corporate partnerships and events. Two recent examples are the Pirates’ breakthrough partnership with BetMGM and its work with a crypto-currency veteran to develop a fan rewards app.
Ultimately, the on-field product has to be markedly better than it is today, but improved front office operations and culture can positively impact the entire organization. Williams appears to understand that.
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TITLE
Directory, Strategy & Business Operations
EOE STATEMENT
We are an equal employment opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.
DESCRIPTION
The Pirates Why
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a storied franchise in Major League Baseball who are reinventing themselves on every level. Boldly and relentlessly pursuing excellence by:
- purposefully developing a player and people-centered culture;
- deeply connecting with our fans, partners, and colleagues;
- passionately creating lifetime memories for generations of families and friends; and
- meaningfully impacting our communities and the game of baseball.
At the Pirates, we believe in the power of a diverse workforce and strive to create an inclusive culture centered in Passion, Innovation, Respect, Accountability, Teamwork, Empathy, and Service.
Job Summary
The Director, Strategy and Business Operations plays a key role in driving business strategy, identifying operational efficiencies and shaping organizational effectiveness. This role provides key insights and collaborative solutions across the organization. The Director, Strategy & Business Operations optimizes attainment of organizational success through research and analysis of industry and market data, development and facilitation of organizational and departmental goals and objectives and tracking and reporting of results and metrics.
Job Responsibilities
- Assist Vice President, People & Strategy in leading long-term strategic planning and annual business planning processes, including quarterly business reviews.
- Develop and execute communication plans to ensure the strategy is understood across the organization.
- Facilitate planning and organization of all strategic initiatives across the organization.
- Conduct analysis and research of new industry and market trends and partner with executive leaders to evaluate them.
- Manage and monitor execution of the annual business plan, ensuring alignment to the long-term strategy.
- Cross-collaborate to effectively identify, develop, and execute key processes that improve overall organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
- Assist in the development and maintenance of a best practices process to ensure consistency, effectiveness, and efficiency.
- Ongoing project management & support of key initiatives.
- Develop and maintain detailed project plans.
- Create and monitor quarterly scorecards and monthly reports tied to our KPIs, leading and lagging indicators.
- Deliver presentations of initiative status or new initiatives being added to the business plan.
- Lead the DEI taskforce to implement and delivery Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives that require cross-functional collaboration and inter-dependencies between all business units.
- Own and lead special projects related to current or future business priorities, determining the alignment to the strategic plan and business impact.
- All other duties as assigned by Vice President, People & Strategy.
POSITION REQUIREMENTS
Success Factors
- High Emotional Intelligence
- Strong Communication Skills
- Critical Thinking
- Strong Organizational Skills and Attention to Detail
- Bias for Action / Change Agent
- Innovation / Solution-Oriented
- Collaborative
- Ability to Oversee Multiple Priorities
- Ability to influence
Job Requirements
Required:
- Bachelor’s Degree
- A minimum of three (3) years strategic planning /project planning / project management experience
- Advanced MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) skills
- Experience in and ability to design and conduct systematic research and collaborate with others on financial analysis
- Demonstrated ability to communicate complex information clearly and accurately to varied audiences
Desired:
- MBA
- PMP Certification
- Prior experience driving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives
LOCATION
Pittsburgh, PA
