Lead Unsecured Lending Operations Consultant

STRATEGIC STAFFING SOLUTIONS (S3) HAS AN OPENING!

Lead Unsecured Lending Operations Consultant
Location: West Des Moines, IA (Hybrid schedule)
W2 contract role
6+ Months with extension and possible conversion

Role Summary
Unsecured Lending Operations is seeking a senior contractor to provide operational planning, tactical execution, and project management support for a portfolio of AI initiatives.
This person will turn strategic priorities into executable plans, coordinate work across business and key partners in a highly matrixed and complex environment, manage risks and dependencies, and provide leaders with clear visibility into progress and decisions.
This is not a technical AI-development role. We need an experienced business execution leader who can bring structure to ambiguity, drive accountability, and move complex initiatives from planning through implementation. There is internal program management support for technology-based initiatives that this person would be supporting/partnering with to support the operations team.

Core Responsibilities

• Translate AI priorities into clear work plans, milestones, deliverables, owners, and target dates.
• Lead day-to-day execution across multiple initiatives, pilots, and operational readiness activities.
• Maintain integrated project plans, action logs, decision trackers, risk and issue logs, and dependency maps.
• Coordinate activities across Operations, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Finance, change management, and other partners.
• Facilitate working sessions, document decisions, and drive timely completion of follow-up actions.
• Identify execution gaps, competing priorities, resource constraints, and delivery risks before they affect outcomes.
• Escalate issues with a clear summary of the impact, available options, and recommended action.
• Coordinate business requirements, testing, implementation readiness, communications, training dependencies, and transition into ongoing operations.
• Prepare concise executive updates that highlight progress, risks, decisions, dependencies, and next steps.
• Establish repeatable execution routines, templates, and governance practices that can scale across ULO AI initiatives.

Required Experience

• Substantial experience leading complex business execution, project management, operational planning, or transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated success managing multiple cross-functional workstreams with competing priorities and interdependent deliverables.
• Experience converting ambiguous objectives into structured plans, clear ownership, and executable actions.
• Strong project-management discipline, including milestone management, risk identification, dependency tracking, decision management, and status reporting.
• Experience influencing and driving accountability across teams without direct authority.
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder-management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including the ability to create concise, executive-ready materials.
• Ability to work independently, anticipate needs, resolve problems, and maintain momentum in a rapidly changing environment.
• Experience working within a large, complex, or regulated organization.
• Strong proficiency with PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Teams, and standard project-management tools.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting AI, automation, digital transformation, process redesign, or technology implementation.
• Experience in financial services, consumer lending, servicing, collections, contact centers, or operations.
• Experience supporting pilots, proofs of concept, business requirements, testing, implementation readiness, and post-launch transition.
• Experience partnering with Operations, Product, Technology, Risk, Compliance, Finance, and change-management teams.

*Beware of scams. S3 never asks for money during its onboarding process.