About Innovation Baseball Partners (IBP)
Innovation Baseball Partners (IBP) is an ownership group and operating company building a portfolio of independent minor league baseball teams. We believe in the magic of baseball as a force for good. The teams in our portfolio play high-quality baseball while making strong contributions to their communities, drawing from a spirit of innovation, entertainment, and civic pride.
IBP’s teams play in the Pioneer Baseball League, an independent professional league and MLB Partner League. The IBP family currently includes the Yuba-Sutter High Wheelers, the Long Beach Coast, and the Oakland Ballers, with additional teams in active development. While each of IBP's teams is a standalone business, our holding company provides the resources, scale, and expertise to help them thrive. We are building a new model for success in minor league baseball. ⚾️
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital or veteran status, or any other protected class.
The Role
We're seeking a strategic operator to serve as Director, Strategy & Operations, for Innovation Baseball Partners. As we build and scale our portfolio of teams, you'll be the critical infrastructure builder translating ownership vision into executable strategy, establishing scalable operations, and ensuring our teams have the guidance and support to succeed. This is a high-impact, hands-on role for someone who thrives in ambiguity and can build systems from the ground up.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Planning & Execution
- Partner directly with ownership to translate strategic priorities into actionable project plans with clear timelines, milestones, ownership and accountability
- Track progress across initiatives and help ensure deadlines and deliverables are met in fast-moving, ambiguous environments
- Conduct market research and analysis for potential new team acquisitions, including market sizing, competitive landscape assessment, regulatory environment, and facility analysis
- Build business cases for ownership decision-making on market entry, new lines of business, innovation initiatives and other strategic opportunities.
Portfolio Operations & Problem-Solving
- Own critical projects that don't fit neatly into functional silos
- Facilitate implementation of the operating model between centralized services (ownership company level) and team-level operations
- Establish vendor management frameworks across the portfolio; lead RFP processes and negotiate enterprise agreements for technology platforms, service providers, and suppliers that deliver economies of scale, securing approval from CFO/leadership
- Evaluate and implement technology solutions for back-office operations with an eye toward scalability and integration
- Troubleshoot operational challenges at team level and deploy resources or expertise to solve them
Organizational Development
- Partner with new team GMs during 0-to-1 phase: define organizational structures, establish operating rhythms, build hiring plans, and support recruitment of initial leadership teams. Operate as 0-to-1 project manager as necessary to ensure key milestones are met and central resources and leadership are engaged and informed. Act as ongoing thought partner and strategic advisor
- Develop handbooks, playbooks, and policy documentation covering various aspects of best practices that enable consistent, professional operations as we scale
- Design onboarding programs and knowledge management systems to accelerate new team integration into the portfolio
Organizational Execution
- Coordinate with partners on IBP-wide meeting priorities, team-wide agenda items, document minutes, and ensure ownership and track progress of action items
- Handle administration of shared tools and services, such as Asana, Canva, Slack, LinkedIn, SponsorCX, SponsorUnited etc.
- Oversee knowledge management systems to ensure effective documentation, file organization, and information sharing via platforms like Google Drive.
- Provide strategic support and program management for cross-league events and conferences
Required Experience
- 5-8 years of experience in management consulting, investment banking, or operating roles in high-growth companies
- Experience working in project-based, deadline-driven environments, with responsibility for tracking deliverables and driving workstreams to completion
- Strong experience creating structured presentations, written materials, and analyses for senior stakeholders
Preferred experience, not required
- Experience in 0-to-1 or scale-up environments, where processes and systems were still being built
- Exposure to sports, entertainment, hospitality, or consumer-facing businesses with operational complexity
- Understanding of minor league baseball ecosystem, sports venue operations, or multi-unit business models is a plus
Skills & Competencies
- Systems Thinker: You see how pieces fit together and can design simple, effective solutions to complex organizational problems
- Builder Mentality: Comfortable with ambiguity and energized by creating structure where none exists
- Analytical Rigor: Strong data-driven decision-making, and ability to translate analysis into recommendations
- Project Management: Proven ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously with strong attention to detail, navigating competing priorities
- Relationship Builder: Can influence without authority, build trust quickly, and work effectively with diverse stakeholders from team presidents to vendors to ownership
- Pragmatic & Resourceful: You find ways to get things done in resource-constrained environments
Why You'll Love Working at IBP
- Build From the Ground Up: This is a rare opportunity to help build the operations for a growing sports ownership group and shape the future of our organization.
- Unmatched Impact: Your work will influence the success of multiple teams across California.
- A Unique Challenge: You'll tackle the challenge of solving problems big and small for a growing operation
- Join a Winning Team: Work with a passionate, smart, and ambitious leadership team that is committed to innovation and excellence.
You'll be the operational architect of our company during its formative years. The systems you build, decisions you inform, and infrastructure you establish will determine whether we scale successfully or struggle with growing pains. If you want to shape an organization from the ground up and see the direct impact of your work, this is the opportunity.
Compensation Package
The position is primarily remote, with regular sessions with ownership in Palo Alto, CA. A valid authorization to work in the U.S. is required.
The compensation range for this position is $120,000 to $165,000 a year, depending on experience and education, with potential for equity. IBP offers a full package of benefits including paid time off, paid holidays, health insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance, life insurance and 401(k). Perks are getting to talk baseball as part of your day job - and game tickets and merch.
