🎯 Stop Executing, Start Orchestrating

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In this remote, full‑time role, you lead Prime’s 340B program strategy and execution. You’ll drive cross‑functional program committees, align long‑term objectives and strategy, provide leadership to the program management team, and serve as the escalation point for program issues. The role manages key vendor relationships and directs the development of program management processes and tools. Requirements include a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience), 10+ years’ program management/business analysis experience, and 7+ years of leadership or supervisory experience, plus strong communication and change‑management skills.

This senior leader provides matrixed program management and strategic leadership for global cross‑functional teams across Takeda’s portfolio. Responsibilities include translating product/portfolio strategy into executable plans, ensuring functional resources are available, championing AI‑enabled tools to drive productivity, mentoring junior program managers, and fostering transparency and alignment across. Candidates need a bachelor’s degree (advanced degree preferred), 12–14 years of pharma development experience, 10+ years of program‑management experience, and excellent leadership, negotiation, and communication skills

🔹 Director Change Management
Company: RGA (Reinsurance Group of America)
Location: Hybrid – Chesterfield, MO (RGA HQ)
Apply: RGA careers

At this Fortune 500 reinsurer, you’ll design and deliver change‑management plans using Prosci® methodology, partner with business leaders to address the people aspects of significant change, and manage communications, training, and stakeholder engagement across all levels of the organisation. Qualifications include a bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) in business/HR/organizational psychology, 8+ years’ change‑management experience, certification in change management (Prosci CCMP), and expertise in facilitating major business transformations. Experience in financial services/insurance and strong influence and communication skills are valued

This role leads product operations across EverHealth (EverCommerce’s healthcare software division). Responsibilities include owning instrumentation across the portfolio, establishing consistent metrics and dashboards, improving data literacy, partnering with product leaders for planning and reviews, and providing tools to enable better discovery and learning. The director focuses on context rather than command‑and‑control and requires 7+ years in product/analytics/enablement roles, proven success implementing product analytics at scale, and strong communication and systems‑thinking skills; the position is fully remote within the U.S. with travel as needed. Target base pay is $170k–$185k plus variable compensation.

Newly created role leading the risk, control, and compliance oversight program for the Enterprise Payments Center of Excellence. Responsibilities include designing and improving Risk & Control Self‑Assessment (RCSA) processes, overseeing regulatory and payment‑scheme compliance (Nacha, SEPA, etc.), creating an audit‑ready repository of product documentation, and partnering across risk, compliance, legal, and operations to ensure cohesive governance. Requires at least 10 years’ experience in non‑card payments within risk or compliance functions, deep knowledge of AML/KYC/OFAC and payment regulations, proven RCSA design/execution, and strong program‑management, analytical, and communication skills; Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) certification is preferred. Salary range is $144k–$256k plus bonus and potential equity

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Visionary Voices

Claire Hughes Johnson is the executive who helped Stripe scale from a scrappy startup to a $95B payments giant. As COO for nearly a decade, she built the operational infrastructure—hiring, culture, systems—that allowed Stripe to grow from 160 employees to 7,000+ without losing its soul.

But here's what makes Claire extraordinary: She obsesses over systems, not heroics.

She's famous for her "operating principles" documents—frameworks that codify how Stripe makes decisions, communicates, and executes. Her belief? Great companies don't run on individual brilliance. They run on clarity, repeatability, and shared mental models.

On Orchestration vs. Execution:
Claire talks openly about the hardest transition in her career—moving from "doing the work" to "building the conditions for great work." Early at Stripe, she'd jump into every fire. Eventually, she realized that made her indispensable, but it also made the org fragile.

Her shift: Stop being the hero. Build systems so good that heroics become unnecessary.

On Building Operating Systems:
At Stripe, Claire created frameworks for everything—how to run meetings, how to give feedback, how to make hiring decisions. She documented these and made them public (many are still on Stripe's blog). Why? Because when everyone has the same mental models, the org moves faster and with less friction.

She writes about this extensively in her book Scaling People, which is basically a blueprint for operational excellence at scale.

What You Can Learn From Her:

Where to Learn More:

Why She Matters to Delivery Professionals:
Claire is proof that delivery excellence scales through systems, not heroics. If you're a TPM, COO, or PMO lead trying to move from "firefighting" to "orchestrating," her work is your roadmap.

She's also a rare example of an operator who made it to the C-suite—and stayed there for a decade—by obsessing over the how, not just the what.

Final Word:
Claire Hughes Johnson built one of the most admired operational cultures in tech by making one simple shift: Stop being indispensable. Start building systems that make great execution inevitable.

That's orchestration.

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Professional Development

Let's get uncomfortable:

If your team falls apart when you're on vacation, you're not a leader. You're a bottleneck.

The shift from executing to orchestrating is the hardest transition in any delivery career. Nobody teaches it. Nobody even tells you when to make it.

But here's the reality: You cannot get promoted to an executive level while still being the person who does the work.

Let me show you how to let go without everything falling apart.

Here's the pattern I see constantly:

You're promoted because you're great at execution. You ship on time, you solve problems, you're reliable.

So what do you do? More of the same.

You take on bigger projects. You work longer hours. You become the "go-to person" for everything.

Your manager calls you indispensable. You think that's job security.

It's not. It's a ceiling.

Data Point: Research on management effectiveness consistently shows that inability to delegate is one of the most common barriers to executive-level promotion. Leaders who remain too operational struggle to scale their impact."

The Trap:

Sound familiar?

Orchestration isn't about "delegating more." It's about building systems that produce great outcomes without you in the room.

Think of it like this:

Executors ask: "How do I get this done?"
Orchestrators ask: "How do I build a system where this always gets done well?"

Example:

Executor approach: You personally review every project plan before it goes to leadership. You catch all the mistakes. You ensure quality.

Orchestrator approach: You create a "Project Plan Template + Checklist" that captures your review criteria. You train the team on it. Now they self-review before submitting. Quality stays high, but you're not the bottleneck.

The Shift:

Most people think delegation is binary: either you do it or someone else does it.

Wrong.

There are 4 levels:

Level 1: Do it yourself
You own it. You execute it. You're in control.

Level 2: Delegate execution, keep decision-making
Someone else does the work, but you make all the calls. You're still the bottleneck.

Level 3: Delegate execution + decision-making, review outcomes
They do the work and make decisions. You review after the fact and coach.

Level 4: Full ownership
They own the outcome. You're informed, not involved. They come to you for coaching, not permission.

Where most people get stuck: Level 2.

They delegate tasks but not authority. Result? The team still waits on you for every decision. You're "delegating" but you're still in the weeds.

The Fix:

Start moving more work to Level 3 and 4. Here's how:

Reality Check: If you're nervous about Level 3 or 4, that's a sign you haven't built the right frameworks or hired the right people.

Here's the orchestration playbook:

Step 1: Document Your Thinking

Every time you make a decision, ask yourself: "What's the framework I'm using?"

Then write it down.

Examples:

Claire Hughes Johnson at Stripe made this an art form. She documented everything—how Stripe interviews, how they make decisions, how they run meetings. Then she made it public so everyone had the same mental models.

The Result: Stripe scaled from 160 to 7,000 employees without losing execution quality.

Your Action: Pick one repeatable decision you make weekly. Write down your criteria. Share it with your team. Now they can make that decision without you.

Step 2: Build Templates and Checklists

Don't just document—create tools people can actually use.

Examples:

Data Point: According to Atlassian's 2024 State of Teams report, teams that use standardized templates see 35% faster onboarding for new hires and 28% fewer miscommunications.

Your Action: Identify the top 3 tasks your team does repeatedly. Build templates or checklists for each. Roll them out. Watch your time free up.

Step 3: Create Rituals, Not One-Offs

Orchestrators build rhythms that ensure quality without constant oversight.

Examples:

Bad: You check in on projects whenever you remember or when something feels off.
Good: You have a standing weekly "Delivery Review" where every PM presents their top 3 risks. It's on the calendar. It's expected. Problems surface early.

Bad: You give feedback whenever something goes wrong.
Good: You have a monthly "Retro of Retros" where the team reflects on what's working/not working in your delivery process. Continuous improvement is baked in.

Bad: You hoard knowledge.
Good: You run a bi-weekly "Lunch & Learn" where team members present frameworks, tools, or lessons learned. Knowledge spreads horizontally.

The Pattern: Rituals create predictability and accountability without you micromanaging.

Your Action: Add one recurring ritual to your calendar this month. A weekly risk review. A monthly retro. A quarterly planning session. Make it non-negotiable.

Step 4: Coach the Mindset, Not the Task

When someone comes to you with a problem, resist the urge to solve it.

Instead, ask:

Example:

Team Member: "The client wants to add 3 new features mid-sprint. What should I do?"

Executor Response: "Okay, here's what we'll do. Push feature X to next sprint, negotiate feature Y down to MVP, and..."
(You solved it. They learned nothing.)

Orchestrator Response: "Good question. Walk me through your options. What's the impact of each on timeline and scope? What's your recommendation?"
(They solve it. You coach them. Next time, they won't need to ask.)

Data Point: According to Google's Project Oxygen research, being a good coach was identified as the single most important quality of effective managers. The study found that higher-scoring managers held frequent 1:1 meetings with their teams and focused on coaching rather than directing. After implementing coaching-focused management training, Google saw statistically significant improvements in 75% of their worst-performing managers.

Your Action: Next time someone asks you to make a call, pause. Ask them what they'd do first. Coach their thinking, don't bypass it.

Step 5: Make Your Team Comfortable Making Decisions Without You

If your team waits for you to be in the room before making decisions, you've trained them to be dependent.

The Fix: Set clear decision rights.

Example Decision Framework:

Once you set this framework, hold the line. If someone asks you to make a Type 1 decision, send it back: "This is a Type 1. What's your call?"

Your Action: Define decision rights for your team this week. Share it. Enforce it.

You'll know you're orchestrating (not just executing) when:

✅ Your calendar has whitespace. If you're in back-to-back meetings, you're still doing, not leading.

✅ Your team makes good decisions without you. They don't wait for permission. They come to you for coaching, not approval.

✅ You can take a week off without panic. The system runs smoothly because the system doesn't depend on you.

✅ You're working on the business, not in it. You're identifying new problems to solve, not firefighting old ones.

✅ People outside your team reference your frameworks. Other orgs are adopting what you built. That's leverage.

Warning Sign You're Not There Yet:

If you say things like:

...you're still executing. And you're capping your growth.

Here's what nobody tells you:

Letting go feels like losing control.

You built your career on being the person who gets things done. Now you're being asked to not do the thing you're best at.

It's terrifying.

But here's the reframe: Control doesn't scale. Systems do.

If you can only deliver great outcomes when you're executing, you'll never lead at scale.

But if you can build a system that delivers great outcomes without you, you've unlocked leverage.

And leverage is what separates managers from executives.

The Mantra:

"My job isn't to be the best player on the field. It's to build a team that wins without me on the field."

Want to make the shift? Here's your action plan:

Week 1: Audit your time

Week 2: Document and delegate

Week 3: Build a framework

Week 4: Create a ritual

At the end of 30 days, ask:

If yes, yes, no—you're orchestrating.

TL;DR: Orchestration isn't about doing less work. It's about doing different work. Stop being the person who saves every project. Start being the person who builds systems so good that projects don't need saving. Document your thinking. Build templates. Create rituals. Coach, don't solve. Make yourself replaceable. That's how you go from manager to executive.

Wanna chat IRL? Connect with me on LinkedIn and we can set up some time.

The Delivery Career Decoder shows why you’re already qualified for more—and how to prove it.

I love feedback. If you have topics you want to see? Or thoughts or ideas on how to serve the community better, please hit reply or email [email protected].

Until next time,

The Business of Delivery

Quiet moves. Bold Careers.