Shepherd Staff is honored to be working with Northside Church in Jackson, Tennessee, as they search for their next Executive Pastor of Operations. Northside Church is a non-denominational church that disaffiliated from the UMC in 2020 and is dedicated to sharing God's love and fostering discipleship. Their vision is to develop an authentic, grace-filled community of believers empowered to transform their city with the Gospel. Offering a variety of ministries, Northside serves local and global communities and emphasizes spiritual development through Sunday school, small groups, Bible studies, and age-specific programs. Welcoming individuals from all spiritual backgrounds, the church encourages members to use their unique talents in service.

The Executive Pastor of Operations serves as the chief operational architect of Northside Church. This leader is responsible for building the systems, structures, reporting rhythms, accountability mechanisms, and staff-performance processes that allow the church to function with clarity, alignment, and sustainability. 

The ideal candidate will be:

• Systems & Accountability Leader - Builds systems, accountability, and operational clarity. 
• Strategic Partner to Lead Pastor - Translates vision into action with humility and trust. 
• Emotionally Healthy Relational Leader - Leads with maturity, communication, and healthy boundaries. 
• Execution-Oriented Change Leader - Implements change steadily while maintaining trust. 
• Experienced Operational Administrator - Oversees staff, HR, budgets, and organizational systems.

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Executive Pastor of Operations at Northside Church serves as the primary strategic partner to the Lead Pastor. This role focuses on translating vision into effective execution by leading operational architecture, staff coordination, performance systems, organizational alignment, and ministry support functions across the church. Northside is seeking a strong relational leader, systems thinker, and organizational builder who can help create clarity, strengthen accountability, improve communication and execution, and support a healthy, sustainable ministry environment during an important season of leadership and organizational transition.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Operational Architecture

• Design and implement the church’s operational architecture, including systems and workflows, to ensure clear, consistent, and mission-aligned ministry function.

Organization-Wide Accountability Systems

• Build and maintain organization-wide accountability systems, including reporting rhythms and staff check-in mechanisms, to clarify expectations and support healthy execution across departments and teams.

Staff-Performance Infrastructure

• Develop and lead the church-wide staff performance systems, role expectations, and development pathways.

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Staff Coordination & Operational Leadership

• Lead staff meetings and daily rhythms to ensure communication and alignment.

Strategic Implementation Support

• Translate the Lead Pastor's vision and strategic direction into executable operational plans, supporting major churchwide initiatives and structural adjustments.

Organizational Health & Process Improvement

• Identify operational friction and implement improvements to strengthen organizational effectiveness.

Much more detailed information is available to you after an initial consultation with Shepherd Staff. During that consultation, you should be able to articulate your provable experience as outlined above. Take the first step by clicking on the “Apply For This Job” button to confidentially make us aware of your interest. By confidential, we mean that we won’t share your information or interest with this or any other church prior to a full discussion with you and your permission to do so.

If you have any technical difficulties with the inquiry process, please contact gail@shepherd.group