Director of Operations and Finance – New York, NY

SumOfUs.org is a global corporate accountability watchdog for the 21st century. Although we haven’t yet reached our second birthday, we are winning corporate campaigns left and right, on issues ranging from money in politics to labor rights to environmental sustainability. One of the fastest-growing online campaigning groups in the world, we now have a virtual office of 11 across 5 countries — up from three at launch less than two years ago — and expect to be over 20 staff in 2014.

It’s time for us to bring on board a full-time Director of Operations and Finance to support this rapid expansion. We want someone who’s excited to oversee the mission of transforming a scrappy startup into an organization with established, highly functional, flexible, mission-serving systems and processes! The Director of Operations and Finance will report to the Executive Director.

If you’re the kind of person who geeks out with spreadsheets, who thinks that international libel law is kind of fascinating, who gets deep satisfaction from setting up processes that run smoothly and efficiently, who’s constantly catching mistakes that other people didn’t find, who’s always up for a new challenge — if even a couple of these speak to you, then you could be the perfect person for the job.

Responsibilities & Scope

The exact set of job responsibilities for this position will be determined in part by who we hire. The core, must-have functions of the role are:

Core Workstreams

• Building financial and operational systems that are as responsive as possible to the needs of a rapid-response global campaigns team;
• Liaising with/managing our PEO, lawyers, insurance agents, accountants, bookkeepers, and auditors
• Legal compliance and reporting;
• Training existing and new staff on operational, financial, and HR processes;
• Managing our Finance and Development Associate; hiring & managing additional operations and finance staff and contractors as needed as the organization grows.

Additionally, we expect the successful candidate to come in owning at least a few of these workstreams in addition to the above – but which of them will depend on the particular background, skills and interest of the successful candidate:

Additional Possible Workstreams

• Liaising with and reporting to the board and audit committee;
• Managing grant applications and possibly also funder relationships;
• Working closely with the campaigns team on proactive legal strategies related to our campaigns (e.g., working with legal experts to file amicus briefs in corporate accountability lawsuits);
• Guiding high-level organizational strategy;
• Developing, cultivating, and implementing organization-wide management structures, work culture, and reporting systems;
• Managing our recruitment and hiring processes
• Managing annual reviews and promoting staff development.

Qualifications

In order to fulfill the role described above, here are the core, must-have qualifications we’re looking for in the successful candidate:

Must-Have Qualifications

The Basics

• Fluent in English;
• Excellent written, oral, quantitative, interpersonal, and presentation skills;
• Excellent judgment and risk assessment skills;
• Tech skills and internet-savvy. You should be very comfortable with Office and Google Docs and quickly able to learn and assess new programs and web applications, from Asana to Dropbox to ExpenseCloud;
• Ability to manage complex projects and hit deadlines, every time — you should be the type to be checking up on the ED to make sure she’s on track, not the other way around.

Relevant Experience

• Experience either as an employee or board member of a non-profit organization legally incorporated in the US;
• Familiar with US non-profit finance and accounting regulations and expert with distinctions such as c3 vs. c4;
• At least 4 years’ relevant experience in accounting, finance, operations, administration, fundraising, and/or law. (Note: 4 years is the floor; the successful candidate may well have 10 or more years of experience — this can be a very senior role for the right person. Along with compensation, title may be flexible depending on experience);
• Involvement in at least one external audit, as well as with in-house financial management.

In addition, there are a number of qualifications that would be nice to have in the successful candidate – and we expect the successful candidate to have at least a few of these:

Big Pluses

Hard Skills

• J.D.;
• Accounting degree – or better yet, CPA;
• Familiarity with accounting and bookkeeping software;
• Proficiency in one or more key world languages;

Management and Fundraising Experience

• Experience in a senior management role;
• Proven track record of success developing and implementing systems, processes, and management structures within a fast-growing organization;
• Major donor management and/or grant-writing experience;

International and Legal Experience

• Experience (especially operations/finance/legal experience) working on international/non-US projects;
• Proven professional track record working closely with people from markedly different cultures and backgrounds from your own;
• Expertise in corporate law, international law, libel law, and/or employment law;

Understanding What We Do

• Passion for and dedication to SumOfUs’s mission to challenge corporate power;
• Solid grasp of the MoveOn/Avaaz/SumOfUs-style online campaigning model.

How to Apply

We’ll be accepting applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled, but we are ideally looking to make an offer by around mid-October – so get your application in now!

In order to apply, fill out the form at the link below and attach your resume. Instead of writing a traditional cover letter, answer these three questions (no novels! Keep it concise):

• Why are you applying for this job? (Suggested word limit: 125)
• Name 3 of the “additional possible workstreams” listed above that you think would make the most sense for you to take on if you were to join the organization, and briefly explain why each one would make sense for you. (Suggested word limit: 75 words each)
• List which of the “BIG PLUS” qualifications above you believe you bring to the table (no need to elaborate; just list them).

Compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience. Our benefits package for full-time employees includes 5 weeks vacation, health insurance for American staff, and more. We have no formal education requirements – if you can do and grow with the job, that’s all that matters.

If you have questions about the position, feel free to reach out to us at jobs@sumofus.org.

SumOfUs is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of SumOfUs to provide equal employment opportunity to all applicants for employment and employees and not to discriminate because of race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. Equal employment opportunities will be provided in employment, recruitment, selection, compensation, benefits, promotion, demotion, layoff, termination and all other terms and conditions of employment.