Director of Operations

About Groundswell Fund
Since its inception in 2003, Groundswell Fund has put intersectional grassroots organizing led by women, transgender, and gender-expansive people of color at the center of our giving. It is a channel into which individual donors and foundations pour resources to reach vital work at the grassroots, serving as an irrigation system for growing reproductive, racial, and social justice movements. Our staff are from the very movements we fund, and we deeply understand grassroots impact with long-term investment. 

We do this work with our sibling organization, Groundswell Action Fund, founded in response to the first Trump Administration. Groundswell Action Fund was founded on a simple but revolutionary premise: those most excluded from our democracy should be at the center of transforming it. Both organizations work to revolutionize philanthropy through grantmaking, capacity building, and organizing within philanthropy itself to inspire more giving to the types of organizations we support – whether or not those resources come through our doors. 

While we fund nearly every major social justice movement in the United States, we are a long-term funder of the U.S. Reproductive Justice (RJ) Movement. Since the start of our grantmaking, we have moved more than $180 million (across both our c3 and c4) to the field in grants and capacity-building support, increased the giving of dozens of national and local foundations, and helped bring thousands of new individual donors into the RJ Movement. Our grantees have been instrumental in the passage of hundreds of pro-RJ policies at the state and local level and in blocking many regressive policies, and they have built a growing grassroots base of support for RJ across the U.S. 

Groundswell is a fully remote, highly collaborative, pro-worker, pro-union organization working across the four continental U.S. time zones. We believe that the best ideas emerge when diverse perspectives come together, and are committed to creating an inclusive and flexible work environment where employees can thrive. We’ve embraced remote work as a core aspect of our culture since 2017 and will celebrate our first union contract with Groundswell Workers United this year. 


About the Role - Director of Operations
At Groundswell, we understand the vital importance of values-aligned operations and building infrastructure to support a healthy organizational environment. The Director of Operations will oversee the implementation of operations and administration functions for Groundswell and Groundswell Action Fund. The Director of Operations will be a key partner to the COO, helping to establish a sustainable operations infrastructure deeply aligned with the principles of social change movements. This includes leading the development of the organization’s culture programming and managing events for staff gatherings, organizational insurances, and compliance functions (such as registrations and reporting). The Director will also manage all vendors and contracts, lead the implementation of all organization-wide process improvements and related change management, serve as operations lead for systems management and integration, and facilitate cross-team communications and collaboration related to operational functions. Additionally, the Director will supervise the Operations Associate.

The ideal candidate for the Director of Operations should be a collaborative and innovative systems thinker. They should have prior experience in an operations role within a non-profit, demonstrating knowledge of non-profit operations and compliance, as well as an understanding of what is necessary to run an efficient organization. Keys to success include strong communication skills, the ability to foster respect, trust, and collaboration among team members and departments, and the ability to creatively problem-solve while clearly articulating how systems align with our culture and values. 


Your responsibilities will include:
Operations & Administration    

• Serve as the primary operations point of contact for Groundswell and GAF (Groundswell Action Fund) team members.
• Ensure all staff have the necessary equipment, supplies, and materials to perform their work.
• Collaborate with HR + IT to contribute to the Groundswell onboarding process to support remote office set-up.
• In partnership with the COO and chief of staff, support the maintenance of strong, consistent knowledge management systems and practices across the organization. 
• Lead organization-wide change management initiatives and process improvements. 
• Serve as the operations lead for systems management and integration.
• Develop and maintain exemplary operational policies, norms, and protocols.

Compliance, Legal, & Risk Management    

• Oversee and ensure compliance with all necessary licenses and filing requirements, including local, state, and federal regulations.
• Partner with legal counsel and COO to audit and evaluate GF’s contracts and serve as support to internal teams in completing contracts.
• Review contracts and manage organizational insurance policies to mitigate institutional risk (including D&O, General Liability, etc.).
• Build and manage strong relationships with vendors and service providers. In collaboration with the Operations Associate, establish and manage the contracting process. 
• Maintain a compliance calendar with support from the Operations Associate.

People + Culture

• Manage the implementation of key organizational events and create best practices for individual team retreats and convenings. 
• Support planning for all staff meetings and retreats to enhance communication, collaboration,  engagement, belonging, and equity.
• Cultivate a work environment that embraces data-driven decision-making, transparency, open communication, and accountability.
• Lead cross-team communications and collaboration related to operational functions.
• Serve on Groundswell’s Director’s Table and leverage leadership spaces for organization-wide buy-in.
• Hire, onboard, supervise, and monitor the performance of the Operations Associate.

Qualifications:
Essential

• At least ten years or equivalent of progressively senior-level experience, with a broad base of technical knowledge and skills related to compliance, legal, risk management, contracting, team-wide/large-scale events, and policy development.
• Strong supervision skills with proven results, coaching staff, and building a team’s performance capacity.
• Proven track record effectively transforming and building equitable and values-aligned practices and culture within an organization.
• Strong organizational, administrative, and project management skills with exceptional attention to detail.  Ability to conceptualize, plan, and manage major complex projects and multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Strong interpersonal and communication (written and verbal) skills with highly developed public speaking, presentation, negotiation, and coaching abilities.
• Impeccable judgment and discretion in dealing with sensitive and confidential information.
• Demonstrated track record of advancing racial and gender justice.
• Commitment to supporting reproductive justice and intersectional WOC/TPOC-led movements.
• Centers equity, justice, inclusion, and belonging in all aspects of the work.
• Proactively spots issues of equity and inclusion in the work and can bring practical solutions by drawing on personal experience combating white supremacy, racism, and other interconnecting systems of oppression.
• Leads with a passion for integrating and infusing social justice values into the fabric of operations

Strongly Preferred

• Experience with and/or knowledge of the unique cultural experience of supporting operations in a fully remote environment, including experience working remotely across time zones 

Compensation & Location

• The salary range for this position is $142,900 - 155,600. Please note that it is for a flexible 4-day, 32-hour work schedule.
• Very generous benefits include fully paid-for employee and family health, dental, vision, and a matching 401K plan, as well as additional employer-provided reimbursements for fertility expenses, gender-affirming health care costs, and midwifery/doula expenses that are not covered by insurance. 
• Three weeks of vacation upon hire and a generous holiday schedule, including a week during the summer and the last two weeks of December off. 
• This is a full-time, fully-remote, exempt position.

The Application Process
Groundswell Fund has engaged Equitable Hiring Group to support this hiring process. To apply, please complete the short form to the right. 

Individuals who apply by Monday, December 23rd, will be given priority; therefore, we encourage you to submit yours soon!

When you apply, we kindly ask you to remove your schools from your resume. There is no need to reformat your resume and leave your degree as is; simplify it to "B.A. Economics," for example. Just remember to remove any references to undergraduate and graduate school names where possible. This "bias-reduced" process is aimed at opening this opportunity to more candidates, reviewing applicants on performance assessments instead of resume proxies (e.g., where you went to school).

This evaluation process will follow practices shown to reduce bias in decision-making and may be different from other application processes you have experienced. 

• Late December: Selected candidates asked to complete short answer questions
• Early January: Phone interview with Groundswell staff
• Mid-January: Finalist candidates will be asked to complete a paid, timed, trial assignment
• Late January: Finalists will participate in a multi-team member panel interview
  • Candidate references will also be checked at this step
• Early February: Offer extended

If you have any questions about the opportunity, please email abe@equitablehiringgroup.com.


Virtual Organization: Groundswell is a completely virtual organization and has been for many years before the COVID-19 pandemic. We are committed to building a strong identity and thriving culture that is exemplary in the nonprofit world and in the greater landscape of fully remote organizations.  Our work is virtual but we will also have the opportunity to travel and see each other in person for retreats, conferences, and events. To succeed as remote workers, applicants should have a dedicated workspace, a commitment to clear and frequent communication, and comfort utilizing technology to increase collaboration and connection. Those with previous remote work experience are preferred, but we also welcome those who are new to remote work and understand the requirements of working in a thriving virtual organizational culture. 

Work Schedule: Groundswell currently operates in a 4 day, 32 hour work week. We are a completely virtual organization, allowing for flexibility in work schedules for our staff across differing U.S. time zones. While work can usually be completed during standard business hours of the applicant's time zone, there may be times where early morning, evening, and weekend work may be needed to ensure organization-wide collaboration, to staff or attend events, and/or to meet organization workload needs during busy times of the year. Staff whose jobs require travel can expect longer hours, as travel may happen outside of business hours and on weekends.   

Equal Employment Opportunity: The Groundswell Fund is a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. We are committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and that enables each of us to realize our potential. Our work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, beliefs, religions, faiths and ideologies, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and levels of physical ability.


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Last updated on Dec 5, 2024