Vice President of Operations

About This Role

This founding role is for a Vice President of Operations at a soon-to-be-launched 501(c)(4) advocacy organization focused on protecting the United States from biological threats. The VP of Operations will be responsible for building all the necessary infrastructure, systems, and processes to ensure the organization can execute its mission from day one. This is a build-from-scratch role for someone energized by creating structure and comfortable with both designing systems and executing them.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the organization
• Oversee the establishment and ongoing operation of the organization
• Manage relationships with external operational partners, vendors, consultants, insurance providers, accountants, and outside legal counsel
• Develop and oversee the organization
• Oversee bookkeeping, payroll, tax filings, audits or financial reviews, and other finance-related work conducted by external service providers
• Build and manage the organization
• Work with leadership to design an effective organizational structure, define roles and decision-making authority, and plan for future staffing and operational needs
• Oversee the organization
• Establish and maintain organizational policies, operating procedures, document-management systems, records-retention practices, and approval workflows
• Coordinate with outside counsel and other advisers to maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements, including lobbying registration and reporting, corporate governance, employment, and nonprofit compliance
• Manage the organization
• Identify operational bottlenecks and develop practical solutions that allow the organization and its staff to work efficiently
• Serve as the primary point of accountability for operational issues and ensure that problems are resolved promptly
• Advise the Executive Director and leadership team on organizational strategy, personnel decisions, performance management, culture, and growth

Requirements

• Significant prior experience building or running operations for an organization, ideally one that has scaled through an early-stage or rapid growth period
• Experience with nonprofit or advocacy-organization operations, compliance, finance, and organizational management. Direct experience with a 501(c)(4) organization is strongly preferred but not required
• Familiarity with the legal and regulatory environment governing advocacy organizations, or equivalent experience in political campaigns, government, legal services, or another highly regulated environment
• Experience overseeing organizational budgets, financial reporting, accounting providers, payroll, and internal financial controls
• Experience managing people operations, including benefits, onboarding, personnel policies, and performance-management processes