Director - Operations & Culture, Initiative for Energy Justice, School of Law

About the Opportunity

Please note that as of November 1, 2023, our hiring timeline was extended due to limited staff capacity including family leave, and we will continue accepting applications through February 2024. We recognize it may have been a long time since you submitted your application and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work diligently to move our hiring processes along. We will begin contacting and interviewing candidates in February. The estimated start dates for our open positions are April and May. Please email any questions to jobs@iejusa.org.

The Initiative for Energy Justice seeks an Operations and Culture Director that will lead all of the Initiative for Energy Justice’s internal operations, including administration, systems, technology, finance, and communications. As IEJ projects growth from half a dozen to a dozen staff members over the next two years, the Operations and Culture Director will have the unique opportunity and responsibility to build an equitable, joyful, and effective work culture at the national center. They will also co-lead grants management and be a part of IEJ’s leadership team. The Operations and Culture Director will liase with Northeastern University administrative officials and teams that manage various administrative functions for IEJ including hiring, human resources, grants, and accounting.

Responsibilities:
 

1) Leadership:

• Collaborate with IEJ’s Executive Director and Program Directors to coordinate strategic planning, goal-setting, and other organizational leadership matters.
• Ensure systemic alignment by translating strategic plans and organizational goals into grant proposals, team roadmaps, and staff work plans.
• Champion a spirit of collaborative and open communications across all programmatic and operational departments to bridge and ensure efficiency across a remote work environment.

2) Administration:

• Lead efforts of shaping and nurturing IEJ’s culture and morale to foster an equitable, anti-oppressive, joyful, collaborative, and effective work environment.
• Establish, communicate, and implement operations-related procedures, practices, standards, and security measures to ensure effective and consistent support and execution across the organization.
• Identify, recommend, and implement new processes, technologies, and systems to improve and streamline organizational infrastructure.
• Along with Executive Director, serve as liaison for Northeastern (NU) administrative officials and teams that manage various administrative functions for IEJ including hiring, human resources, and accounting.
• Attract, develop, coach, and retain high-performing and diverse team members; Manage IEJ-side of advancement and hiring process including job description development, salary research, marketing, recruitment, and interviews.

3) Finance

• Administer organizational budgeting process starting at $1.5M and growing to a projected $5M budget in three years.
• Monitor projections, financial planning, and cash flow to ensure optimal allocation of financial and staff resources.
• Manage working relationships with external vendors including negotiation of contracts and payments, plus honorariums for event participants.
• Support staff with reimbursement procedures within NU’s policies.

4) Communications

• Direct external communications efforts including website and email newsletters, with support of Executive Director and Program Directors, and implemented by Communications Manager (to be hired)

5) Grants

• Oversee project management of grants including proposals and reporting, working with Executive Director and Program Directors as they lead on content writing and funder relationships.

Qualifications:
 

Required Qualifications:

• Knowledge and skills typically obtained through a related Bachelor’s degree with ten or more years relevant work experience OR graduate degree (e.g., JD, MPP, MBA, MS, or PhD) with seven or more years relevant work experience, or eight years of relevant work experience.
• High attention to detail and advanced organizational skills, including advanced proficiency with spreadsheets
• Demonstrated commitment to furthering equitable, anti-oppressive, joyful, collaborative, and effective work culture environments that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Demonstrated experience in managing complex projects and workflows, with a strong ability to lead teams through all stages of project planning, implementation, monitoring, and completion
• Strong interpersonal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications: