Chief Operating Officer COO

Overview

Employment Status: Full-Time Exempt Employee (40 hours per week)

Location: This is a remote position. We are a California-based organization, and this individual will be expected to work on a Pacific time zone schedule.

Reports to: Chief Strategy Officer, VP

About the Role:

Cultural Power seeks a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead in a time of organizational growth. Reporting to the Chief Strategy Officer/Vice President (VP), the COO will operationalize a strategy and vision set forth by the VP and President. The COO will be responsible for ensuring a high level of clarity in collaboration across dynamic, cross-functional teams. They will work with directors to build and improve internal systems across entities, build and hold our culture, and advance our HR, finance, and data management systems. The COO will directly manage the Finance, HR, and Communications Directors, supporting the advancement of systems between and within departments, building up people management skills, and advancing systems for reporting, compliance, and forecasting. The position will be split approximately: 90/10% with CEL.

About You: 

You are a dedicated problem-solver who exhibits grace under pressure, diplomacy and strength. You spot opportunities for impact and improvement and make things happen. You are comfortable working on urgent issues as they arise and longer term strategic interventions. A good day is when you’ve resolved a challenge. You are a people person. You love building strong vibrant teams and culture and are a seasoned people manager. You articulate and demonstrate strong leadership, and can develop and execute personnel management. You build, sustain and repair trust. You are attuned to deciphering behaviors and motivations. You are comfortable having difficult conversations, working with diverse people. and mentoring those you manage. You have a track record of creating positive organizational culture and working environments and scaling them. You create order where others experience chaos. You love streamlining systems, operationalizing effective collaboration, and deploying financial tools to forecast and reflect programmatic and organizational complexity. You have extensive experience overseeing large-scale programs/projects from inception to completion. You are a team player. You materialize clarity to foster collaboration across teams, creating coherence and advancing communication. You bring discernment, tact and sound judgment to complex and fluid situations. You are not easily discouraged when faced with resistance, rather you are committed to cultivating buy-in and collaboration.

Responsibilities:

People Management & Culture Building 

• Provide people management coaching and support to all Department Directors in coordination with the Director of HR and in consultation with the organization’s employment lawyer. Directly manage the Comms, Finance, and HR Directors.
• Oversee culture building initiatives in partnership with the HR Director. Partner with HR Director on racial justice, gender justice and internal values building work executing scopes, identifying gaps, and hiring consultants in alignment with strategy set forth by VP and Director of HR.
• Oversee timely responses to HR ensuring our shared values and goals are leveraged to resolve conflict while ensuring compliance.
• Oversee the creation of employee management tools for CEL as needed.
• Oversee the employee evaluation process with an emphasis on building consistent people management practices across the organization.
• Develop systems and model behavior that increases the flow of information and clarity across the organization.
• Oversee weekly staff meetings with input from the Leadership Team.
• Partner with VP on building a cohesive Leadership Team and managing weekly team meetings.
• Oversee system integration to ensure that Directors are on track to meet grant deliverables.
• Oversee and manage the scheduling and administrative functions of the CCP and CEL Board of Directors meetings. Maintain board support documents and ensure both legal and by-laws are being followed correctly.
• Oversee the administrative functions of the CCP and CEL in-person all-staff retreats.

Financial Planning & Management 

• Oversee finance systems across entities, including tracking grant-related expenditures and board reporting.
• Oversee the budget forecasting and reforecasting processes in partnership with the Finance Team and in alignment with the VP’s strategic direction. Provide multi-year financial scenarios and build tools to forecast cash flow in scenario planning.
• Communicate financial requirements and implications of business decisions to leadership and the Board of Directors. Provide high level oversight of the annual budgeting process, support business planning with sophisticated financial models and accurate revenue forecasts; update systems for revenue tracking and reporting.
• Oversee systems integration and compliance for financial tracking and revenue with finance and development teams across entities.

Business Operations, Systems Development, & Compliance

• Identify, develop, and implement operational systems improvements that will support highly efficient and effective operational performance for Cultural Power, CEL and integration with The Constellations Fund, both improving upon the current state of operations and moving good systems to great ones. This will include upgrades to Salesforce and other organizational-wide software, including the integration of Just Fund.
• Oversee the implementation of Salesforce cross-functionally across teams
• Oversee risk management and legal activities such as memorandums of understanding, contracts, leases, and other legal documents and agreements.
• Oversee the development and updating of COVID policies, including vaccine policies and other measures.
• Oversee a distributed workforce, including the development of relevant policies and the pricing and creation of in person retreats.
• Oversee c3 and c4 compliance in partnership with the Campaign Director, HR director and outside counsel.
• Oversee the management of cost sharing agreements with CEL and systems integration with The Constellations Culture Change Fund.
• Ensure a culture of data where we accurately track information that reflects program operations, key performance metrics, and outcome data.

Timeline:

Ideally, we’d like to start the person in March 2022 with the opportunity to be trained under the person who currently holds the role on an interim basis.

Qualifications:

The candidate must have:

• 10+ years in people management, culture building, and HR.
• Expertise overseeing complex legal and financial systems.
• Strong project management skills and ability to maintain high-level focus, delegating tasks while keeping momentum on projects.
• Experience fostering and building systems to streamline collaboration and clarity across cross functional teams.
• Ability to create solutions that are both innovative, intuitive, and progressive.
• Cultural fluency and direct experience working with BIPOC communities.

Compensation & Benefits

This position is full-time with a salary range starting at $130,000 or more, determined by experience and qualifications. We offer a generous benefits package including full medical, dental, vision (100% company paid for employee & 80% contribution towards dependent premiums), life, long-term disability, flex spending accounts, $50 monthly stipend to support cell phone/wifi expenses, and a 401k plan with 3% employer contribution (regardless of employee contribution); generous vacation, office closures, sick leave, bereavement leave, Covid leave, and paid holidays. We also offer ample flexibility as a remote workplace.

Application Process

To apply, please send the following to jobs@culturalpower.org with COO in the subject line:

1. A cover letter outlining why you are interested in working for Cultural Power, your relevant professional experience, and your salary requirements.
2. Your resume.
3. A report, memo, or policy that you created for internal or external use. Please explain the problem you were
   trying to solve, who the audience was, and what resulted from it.
4. A list of three professional references. Two or more of these references must be previous or current supervisors.

All applications will be acknowledged, but only complete applications will be reviewed. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

The Center for Cultural Power supports artists and culture makers whose voices are most needed to transform the status quo towards a more just and inclusive future. This includes artists and cultural workers of color, Black artists, Indigenous artists, migrant artists, artists with disabilities, queer artists, transgender and nonbinary artists, and women of color identified artists. As such, we strongly encourage individuals from these communities to apply. We are committed to the collective work and intentional investment necessary to consistently move in the direction of equity and inclusion. The Center for Cultural Power is an at-will employer.

We look forward to hearing from you.