Director of Operations

  • Chicago, IL
  • Applications have closed

Website North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO)

NASCO is accepting applications for a Director of Operations. Please forward this posting to your networks and apply by May 30, 2022.

NASCO is an alliance of group-equity housing cooperatives helping to build a world where every community benefits from resident-controlled housing by educating and organizing youth and emerging leaders to create and care for co-ops in the U.S. and Canada.  We have nearly 40 member cooperatives representing over 4,000 cooperators.

NASCO operates using a non-hierarchical management structure, and this position would participate in management decisions after a probationary period of three months. All staff members are expected to actively participate in the management of the organization. NASCO staff are IWW union members and our Board of Directors recognizes our unionization.

Please share this posting widely! Questions may be directed to info@nasco.coop.

In cooperation,

Team NASCO

Position Description

The Director of Operations coordinates with the NASCO staff team to maintain the stability and continuity of NASCO operations. The Director of Operations supports and systematizes efforts across finance, administrative, and human resources in order to ensure efficient use of resources.  The Director of Operations oversees routine administrative and HR functions and is responsible for designing and implementing any changes to administrative processes. The Director of Operations is responsible for creating and implementing the operational plan and for reporting on operations to the NASCO board. Additionally, the Director of Operations coordinates member services and contributes to the educational programming of the organization.

Responsibilities for this position include: 

Administrative 

  • Oversee NASCO’s finances including regular bookkeeping, preparation of monthly and quarterly financial reports, preparation of the annual budget, and processing of accounts payable and receivable.
  • Maintain corporate records and legal filings for NASCO.
  • Ensure sound accounting practices for the NASCO Family of organizations, including regular reports to each board and supervision of NASCO Family finance policies.
  • Coordinate the creation of quarterly reports to the NASCO Family boards, summarizing operations during that quarter.
  • Coordinate the creation and distribution of the NASCO Annual Report.
  • Create and implement the operational plan with support from the Director of Leadership Development.
  • Maintain a Main Office Mailbox for the organization, ensure all mail is opened and distributed to the appropriate staff members.
  • Maintain the organization’s storage unit, including archives, merchandise, and event materials.
  • Maintain a membership database with relevant details about members and their membership history.
  • Work with the Director of Community Engagement to manage the membership renewal process, including creating dues invoices, doing outreach to members, and processing dues payment.

Governance 

  • Serve as a liaison to the NASCO Executive Committee and the Planning Committee, attend meetings of those committees, support their work and provide regular reporting on staff work relevant to the committees.
  • Coordinate logistics and support for the Annual General Meeting (with NASCO’s Governance Committee).
  • Coordinate annual elections for the NASCO Board.
  • Work with the Director of Leadership Development to support the board in strategic planning, including tracking and reporting on progress.
  • Support the Director of Leadership Development in coordinating NASCO board meetings and attend meetings as needed.
    Work with the NASCO staff team to support the board in building politicized leadership among historically marginalized people within NASCO and its membership
  • Maintain accurate and accessible records of NASCO board meetings
  • Maintain the NASCO articles, bylaws, standing rules, and mission/vision/identity statements, etc.

Personnel 

  • Manage payroll system including processing payroll, keeping payroll tax information up to date, and reporting.
  • Administer staff time keeping system and report on work time by program, overtime, and paid time off.
  • Manage staff enrollment and receipt of benefits, including health insurance, dental, vision, and retirement funds (etc..).
  • Maintain and organize personnel records while ensuring confidentiality in accordance with NASCO policies.

Education & Membership 

  • Coordinate individual and group registration for NASCO Institute, including registration set-up, response to registration inquiries, invoicing, and payment processing.
  • Serve as coordinator for annual staff visits to member cooperatives.

General Duties 

  • All NASCO staff are expected to travel on a regular basis, though will not be required to travel more than one weekend per month.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to conduct visits to member cooperatives (currently, each staff member is responsible for visiting 12-15 co-ops per year) and to attend meetings of the family boards on request.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to participate in NASCO’s fundraising efforts.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to contribute to the creation and presentation of educational materials.
  • All NASCO staff engage in supporting the Cooperative Leadership Program.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to participate in preparation for NASCO Institute and attend NASCO Institute (Thursday to Tuesday) each year.

Management Duties 

  • All NASCO staff are expected to play an active role in the management and operations of the staff collective, including attending staff meetings and retreats.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to behave professionally while representing NASCO, in accordance with NASCO’s policies on professional conduct. This includes official representation to affiliated organizations, networking or conference attendance associated with NASCO, and visits or consultations with NASCO current or potential members.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to keep accurate records of the use of their time, and to report on this on a monthly basis using the agreed upon documents and procedures.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to respond in a timely manner to inquiries from directors, members, or stakeholders. Staff are expected to respond to communications through email, phone, or other channels that NASCO may decide to use for official business.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to participate in annual staff evaluation processes and probationary evaluations of new staff.
  • All NASCO staff are expected to follow all management policies decided by the staff collective and codified in the Staff Handbook, as well as all NASCO policies and decisions set by the board.

Required Experience/skills 

  • Clear commitment to the mission of NASCO, including a commitment to anti-oppression
  • Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills
  • Proficiency with email communication
  • Willingness to travel in order to attend Board of Director meetings or trainings for members
  • Commitment to building a sustainable and socially just cooperative movement
  • Non-profit financial management, including donations and grant administration, fiscal sponsorship, budgeting.
  • Payroll and benefits management experience
  • Bookkeeping and non-profit GAAP accounting
  • Quickbooks proficiency

Preferred Experience/skills 

  • Knowledge of flat management structures and/or collectives.
  • Experience working with and reporting to volunteer boards
  • Familiarity with group equity and/or student and/or affordable housing cooperatives
  • Human resources experience is highly desirable.

Location, salary, and benefits

The Director of Operations is based in Chicago, IL, however, for the right candidate we are willing to make the position remote for up to one year until the candidate is able to relocate to Chicago, IL.

This position is full time at 32 hours per week. The annual salary is $37,540, paid on a monthly basis.

This position is not exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements, some nights and weekends are required. This position receives flex time for hours worked between 32 and 40 and overtime pay for hours in excess of 40 hours in any given week.

This position involves significant travel, on average once a month, usually overnight and often hosted by local member co-ops at their discretion.

Benefits include paid time off (fifteen days of vacation in the first year, ten paid holidays plus the work days between Christmas and New Year’s, and unlimited sick time), health and dental insurance, and partial reimbursement for childcare.

NASCO is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, transgender / genderqueer / non-binary people, and people with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Hiring Process

We anticipate a mid-July start date for this position, with the possibility of some training in early July depending on candidate availability.

To apply, please submit your cover letter, resume and application by Monday, May 30, 2022 to info@nasco.coop. Applicants selected for interviews will be contacted by Wednesday, June 8, 2022, and interviews will be held remotely from June 6 – 19.

Questions may be directed to info@nasco.coop

Application for Director of Operations

Please respond to the following questions:

  • Why do you want to work for NASCO?
  • What is your experience with non-profit management and cooperatives?
  • Describe your experience working with volunteer boards and your familiarity with non-profit governance.
  • Do you have experience with bookkeeping, Quickbooks, and financial reporting?
  • What scale of budgets have you managed and how have you monitored or reported on them?
  • Do you have experience with human resource management, including payroll/payroll taxes and benefits?
  • Each member of our staff is heavily involved in directly providing training, consulting, and technical assistance to co-ops. Which experiences and skills would you leverage to conduct meaningful trainings for NASCO’s members?
  • Describe your experience managing a long-term project from start to finish. How do you ensure timeliness and accountability?
  • Do you have experience with database management, especially CiviCRM? How have you used data and metrics in planning your work?
  • What experience do you have with collective decision making or consensus-based decision making?
  • Working at NASCO involves traveling to member co-ops. While staff travel is currently suspended, we will be phasing it back in this coming year. By summer 2023, we expect travel to be once per month. Travel is usually overnight and if so, it is our preference that staff be hosted by a member co-op.  How available are you for overnight travel? Would the travel arrangement described here work for you?
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