Director of Operations – San Francisco, CA

Full-Time, Exempt, On-site

5 minimum days/week in office

About Us:

It always seems impossible until its done. – Nelson Mandela

We believe that even the biggest problems can be broken down into small, achievable steps. Poverty and access to justice are part of the same problem. And were solving this problem together. At Open Door Legal (ODL), were pioneering the countrys first system of universal access to civil legal representation to dramatically reduce poverty and prove that the law really can belong to all of us. Weve grown 150x in 10 years, and in the next 2 years, we hope to finish scaling across San Francisco. To achieve this goal, weve created an award-winning and best-in-class legal aid organization full of passionate, motivated, gritty, thoughtful, and team-oriented people. We believe that injustice is the heart of poverty, and we’re looking for someone to join us in ensuring justice for all.

Overview of Position:

Delivering on the promise of making San Francisco the first city in the US with universal access to legal services requires high-touch operations with many moving parts, including at least four physical office locations centrally located within our communities of service, and addressing complex and sometimes competing needs. The Director of Operations main goal is to make sure we keep our doors open to serve our communities effectively and excellently. This role will be involved with delivering our community legal services, project managing cross-functionally in order to meet all of our grant and funding deliverables, and nurturing staff morale and culture. You will be responsible for casting and executing the vision for how our physical presence in our communities is crucial to successful universal legal services and ensuring our physical office spaces feel hospitable and safe to clients, guests, staff, and donors. In this role, you will manage professional vendors, contractors, and contracts, as well as arrange and set up each of our offices, so when anyone walks into our offices, they will recognize it as a placeforthem. You will identify and champion opportunities for streamlining and improving technology, systems, and facilities by creating and driving project and change management processes across the organization while maximizing morale. As it will be important to have an intimate understanding of the inner-workings of our program model, all program deliverables, pain-points, and procedures to ensure any project or change management process centers on our Program teams experience, all grant reports and deliverables are accurate, submitted on time, and met, and all documentation and training across the Program team are standardized and easily transferable, a good amount of your training and onboarding will be actively observing our program model. You will also help foster collaboration and encourage a positive organizational culture by planning and executing team events throughout the year.

A successful candidate must be biased toward action and decision, and able to manage multiple complex projects autonomously while leading through influence and inclusivity. Success in this role requires grit, dynamism, teamwork, care, and passion (our five values as an organization). You will report directly to our Director of Talent & Culture.

Responsibilities:

• Collaboratively lead and project manage a team consisting of cross-functional leaders from finance, programs, innovation & strategy, and development to design, implement, and evaluate systems that serve the strategic needs of Open Door Legal.
• In partnership with the Director of Innovation & Strategy, plan and execute process or system changes that improve productivity or reduce burnout.
• Plan and execute complex projects, including grant management, office/facilities build-outs and maintenance, vendor management, and office use.
• Identify and champion opportunities for streamlining and improving technology, systems, and facilities by creating and driving project and change management processes across the organization while maximizing morale.
• Partner with all teams to ensure events are inclusive and reflect ODL values.
• Create culture-building opportunities through ODL-sponsored events, or through ODL attending external events, owning event logistics, including catering, space setup, scheduling, and vendor coordination.
• Work closely with the Programs team to have an intimate understanding of the inner-workings of our program model, all program deliverables, pain-points, and procedures to ensure any project or change management process centers on our Programs teams experience, all grant reports and deliverables are accurate, submitted on time, and met, and all documentation and training across the Programs team are standardized and easily transferable.
• Work closely with the Finance team to coordinate on grant billing, accounts payable, and invoicing to ensure all grants are always billed down, and all vendors are paid on a timely basis.
• Work closely with the Development team to ensure fluid and prompt communication and nurturing ongoing relationships with external funders and grantors as appropriate for grant implementation.
• Order and manage food/snacks and ensure kitchens and common areas are well-stocked.
• Oversee office maintenance, ongoing facilities supply and materia…