Chief Operating Officer

Accountabilities:

• Serve as a strategic partner to the CEO and an active member of the Strategic Management Team, contributing to organizational strategy, planning, implementation, and review.
• Translate strategic priorities into annual and multi-year plans connecting responsibilities, timelines, resources, and measurable outcomes.
• Help leadership assess opportunities, challenges, organizational capacity, financial implications, risks, and potential effects on partners.
• Act as a principal integrator across strategy, finance, people and culture, organizational data, legal affairs, resource mobilization, and operational capacity.
• Strengthen cross-functional planning, clarify responsibilities and decision-making processes, and address organizational gaps or areas without clear ownership.
• Lead policy development, integrated systems implementation, responsible use of AI, and major organizational change initiatives designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Provide executive oversight of financial planning and performance alongside the CFO and CEO, connecting budgets, forecasts, staffing, fundraising projections, program commitments, and organizational priorities.
• Support resource allocation, financial scenarios, sustainability analysis, risk monitoring, financial controls, restricted funding, grants, contracts, audits, procurement, and compliance.
• Coordinate organizational planning with resource mobilization, ensuring major proposals and revenue strategies reflect delivery capacity, financial forecasts, partner commitments, costing, and risk.
• Provide strategic leadership to People, Inclusion, and Culture, including recruitment, performance, compensation, development, succession, workforce planning, organizational design, and staff well-being.
• Strengthen management practices, accountability, team development, and organizational culture across a distributed and multilingual workforce.
• Provide strategic oversight of Business Intelligence, Evaluation and Research, strengthening the use of data, evidence, reporting, and indicators in organizational decision-making and learning.
• Oversee appropriate governance, protection, and ethical use of organizational and partner data, while integrating information security, digital safety, AI risks, and crisis response.
• Provide executive oversight of Legal Affairs and ensure legal, regulatory, contractual, governance, safeguarding, security, data, financial, operational, reputational, and people-related risks are incorporated into organizational planning.
• Maintain proportionate risk management, escalation, continuity, and compliance systems across multiple jurisdictions.
• Represent the organization with the Board, partners, donors, advisers, and other external stakeholders when appropriate.
• Support organizational continuity and assume responsibilities delegated by the CEO.
• Ensure significant strategic, financial, legal, reputational, workforce, or partner-related decisions are supported by integrated analysis, clear options, and effective implementation.
• Uphold safeguarding commitments and ensure organizational practices protect children, young people, vulnerable populations, staff, partners, and other stakeholders.

Requirements:

• Demonstrated experience in a senior executive or enterprise-wide leadership role within a complex international nonprofit, philanthropic, social-impact, mission-driven, or similarly complex organization.
• Experience leading or integrating multiple organizational functions, such as finance, people and culture, operations, legal or compliance, organizational data, strategy implementation, or business development.
• Strong financial literacy and demonstrated experience using budgets, forecasts, financial analysis, and resource planning to guide strategic decisions.
• Experience connecting organizational strategy with measurable outcomes, operational capacity, resources, and long-term sustainability.
• Experience working across countries, cultures, legal environments, or distributed teams, with the ability to navigate complex institutional contexts.
• Proven ability to build productive relationships with senior colleagues, boards, employees, partners, donors, advisers, and other stakeholders.
• Demonstrated experience leading organizational change, strengthening systems without creating unnecessary bureaucracy, supporting functional leaders, and fostering collective accountability.
• Strong judgment and discretion when handling sensitive organizational, legal, financial, people, or reputational matters.
• Understanding of partnership-based organizations and approaches that remain responsive to partner priorities.
• Professional fluency in English is required; Spanish, Portuguese, or French is an asset.
• A clear commitment to feminist principles, sexual and reproductive health and rights, racial justice, gender justice, equity, inclusion, and leadership from the Global South.
• Ability to operate strategically while remaining attentive to implementation and operational detail.
• Strong collaborative leadership style combined with the confidence to make difficult decisions, establish accountability, and respect functional expertise.
• Transparent, reliable, calm, and resilient approach to leadership, with a commitment to shared leadership, sound delegation, and collective governance.
• Ability to create clarity in ambiguous situations and effectively balance long-term organizational priorities with immediate operational needs.
• No single professional pathway is required; relevant backgrounds may include operations, finance, organizational strategy, people and culture, international nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, social enterprise, or another comparable field.
• Understanding of safeguarding principles in both U.S. and international contexts, with willingness to comply with applicable safeguarding policies and standards.

Benefits:

• Fully remote working arrangement.
• Annual salary of up to USD $220,000.
• Private health coverage.
• Life insurance.
• Retirement benefits.
• Paid sick leave.
• Paid vacation leave.
• Paid parental leave.
• Paid holidays.
• Flexible working arrangements.
• Opportunity to serve in a high-impact enterprise leadership role within a global, mission-driven environment.
• Broad exposure to strategy, finance, people and culture, data, legal affairs, risk, resource mobilization, and organizational development.
• Opportunity to shape organizational systems, leadership practices, and long-term institutional sustainability.
• Collaboration with distributed teams, international partners, donors, advisers, and senior leaders.