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Chief Operating & Financial Officer

icon building Company : Project Evident
icon briefcase Job Type : Full Time
icon geo-alt Boston, United States

Job Description - Chief Operating & Financial Officer

ABOUT PROJECT EVIDENT

Project Evident (PE) harnesses the power of data, evidence, and technology to achieve greater impact. Founded in 2017, we offer a comprehensive platform of tools, technical assistance, and services that help practitioners measure, evaluate, report on, and act on evidence, with a focus on education, workforce, and well-being outcomes, and new domains under exploration in climate, environment, and global health access.



We operate less like a traditional nonprofit and more like a fast-moving, client-facing consultancy, building across advisory work, platforms and tools, and field infrastructure. Over the past decade, we have grown from a startup into an established $12.6M organization, and over the next several years, we expect to evolve our service model, to incorporate a blend of project-based technical assistance and AI-enabled agentic support that helps more mature nonprofits do more of this work themselves.



Our core principles of SWAP – Smart, Warm, Approachable, and Productive – guide our work inside and out. With a strong culture rooted in belonging and accountability, we strive to hold ourselves to the same standard of evidence-driven, equitable impact that we bring to our partners.



THE POSITION

At this exciting moment in our evolution, we are seeking a Chief Operating and Financial Officer (COFO) who thrives in a fast-paced environment to ensure our enterprise has the infrastructure it needs to keep pace with our ambitious programmatic plans. Reporting to the CEO, this position oversees finance, operations, HR, and technology and is a core leader on the executive team. By owning these functions, the COFO will free the CEO to focus externally on partnerships, funding, and strategic growth. Specifically, the COFO will:

  • Serve as the organization's senior-most administrative leader and key member of the executive team. Own the finance, operations, human resources, and technology infrastructure, ensure all administrative functions are well integrated, and be a high-trust partner and advisor to the CEO, the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, and the executive team to work alongside. Directly manage the operations, human resources, technology, and finance teams.

  • Bring clarity and consistency to ensure operational excellence. Define processes, set clear expectations, and train and hold people accountable to enterprise-wide policies and procedures across management practices, closing gaps around core processes like performance reviews and OKR management so ownership and timelines are always clear and accountability is maintained.

  • Function as chief financial steward for the organization. In close partnership with the Director of Finance & Controller, guide budgeting, forecasting, and reserve planning across a roughly $12.6M and rapidly expanding operating budget; provide strong oversight of the annual audit and all tax filings; and ensure new work is governed and reported with rigor.

  • Build and maintain the allocation, workflow, and HR infrastructure to meet fast-growing, client-facing needs. Evolve PE's resource allocation system so program leaders can see staffing capacity across both internal staff and the organization's technical assistance partner pool; bring outsourced HR and core administrative functions in-house; own the policies and systems that keep the organization running well as it scales.

  • Direct PE's Enterprise Leadership Team, which is a sub-group of the executive team, focused on enterprise priorities to ensure that processes and infrastructure are on pace with strategic priorities. The Executive team is the organization’s primary leadership body, aligning program and operations to guide strategy, performance, and major decisions, and is comprised of Managing Directors who lead program departments, the CEO, the CSGO and the COFO.

  • Ensure accurate reporting for the Board of Directors to ensure sound governance. Prepare and deliver finance, operations, and technology reporting to the Board and its Audit Committee, manage the audit committee of the Board, and serve as a steady, credible presence with Board members on operational matters.

  • Operate in a manner that reflects PE’s core values and fosters a positive culture. Lead from a place that models our SWAP values — Smart, Warm, Approachable, and Productive — and a culture of belonging and accountability.


THE CANDIDATE PROFILE

You may be the right fit if you are:

  • A seasoned and cross-functional operations and financial leader. You bring significant leadership experience in a VP or Chief role spanning operations/HR, technology, and finance, in a fast-moving social enterprise. Must have skill and comfort across three core areas and the ability to ensure integrated operations with financial statements and projections. Experience at organizations experiencing rapid growth and change is a must.

  • A builder and sustainer. You have direct experience both standing up systems in a growing organization and sustaining them over time. You bring the same care to keeping things running well as you do to building them.

  • Skilled at change management and holding people accountable. You know how to define process, set clear expectations, and follow through. You have experience having difficult conversations with staff, including on performance matters, and you know how to handle them well.

  • Experienced in a project-based, client-facing organization. You understand how talent, technology, and finance intersect when delivering work against client and funder engagements. You know how to build workflows and allocate talent across both internal staff and outside experts and partners.

  • A fast-paced operator who thrives on urgency. You are comfortable in an organization where needs surface quickly and evolve in real time, and skilled at keeping multiple initiatives moving at once so nothing falls through the cracks. You move well between long-term planning and immediate, hands-on problem-solving.

  • Genuinely comfortable with technology, including AI. You have been through a major technology transition or system replacement before, such as a build, a retirement, or a replacement, and the change management that comes with it. You are well-versed in commonly used business systems.

  • A direct, trustworthy communicator with high emotional intelligence. You share the full picture, raise concerns before they become problems, and follow through consistently. You read people and situations well, and know when to push, when to listen, and when to step back.

  • Energized about Project Evident's mission and growth trajectory. You believe in the power of evidence to improve outcomes for practitioners and the communities they serve. You see yourself in our SWAP values and want to help lead a culture built on belonging and accountability.


It’s a plus if you bring:

  • Experience in a comparable client-serving or project-based organization e.g., a nonprofit consultancy, social enterprise, B Corp, or EdTech organization

  • Direct experience with grants management, re-granting, or reporting across a multi-funder portfolio

  • Familiarity with Xero, Rippling, Bill.com, Gusto, Salesforce, Claude, and/or comparable systems


WHAT TO EXPECT IN YOUR FIRST YEAR

Within your first month, you will complete a deep onboarding into how Project Evident works, establish relationships with the team and outsourced partners, and remove work from the CEO’s plate so she can fully focus on external facing, growth and client projects.



Within three months, you will own the day-to-day finance, operations, HR, and technology, be actively partnering with the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer on planning and with the Director of Finance & Controller on budgeting and reporting, and assume oversight of the Enterprise Leadership Team.

Within six months, you will have a documented roadmap for the next phase of enabling infrastructure, make significant progress in developing the scope for a new resource allocation system, and significantly strengthen the Operations department’s structure, accountability, and organizational frameworks.



Within nine months, you will have successfully implemented and advanced a new talent bank and talent allocation system, and within twelve months have brought outsourced administrative functions in-house, including making key hires, and demonstrated sustained, independent leadership across Operations, Technology, and Finance, partnering strategically with the CEO and escalating appropriately. You will have significantly built out the organizational infrastructure and capacity needed to support—and keep pace with—the organization’s programmatic growth and ambitions.



JOB LOCATION, SALARY, AND BENEFITS

This position is based in the Boston area and works a hybrid schedule including 2+ in-person office workdays per week. The salary range is $260,000 to $300,000, depending on experience. Benefits include health, dental, vision, life & disability insurance; retirement plan with up to 5% employer match; phone and internet reimbursements; unlimited PTO with a 10-day annual minimum; summer Fridays; and the office is closed the last week of the year.



TO APPLY

If this opportunity speaks to you, please apply with 1) a thoughtful cover letter that explains why Project Evident's mission excites you and why this role is a fit for you, and 2) your resume. Please address your cover letter to Kelly Fitzsimmons, CEO. We review applications on a rolling basis.



Project Evident has partnered with DH Search to support the search for a Chief Operating & Financial Officer. DH Search partners with mission-driven organizations to hire the people they need to create a more just and equitable world. Learn more at www.dhsearch.net.

 
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