Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Start Small Think Big is a non-profit on a mission to empower and catalyze low-income entrepreneurs. Founded 10 years ago in New York City, we have successfully expanded our work to San Francisco and Oakland. We are now in the midst of another period of exciting growth and expansion, as we work to replicate our model in multiple new cities and grow existing programs to serve larger numbers of entrepreneurs.

In order to connect low-income, but high-potential, small business owners with the strongest pro bono legal, financial and marketing support to transform their growing businesses, build wealth for themselves and their families, and create jobs for others in their communities, Start Small has:

• Partnered with the majority of the top 100 U.S. law firms, including Simpson Thacher, Weil

Gotshal, Cleary Gottlieb, Debevoise & Plimpton.

• Partnered with the biggest and most well-respected financial institutions and corporations, including American Express, Morgan Stanley, Google, and Goldman Sachs.
• Secured significant support for our work from some of the largest and most forward-thinking foundations in the space, including Kauffman, JPMorgan Chase, Citi.

The COO, a new position reporting directly to the Executive Director, will be responsible for ensuring that Start Small’s infrastructure and systems are sufficient to keep up with the organization’s accelerating growth. We are seeking a mission-focused, seasoned, strategic, and process-minded leader with experience scaling an organization and leading an executive management team. While it is essential that the COO bring efficient and effective systems to increase the productivity of the organization, is it also critical that the team retain the creative spark that fundamentally drives the Start Small mission.

The COO will manage the day-to-day activities of Start Small and engage in organizational review and direction setting, program oversight and leadership on various mission-critical issues. This person will play a key role in day-to-day staff leadership, identify opportunities and challenges, and work across departments to design and implement highly innovative and scalable solutions.

Strategy, Vision and Leadership:

• Serve as the internal leader of the organization. Provide staff with a strong day-to-day leadership presence.
• Ensure that Start Small is adhering to the strategic plan, delivering status reports to the Board. Project manage to effectively communicate work plans and priorities derived from the organization’s strategic plan by partnering with senior leaders to follow through with coordinated accountabilities, objectives, and associated budgets.
• Maintain effective lines of communication among program directors, keeping the Executive Director informed on all critical issues.
• Identify opportunities for Start Small to integrate cross program activities and functions and leverage cross-program strengths to take advantage of new opportunities and/or to address organizational challenges.

• Partner with the Executive Director to represent Start Small with external constituency groups, including community, governmental, and private organizations.
• Present regularly to the Board of Directors and contribute to board committees.

Systems Development/Management:

• Support the Executive Director in developing and monitoring organization-wide budgets and financial controls
• Identify, develop and implement operational systems improvements that will support highly efficient and effective performance as Start Small continues to grow in size and complexity

Talent Development:

• The COO will manage and improve structures and processes to ensure that we are recruiting, retaining, and developing high-quality staff at all levels of Start Small in order to ensure world-class customer service; innovative, inclusive, and impactful program design; and efficient and effective program implementation.
• Establish and monitor staff performance and development goals, assign accountabilities, set objectives, establish priorities and conduct annual performance appraisals.

Program Management:

• Set the overall vision and determine strategic priorities for all Start Small’s program directors (legal, financial, marketing, impact and technology) and client relationship managers, ensuring that they are in alignment with Start Small’s overall strategic plan and integrated to enable effective and efficient use of resources as well as support team member performance
• Foster an organizational culture that promotes initiative, appropriate risk taking, learning, cooperation, equity, and mutual respect

Qualifications:
The successful candidate will have proven experience leading and inspiring teams of diverse individuals and departments to meet shared goals. Qualifications include a minimum of five years’ experience supervising employed staff. Experience with organizational, strategy, and budget development, with the capacity to allocate resources strategically. Experience designing and directing complex work projects across multiple business units. A minimum of an undergraduate degree is required; advanced degree with a focus in business, operations management, or non-profit administration strongly preferred.

Skills & Competencies:

The COO will have a strong “roll-up-your-sleeves” attitude, and experience in designing and optimizing business processes and experience in utilizing a CRM system such as Salesforce. The COO will have the ability to analyze limited data, have a bias toward action, and adapt initiatives appropriately to efficiently scale the organization while maintaining service levels. The COO will demonstrate a deep commitment to innovation and a strong sense of how to use technology, data, and systems to improve service and efficiency, reduce costs, drive data-informed decision-making, and enhance employee experience.

Candidates will have experience in managing teams through a period of organizational growth, possess a deep understanding of motivating, mobilizing and supporting constituents, as well as evaluating systems and policies to increase effectiveness. It is essential that the COO has proven success in managing relationships with diverse constituent groups and supports, demonstrates, and promotes Start Small’s commitment to diversity, inclusion and pluralism.

The candidate should have the ability to be positive, adapt and thrive in a dynamic environment.

Salary commensurate with experience. Generous PTO package (25 days) and all federal holidays.
Sick time separate from PTO. Competitive health insurance package and access to various other benefits including pre-tax commuter plan, life insurance, dental and vision insurance, among others.

Job Type: Full-time

Experience:

• relevant: 5 years (Preferred)

Work Location:

• One location

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Flexible schedule

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday