North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) is accepting applications for a position as Director of Operations. Established in 1968 by members of student housing cooperatives, NASCO is a bi-national membership association of non-profit cooperatives in the US and Canada.

With nearly 60 member cooperatives representing 3,000 cooperators, NASCO is seeking a skilled and committed person to provide key support to the organization. This position includes bookkeeping and financial reporting, human resources management, strategic planning, and administration.

NASCO is implementing a newly crafted strategic plan, and the new Director of Operations will be involved in monitoring progress on this plan. NASCO operates using a non-hierarchical management structure, and this position will be joining the consensus-based staff collective after a probationary period of three months. All staff collective members are expected to participate in the management of the organization.

Job Description

The Director of Operations works to maintain the stability and continuity of all NASCO operations. The DO supports and systematizes efforts across governance, administrative, and program areas in order to ensure sustainable jobs and efficient use of resources. The DO supports the NASCO Board of Directors in fulfilling its regular duties and following through on strategic and long-term initiatives.

The DO oversees routine administrative and HR functions. The DO serves as the NASCO personnel supervisor with primary responsibility for ensuring compliance with all personnel policies, coordinating evaluations of each NASCO Staff Collective member, recommending changes to job descriptions or personnel policies, coordinating and reporting of staff workloads, and maintaining a staff Operational Plan. The DO is responsible for designing and implementing any changes to administrative or management processes.

Full position can be viewed at here.

Location, salary, and benefits

This position is based in Chicago, IL.

Salary is $40,434 annually, paid on a monthly basis.

This position is not exempt from Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requirements.

Forty hours of work per week are expected, with some nights and weekends. This position includes travel responsibilities.

Benefits include paid time off (fifteen days of vacation in the first year, ten paid holidays plus the workdays between Christmas and New Year's, and sick time), health insurance, reimbursement for public transit commuting and reimbursement for childcare)

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

Hiring Process

We anticipate an early May start date for this position.

To apply, please submit an application (below) and resume to info at nasco.coop by March 19, 2017. Applicants selected for interviews will be contacted by March 26, and interviews will be held from April 4-7, 2017.

Application

Please respond to the following questions. Submit these, along with your resume, to info at nasco.coop by March 19, 2017.

1. Why do you want to work for NASCO?
2. What is your experience with non-profit management and cooperatives?
3. Describe your experience with evaluating staff.
4. Do you have experience with human resources management, including payroll/payroll taxes and benefits?
5. Do you have experience with bookkeeping, Quickbooks, and financial reporting? What scale of budgets have you managed?
6. Do you have experience with database management, especially CiviCRM? How do you think about data and metrics?
7. Please describe any experience with education or facilitation.
8. Describe your experience working with volunteer boards and your familiarity with non-profit governance.
9. What experience do you have with implementing strategic plans or long-term visions for an organization?
10. Additionally, the current NASCO staff members are also IWW union members and the NASCO Board has officially recognized our union. You are not required to join the union in order to work for NASCO. Do you have any questions about this?
11. Working at NASCO involves significant travel, on average once or twice a month, usually overnight and often sleeping in co-op common areas and in your sleeping bag. Will this work for you? Do you have any questions regarding the travel aspect of the job?