Operations Coordinator

Seeking San Francisco Bay Area workers, prioritizing those from Oakland CA

This is a Working Interview to help us find the best talent to join us as our first operational hire. We're a hardware and community development company, post-prototype and ready to build our demonstration project. We need a superstar Operations Coordinator who can rise with us as we scale.

Full-Time Work Available Immediately

While the trial project scope is 15-25 hours, we have full-time work (40 hours/week) available right now for the right candidate. If we're a good fit from the start, you can begin working full-time immediately on both the trial project and our core operations, building systems as we grow.

This video will clarify a little more: https://youtu.be/yltoXMs9VFg

Job Details

• Position Type: Starting as Contract/Hourly, transitioning to Full-Time Salaried with Benefits
• Trial Project Hours: Estimated 15-25 hours total
• Full-Time Hours: 40 hours/week available immediately
• Location: Hybrid Remote in Oakland, CA
• Timeline: Starting January 2026
• Compensation:
  • Trial period: $36.50 - $50.00 per hour
  • Full-time position: $55,000 - $75,000/year (salary) with full benefits

About OakTREE Initiative & This Role

OakTREE Initiative is a hardware and community development company. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization that builds physical and social infrastructure connecting households. Through shared energy, food, and skills, we build self-reliant neighborhoods, localized economies, and resilient community systems.

We're post-prototype and ready to build our field demonstration project—we have everything ready, we just need funds to build it out. This is where you come in.

Why we're hiring: At this stage, the opportunity cost of the two Co-Founders personally managing operations is very high. We're the ones who close funding and build key partnerships, but we're drowning in operational details. We need someone who can own operations end-to-end: building systems, anticipating obstacles, coordinating contracts and partnerships, managing our bookkeeper, some vendors, and administrative documents, and executing with meticulous attention to detail. We need someone who can learn from our past work and create efficient processes rather than reinventing the wheel or needing constant direction. We need someone who can forecast well (anticipating timeline delays, budget issues, and stakeholder needs before they become problems) so we can stay proactive rather than reactive. Most importantly, we need someone who is in a habit of clear record keeping.

Your role as Operations Coordinator:

This is not just administrative support. You'll own operational excellence across the organization:

• Systems building: Create and document processes based on past learnings so we can scale efficiently
• Contract and partnership coordination: Manage agreements, documentation, and communication with partners and stakeholders
• Financial and administrative operations: Coordinate with our bookkeeper, maintain organized records that enable seamless collaboration across the team
• Forecasting and problem-solving: Anticipate timeline delays, budget issues, and stakeholder needs; develop contingency plans before problems arise
• Fundraising operations: Maintain our CRM/fundraising spreadsheet, track relationships and next steps, prep meeting materials, take notes, and send follow-ups
• Demo project logistics: Coordinate vendors, organize materials, manage timelines for our demonstration site, anticipate and solve obstacles
• Whatever keeps us in fundraising mode: If something needs to happen for us to close funding or build partnerships, you make it happen

Growth potential: This is our first operational hire. As we scale, operational leadership roles will emerge. We'd love to grow those roles from within for someone who demonstrates excellence. We're looking for someone who wants to build systems, own operational excellence, and grow with us.

The Trial Project: Solar Energy Asset Management

To help us find the best fit and give you a realistic preview of the work, we have a trial project for you to manage. This trial project tests the core operational capabilities we need: the ability to learn from past work and create efficient processes (rather than reinventing the wheel), maintain organized records that enable seamless collaboration, forecast changes and plan responses, communicate effectively across diverse stakeholders, and execute complex multi-step processes with meticulous attention to detail. These are the exact skills that will enable us to stay in fundraising mode while scaling our demonstration project.

The trial project involves solar energy asset transfers and potential sales. No previous experience in solar energy is required—we're looking for a self-starter who is organized, detail-oriented, and can keep everything moving smoothly.

We have extensive documentation from past work. We need someone who can review that documentation, adapt it to current needs, develop a relevant process for this project, and execute efficiently.

Trial Project Scope

Solar Energy Asset Transfer

• Coordinate transfer documentation and agreements
• Manage communication with homeowners, attorneys, and Executive Director
• Track deadlines and ensure all paperwork is complete and filed properly

Solar Energy Asset Sale

• Coordinate sale process with homeowners
• Manage communication between stakeholders (Executive Director, homeowners, attorneys, county office)
• Track payment processing and documentation
• Ensure all legal and financial requirements are met

Throughout:

• Maintain clear project timeline and milestones
• Communicate effectively with all stakeholders
• Track and manage project activities
• Problem-solve obstacles as they arise
• Provide regular updates
• Document process for organizational records

Trial Project Deliverables

• Successful completion of solar asset transfer processes
• All legal and financial paperwork properly completed and filed
• Clear records for organizational archives
• Final project summary and documentation

Required Qualifications

• 3+ years of project management experience, particularly managing projects with multiple stakeholders
• Strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail
• Experience managing legal or financial transactions (contracts, agreements, documentation)
• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work independently and keep projects moving forward despite unexpected changes (ability to forecast well)
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and solving problems creatively
• Proficiency with project management and productivity tools (Asana, Google Suite, CRM systems, etc.)
• Demonstrated habit of clear record keeping

What Makes You a Great Fit

• You're detail-oriented but also see the big picture
• You can read documentations from the past and replicate similar work based on current conditions
• You can juggle multiple moving pieces without dropping the ball
• You communicate clearly with diverse stakeholders (lawyers, homeowners, leadership team)
• You're comfortable with the human side of transitions and can hold space for process
• You take initiative and can move things forward while responding appropriately to unexpected changes promptly
• You're flexible and can adapt as decisions and directions become clear
• You care about community ownership and cooperative values
• You are scrappy, systems-thinkers, and want to build infrastructure in a growing organization
• You are looking for an opportunity to grow into our organization. If we love working with each other, we would like to consider taking you in as a full-time staff with benefits.

Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We particularly encourage applications from individuals who share our commitment to cooperative economics and community empowerment. People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply.

How This Works

1. Apply by January 9, 2026
2. Start ASAP with the trial project (15-25 hours) or immediately at full-time hours (40 hours/week) if desired and mutually agreed
3. Trial project completion (timeline depends on efficiency and organizational decisions)
4. Transition to full-time salaried Operations Coordinator with benefits upon successful completion
5. Grow with us as we scale our demonstration project and programs

Job Types: Full-time (available immediately), Part-time, Contract, Temporary

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Oakland, CA 94612

Once you transition to full-time salaried employment after completing the trial project, you will receive full benefits.

This position is a W-2 position within OakTREE Initiative (a501c3 nonprofit), including Workers’ Comp and Disability Policies. We have a culture supportive of self-care and time off with a “free time off” vacation policy. Employee health plans will be offered.