Finance & Operations Director

About Resilience Force

Resilience Force works at the intersection of climate, labor, and racial justice. We

represent the workers who rebuild America’s homes and communities after hurricanes,

floods, and fires. And we’re building a million-strong resilience workforce America

needs—to build climate adaptation, hit non-negotiable climate goals, and face the future stronger. We work with a multi-racial workforce that includes undocumented migrant workers and US-born, primarily black, brown, Native American, rural, and young workers.

Resilience Force has its roots in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which helped protect workers on the Gulf Coast. Over the last seven years, we have carried those lessons forward, pulling together unusual suspects for a fresh conversation about turning disasters into openings for renewal. Resilience Force works with government, corporations, homeowners, and community members to ensure workers can be trained and deployed effectively and safely for this critical work. You can learn more about our past successes in the New York Times (article), the New Yorker (article with audio available), and NowThis (video with audio & subtitles).

Our work. First, we’re protecting the existing resilience workforce, which is overwhelmingly undocumented, since recovery work is dangerous, unstable, underpaid, and itinerant. We deploy them into disaster zones to mitigate the uncertainty and risk of rebuilding—and to reduce delays and additional suffering for displaced residents. Second, we are using our network of thousands of veteran resilience workers to recruit new workers into the profession. This makes us a resource for high-road employers and lets us bargain for better conditions and pay.

Third, we are building the workforce of tomorrow—the one that will not only respond to disasters but work year-round at climate adaptation and decarbonization, making our homes, schools, and entire communities more resilient to the shocks and stresses to come. We’ve begun this work by building proof of concept in three diverse states at the front lines of climate change: Louisiana, Florida, and California. In these pilots, we train these professionals and organize employers to hire workers from this program. Our high-road employer agreements assure that the jobs that workers receive are the basis of high-quality, family-supporting careers.

Resilience Force also owns and manages a for-profit high-road labor brokerage called Resilience Works, LLC. Resilience Works places skilled resilience workers trained by Resilience Force in jobs with high-road labor partners on climate disaster preparation and restoration projects.

As an organization, we are rapidly scaling up in scope and size from a young entrepreneurial environment towards a long-term, sustainable entity—we have a strong and growing set of stable funders, government partners, and more. Our team must be flexible to respond to the many real-life challenges presented to us and the communities we are working in partnership with. Working at Resilience Force will require emotional intelligence, compassion to tackle these hard problems, and a desire to grow our internal culture and structures. Learn more here.

About the Role

Reporting to the Managing Director, the Finance & Operations Director (FOD) will support the organization's strategic vision and execution of its mission as the primary manager of finance and operations, in collaboration with the senior leadership team.

This is a strategic financial and operational role that requires big-picture thinking alongside detail-oriented execution of daily operations.

Resilience Force is proud to be a racial and social justice-oriented organization, and we reflect this commitment in our staff, including at leadership levels. We want to continue cultivating a positive, inclusive workplace culture where everyone can thrive. We are particularly interested in receiving applications from a broad spectrum of qualified people who represent diverse backgrounds.

The FOD can expect to…

• Track different funding channels across Resilience Force and Resilience Works and manage financial operations across nonprofit and earned revenue streams.
• Supervise and serve as the main point of contact for the accounting firm
• Serve as a strategic financial advisor and thought partner to the Managing Director
• Support organizational development efforts through the creation of program budgets and financial reporting, policies, and operational best practices
• Contribute to building a sustainable team and workplace culture in remote and in-person environments

Responsibilities

Finances

• Work closely with the Managing Director and Senior Leadership Team to devise and adhere to the annual operating budget in alignment with the ED’s financial strategy
• Supervise RFs’ and RWs’ finance/accounting teams and consultants to ensure proper allocation of annual operating budget
• Supervise and manage Resilience Force and Resilience Works’ finance and accounting functions, including financial modeling, expense classification and allocations, intercompany transactions, procurement, contracting and invoicing, and annual financial audit.
• Supervise and manage C3 and LLC finance and accounting functions, ensuring compliance across both legal entities
• Maintain and monitor various accounting functions of the organization, including Accounts Receivable/Accounts Payable, credit card reconciliations, billing, purchasing, bank reconciliations, and all financial matters related to the general ledger
• Oversee daily and monthly banking activities, including managing daily cash flow reporting, forecasting, and scenario planning
• Act as the main point of contact for all payroll, taxes, and insurance/benefits financial transactions
• Oversee risk management, compliance & financial planning for Resilience Force and Resilience Works
• Establish and maintain strong internal controls, financial policies, and procedures to ensure audit readiness and mitigate risk in compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and nonprofit financial management standards
• Oversee fund accounting practices, including tracking restricted and unrestricted funds and maintaining accurate net asset classifications
• Manage the financial aspects of the full grant lifecycle, including budget development, tracking, reporting, and compliance with funder requirements for philanthropic and government grants
• Oversee revenue recognition across multiple funding streams, including grants, contracts, donations, and earned income
• Ensure compliance with Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT) requirements related to earned revenue activities
• Develop and maintain cost allocation methodologies and indirect cost rate structures across programs and entities to track and report programmatic spending against grant budgets
• Lead audit preparation, including coordination with external auditors and preparation of schedules, IRS Form 990, and applicable state and regulatory filings
• Review and analyze financial statements and documents, and prepare the MD & ED to present to the board of directors
• Oversee insurance policies (e.g., general liability, D&O, workers’ compensation) and claims management from a financial perspective

Planning for Growth

• Work with the Managing Director and senior staff to draft the annual budget and ensure that budget and program planning processes are moving forward together
• Support pricing strategy, financial modeling, and sustainability planning for earned revenue and business lines
• Develop long-term financial projections that integrate philanthropic and earned revenue streams

Systems

• Support the Managing Director on the organization's administrative and operational processes, with a goal of continuously developing, improving, and evaluating systems to support strategic objectives
• Implement and optimize financial systems (e.g., accounting and payroll software, and expense management tools) to support organizational growth and efficiency
• Coordinate finance and human resource functions to ensure compliance and regulatory functions for 501c3 and LLC statuses across multiple states
• Ensure compliance with grant regulations, including Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200), CEQA, NEPA, etc., where applicable
• Oversee state charitable registrations and compliance filings

Culture/Team Management

• When facilitating meetings, represent Resilience Force leadership to all staff and consultants in a friendly, thoughtful, and inclusive manner, being available for questions and concerns.
• Supervise and support further growth and development of a culture at RF that is aligned with our values and politics
• Other duties as assigned

We encourage applicants with a passion for this work to apply, even if their experience differs from or doesn’t meet every requirement outlined here.

Qualifications

• At least seven years of experience in Financial and Operations Management, including understanding financial relationships and dynamics between multiple legal entities under one organizational umbrella.
• Well-developed understanding of the legal and fiscal structure of 501(c)(3) and LLCs, budgets, grants, and programs, as well as private equity models.
• Ability to respond quickly and effectively to rapidly changing needs and priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Experience engaging and working within working-class and BIPOC communities to build leadership capacity with the goal of making societal and political change.
• Experience with and/or understanding of collaborating with and managing people and projects in a remote environment
• Exceptional strategic thinking, written and verbal communication, interpersonal skills, and follow-through; well-versed in engaging with key stakeholders and colleagues
• Demonstrated commitment to organizational values of economic and racial justice
• Ability to travel as needed (10%)

Our benefits include a 401k with 4% matching contributions, five weeks of paid leave, 100% employer-paid health insurance (including vision and dental) for employees, paid short-term disability insurance, and life insurance.

Proficient in English