Finance & Operations Manager

ABOUT GOVACT

Governors Action Alliance (GovAct) is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit nonpartisan initiative that helps governors work across state lines to champion fundamental freedoms and improve people's lives. GovAct serves as a centralized platform for collaboration across governors’ offices—incubating, launching, and supporting alliances of governors. These alliances share cutting-edge policy and legal approaches to some of the most challenging and critical issues we face, from reproductive freedom and democracy to immigration and public safety.

Currently, GovAct supports the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, Governors Safeguarding Democracy, and other Governor-led initiatives and collaborations. Specifically, GovAct helps:

• Build capacity and expertise by connecting experts across Governors' Offices and organizations, tailoring best practices, model policies, and legislation, and advancing other legal and policy innovations for Governors to advance bold policies;
• Develop innovative ideas for collaboration by breaking out of silos and advancing creative initiatives;
• Advance affirmative agendas for Governors to maximize their powers to protect fundamental freedoms and counteract assaults; and
• Partner with other nonprofit organizations and other stakeholders.

More information about GovAct can be found at www.GovActAlliance.org.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Reporting to the Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, GovAct is seeking a talented and experienced Finance & Operations Manager to support GovAct and its alliances as the organization and staff team continues to evolve and grow. The Finance & Operations Manager will bring financial planning and analysis experience to the team and work closely with GovAct’s leadership team and GovAct’s fiscal sponsor to ensure that the organization’s financial position remains strong now and into the future. Finally, the Finance & Operations Manager will use their operations experience to provide support to GovAct’s broader leadership team on new initiatives and other core business activities and cross-team projects.

Responsibilities include:

Core Liaison with GovAct’s Fiscal Sponsor on Financial Matters

• Develop processes, norms, and expectations with GovAct’s fiscal sponsor to help ensure that GovAct’s team receives timely and accurate service across finance activities.
• Serve as the key point of contact for GovAct and alliance staff with respect to any finance needs that require fiscal sponsor engagement (e.g. invoice and reimbursement processing, financial reporting, etc.).

Financial Management

• Conduct initial reviews of regular GovAct and Alliance expenditures and expenses to ensure GovAct and its alliances are acting in a fiscally responsible way, including by closely reviewing all reimbursement requests and recurring monthly and annual expenditures, and ensuring compliance with GovAct and fiscal sponsor finance policies and requirements.
• Partner with the fiscal sponsor’s finance and administration team on GovAct financial management matters, including but not limited to financial reporting, grant management, and invoice management activities.
• Provide direct support to GovAct and alliance staff on financial questions and requests. Triage questions and requests to fiscal sponsor as necessary.
• Support Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives in developing, facilitating, and executing annual budgeting and reforecasting processes across GovAct team (including its affiliated alliances).
• Support Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives in developing project- and org-wide budgets and reports for fundraising activity.
• Provide GovAct leadership with monthly reports on funds committed that have not yet been received, with recommended actions to take in follow up with funders.
• Use fiscal sponsor’s accounting tools to conduct discrete spending analysis on core cost categories (e.g., travel, third-party contracts, etc.), as requested by GovAct leadership.
• Manage processes for maintaining, reviewing, and refining existing financial policies used by GovAct’s team and fiscal sponsor (e.g., travel expense policy, credit card use, spending approvals, etc.). Partner with the Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives and GovAct leadership to ensure compliance with these policies across the organization.
• Provide regular reports to the GovAct leadership team on financial performance and flag financial issues/risks that should be mitigated, with further reporting to Alliance leads as directed by GovAct leadership.
• Train and support GovAct staff on key finance processes, systems, and tools, as needed.

Special Project and Operations Support

• Provide financial and operational support to new initiatives/projects launched within GovAct, as assigned.
• Support the Director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives in core business areas as needed, including administrative and operational matters.
• Support intranet maintenance, engagement with IT support team (within fiscal sponsor), and management of other team-wide IT platforms.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

Success in this role will require an experienced professional who possess many of the following professional and personal abilities, attributes, and experiences:

Experience: Minimum of five years of full-time experience in nonprofit financial management activities.

• Strong preference for a candidate with experience working in a start-up environment.
• Strong preference for a candidate who has experience working with a fiscal sponsor.
• Ideal candidate will have experience supporting a remote team and implementing organizational systems and processes using various technology-enabled tools.

Skills: Exceptional financial rigor and organizational and project management skills and the ability to meet challenges and opportunities with creative solutions.

• Preference for familiarity with Microsoft Office suite (including SharePoint).
• Preference for familiarity with financial management systems (e.g. NetSuite).

Knowledge: Financial management expertise and understanding of operational challenges of nonprofit organizations working in complex political contexts (and the associated operational risks they need to mitigate).

Qualities: Demonstrated ability to operate with a high degree of self-motivation and with a commitment to high-quality work.

• Keen attention to detail and able to exercise discretion.
• Skilled communicator and collaborator.

Education: Bachelor’s degree.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The salary range for this position is $120,000 - $130,000. GovAct provides all employees 12 paid holidays and 30 paid days off. GovAct provides an excellent benefits plan, including parental leave, medical, dental, vision, short-term, and long-term disability; wellness, technology, and professional development stipend; and a robust 401K program.

TO APPLY

This search is being conducted with assistance from Katherine Jacobs and Sharon Gerstman of NPAG. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, with the ideal candidates being available to begin working at GovAct by September 1, 2025. Candidates may submit their cover letter, outlining their interest and qualifications, along with their resume via NPAG’s website.

Hiring Values: At GovAct, we celebrate a culture of belonging and are committed to cultivating and nurturing a workplace of diversity, equity, and inclusion. GovAct encourages individuals to apply for this position who are of underrepresented backgrounds including, for example, race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, and sexual orientation.