Director of Operations and Finance

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Edible Schoolyard NYC (ESYNYC) is on a mission to make edible education accessible for every child in New York City. We believe edible education—where kids experience hands-on

cooking and gardening—helps kids gain the skills to contribute to a healthy and sustainable

food system for us all. We believe in a future where all children are empowered to make healthy choices for themselves, their communities, and their environments. Together with public school communities across the city, we’re building spaces for kids to flourish.

During the 2023-24 school year, we reached nearly 4,000 students and taught 2,145 classes across 23 schools. We also trained over 580 educators to incorporate edible education into their own classrooms.

Established in 2010, Edible Schoolyard NYC is a nonprofit organization committed to bringing Alice Waters’ vision to New York City public schools. As the first official “Founding Edible Schoolyard” in the Northeast, Edible Schoolyard NYC has created a curriculum and a vision to fit the unique needs of New York City public school children and communities. Now in our 15th year, Edible Schoolyard NYC is excited to continue deepening our impact at our Core School Sites as well as supporting schools and communities across New York City through our Mobile Education and Educator Professional Development Programs.

As an organization, the Values we live by include:

Community: We believe the greatest impact can only be realized by centering the community in our work.

Equity: We commit to cultivating and advancing a culture of diversity, inclusion, and belonging as we strive for equitable opportunities for all.

Stewardship: We know it is our duty to respect and care for all around us: our environment, our community, and ourselves.

Adaptability: We listen, learn, and act in response to the ever-changing needs of those around us.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The Director of Operations and Finance is a new, full-time position which will lead and oversee ESYNYC’s Finance and Operations functions, ensuring the organization’s operational excellence, financial sustainability, and mission impact. This role will build and strengthen internal infrastructure to support a growing organization and bring clarity and consistency to operations, finance, and HR functions. This position will not only manage core systems but will also anticipate future needs, design scalable solutions, and align operational capacity with the organization’s growth trajectory. The ideal candidate will be highly organized and forward-thinking — a proactive strategist who enjoys building systems, streamlining processes, and enabling teams to focus on their work. The Director of Operations and Finance will bring an exceptional customer service lens, ensuring ESYNYC’s Program, Garden, and Development & External Affairs teams are fully supported to thrive and do their best work.

The Director of Operations and Finance will report to the Executive Director, serve as a member of ESYNYC’s Management Team, and will supervise one direct report.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Operations & Administration

• Identify, evaluate, and implement new technologies, tools, and processes that enhance organizational efficiency and staff productivity.
• Anticipate operational needs and proactively design solutions that allow staff to focus on program delivery rather than administrative hurdles.
• Develop and maintain efficient and user-friendly systems that strengthen accessibility, transparency, and clarity for all team members.
• Oversee and coordinate logistics for physical resources including the organization’s storage unit, mail collection and forwarding, and other off-site assets, ensuring they are well-maintained, inventoried, and accessible when needed.
• Maintain office systems and technology, including equipment, shared files, digital collaboration tools such as the Google Suite and Slack.
• Steward a fully distributed, virtual team environment without a central office, ensuring strong systems for remote collaboration and coordination of in-person needs such as storage management, mail handling, and event logistics.
• Lead and collaborate with Management Team on annual goal-setting and quarterly goal reviews, performance reviews, and staff meetings.
• Translate strategic goals into actionable operational and financial initiatives, ensuring the organization’s capacity keeps pace with program growth.
• Anticipate risks, challenges, and opportunities, and proactively develop contingency plans and innovative solutions.
• Oversee vendor management, compliance, insurance, contracts, etc.
• Ensure written resources and policies for staff are clear, accessible, and user-friendly.
• Act as a customer service-oriented partner for staff ensuring their operational needs are met with professionalism and responsiveness.
• Manage internal calendars, shared workflows, and key operational touchpoints.
• Serve as IT operations liaison for ongoing support and troubleshooting.
• Support staff teams with ordering supplies, managing Department of Education compliance and paperwork, and other administrative duties as needed.
• Ensure that internal infrastructure supports the mission, values, and evolving needs of ESYNYC’s staff and programs.

Financial Management & Strategy

• Oversee day-to-day financial operations including overseeing external bookkeeping in Quickbooks, online bill pay with Bill.com, payroll, credit card, bank and balance sheet reconciliations, etc.
• Manage external financial vendor relationships with bookkeeper, accountants, and auditor.
• Lead preparation and planning for the annual audit across teams.
• Ensure accurate monthly financial reporting in collaboration with external bookkeepers, Executive Director, and Development & External Affairs Team.
• Partner with the Executive Director and Board to develop and monitor multi-year financial strategies that support long-term sustainability and growth.
  • Produce accurate financial reports for the Executive Director and Board Finance Committee, including preparation for Board Meetings.
  • Serve as finance and operations liaison for the Board Finance and Audit Committees.
• Work closely with the Development and External Affairs team supporting fundraising efforts with accurate financial data for grant applications, reports, and campaign planning.
• Build processes for restricted grant reporting and track and report on restricted funds and grant budgets.
• Improve upon and support budget tracking processes for each department.
• Update and improve upon Finance Manual ensuring compliance.

HR

• Oversee and lead all HR-related matters, including but not limited to leading internal hiring processes and supporting hiring managers, employee onboarding and offboarding, keeping up-to-date employee records, benefits management, PTO tracking, background checks, policies, records, etc.
• Organize and plan for all-staff meetings and retreats across teams.
• Liaise with and oversee HR and benefits systems and compliance with ESYNYC’s PEO (Prestige) and retirement platform (Mutual of America).
• Maintain and update the employee handbook to ensure clarity and consistency that reflect best practices and legal standards in collaboration with the Executive Director.
• Monitor and proactively respond to trends in workplace culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring ESYNYC remains a competitive and equitable employer.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to leadership and managers on team dynamics, conflict resolution, and organizational development.
• Act as an internal champion for anti-racist and DEIB values across the organization.
• Foster a positive team culture of collaboration, accountability, and service excellence, by supporting staff needs, creating clarity, helping resolve internal challenges, and modeling ESYNYC’s values in all aspects of leadership.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A deep commitment to ESYNYC’s mission and social impact.
• Experience with and committed allyship to students and communities of color.
• 8-10 years of relevant experience in nonprofit and/or school-based operations and finance.
• Strong nonprofit financial management experience.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing the development and improvement of organizational databases and systems, including functionality and user interface, in collaboration with external technical experts or consultants.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace, Slack, and project management tools.
• Ability to identify and learn new technology tools, make recommendations, and train team members for implementation.
• A high degree of integrity; ability to deal with confidential and sensitive information with discretion.
• Experience managing HR systems and working with a PEO (i.e., Prestige) is a plus.
• Excellent project management and organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize, manage multiple deadlines and projects, and attention to detail.
• Ability to build strong internal and external relationships with a bias for action and service-oriented approach.
• Familiarity with restricted grant management and reporting.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• A proactive, entrepreneurial, and solution-oriented approach.
• A collaborative and team-oriented mindset.
• A growth mindset; ability to give and receive constructive feedback.

You don’t need to meet every qualification to be considered! If you’re excited about this role and believe you could succeed in it, we encourage you to apply.

Work Environment

• This is a hybrid position with regular travel to ESYNYC’s school partners across NYC, and regular in-person events and meetings. Qualified candidates must be based in the NYC metropolitan area.
• Some work requires lifting/moving of boxes and equipment.

Edible Schoolyard NYC provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established by applicable law. We seek to build a diverse staff representative of the communities we serve. All qualified applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.