Chief Operating Officer (Deputy Director)

About BDI

The Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) is a non-partisan research initiative that tracks and mitigates political violence in the United States. BDI supports efforts to grow and build local community resilience through elections and other periods of heightened risk, laying the groundwork for longer-term to bridge the divides we face as a nation.

We do this by 1) producing action-oriented and responsive research to fill existing gaps and empower local leaders; 2) enabling cross-sector collaboration, so individuals and organizations are better prepared to mitigate risk and respond to crisis when it does arise; and 3) helping to drive the policy and community response. Over the past four years, BDI played an essential role in supporting a wide range of actors preparing for and responding to political violence and democratic crisis. Our data, analysis, and tools continue to help a diverse coalition of national and local decision-makers better target their interventions. BDI is based at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), co-hosted by the Empirical Studies of Conflict (ESOC).

For more information, please visit our website: https://bridgingdivides.princeton.edu/.

Position Overview

BDI seeks a mission-oriented COO (Deputy Director) to oversee and manage all aspects of BDI's internal operations, processes, and systems. The Deputy Director will report to the Executive Director and will be an integral member of the senior leadership team, a seasoned, strategic, and process-minded leader with experience growing a start-up organization in an emerging field.

This is a full-time, benefits-eligible, 1-year term position with a possibility of extension. Work must be performed within the United States and is fully remote.

Key Responsibilities

Finance and Budget

• Advise the Executive Director and members of senior leadership on financial planning, budgeting, and cash flow.
• Design a three-year annual operational budget, manage effectively within this budget, and report accurately on progress made and challenges encountered.
• Develop a project accounting system that provides the organization with quick access to financial information and enables strategic budgeting, while remaining integrated with university accounting workflows.
• In close partnership with the Executive Director, monitor and support donor relationships to develop timely, accurate, and clear financial projections.
• Work with Princeton staff to manage and resolve financial processes, including handling purchases, managing invoices, and drafting contractor SOWs.

Leadership and Strategic Planning

• Provide leadership and input for all strategic plan implementation processes with the ED and staff.
• Monitor the progress of the strategic plan implementation.
• In partnership with the Princeton Office of Sponsored Research, monitor existing and new grants.
• Lead and manage the operations team of three staff members in creating and maintaining clear and lean systems and processes for the BDI team while also adhering to Princeton policies/requirements.
• Provide analytical support to BDI’s senior leadership team including the development of internal management reporting capabilities.
• Help manage and oversee hiring processes including managing recruitment, drafting job descriptions, onboarding and offboarding, and assisting with performance reviews.

Internal Processes and Systems

• Upgrade and implement an appropriate system of policies, internal controls, accounting standards, and procedures.
• Analyze the current technology infrastructure including BDI’s online security and privacy measures and scope out the next level of information technology and financial systems that support the growth of specific programs and the organization overall.

Required Qualifications

• BA required, advanced degree in relevant field preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in progressively senior management roles, ideally with both external audit and in-house financial management experience in start-up, high growth, and/or academic setting.
• Mission-driven and aligned with BDI’s core values. The candidate should demonstrate a passion for breaking new ground to lead social change.
• Experience either as an employee or board member of a nonprofit organization; must be familiar with nonprofit and/or academic finance and accounting regulations.
• Proven track record of success in facilitating progressive organizational change and development within a growing organization.
• Excellent judgment and creative problem-solving skills including negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
• Strong mentoring and coaching experience of a team with diverse levels of expertise
• Entrepreneurial team player who can multitask.
• Superior management skills; ability to influence and engage direct and indirect reports and peers.
• Self-reliant, good problem solver, result-oriented.
• Energetic, flexible, collaborative, and proactive; a team leader who can positively and productively impact both strategic and tactical finance and administration initiatives.
• Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills and the ability to effectively interface with senior management and staff.
• Ability to operate as an effective tactical as well as a strategic thinker.
• Experience overseeing procurement processes within large academic or organizational institutions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working on a remote team, including familiarity with relevant work tools (e.g. Slack, Zoom, Asana, etc.).
• Experience in a university or government setting is strongly preferred.

No matter who you are, BDI is a place you can call home. We know that our unique perspectives make us stronger, smarter, and well-positioned for success. We value and rely on the collective voices of our team to help guide our work on challenging issues.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.

The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.