Job Description

Title: Chief Operating Officer

Reports to: Executive Director

Location: St. Louis City, MO

The Freedom Community Center (FCC) is a Black-led organization in North St. Louis founded to dismantle systems of oppression that inflict harm and trauma on Black communities in St. Louis City, particularly the police and the criminal punishment system. We ground ourselves in the knowledge that the Black survivors of St. Louis have the solutions to the question: What will keep us safe? We seek to build a community-based approach centered in power, healing, accountability, and repair. Given the resources to alleviate immediate economic needs, the space to facilitate communal healing, and the time to dream collectively of alternative approaches, our community of survivors will meaningfully address harm happening in St. Louis City at the individual and systemic level. We dismantle mass incarceration by modeling alternative responses to the criminal punishment system.

The current punitive approaches to violence such as police and incarceration do not prevent future violence, they create it. At FCC, we take a survivor centered approach to build solutions that interrupt violence at its root. In the place of violence, we make peace and build power. Our approach fosters accountability, healing, repair and transformation. The cornerstone of our peacemaking work is our healing justice process which is made up of several different transformative justice processes. One of our transformative processes is a restorative justice program that seeks to intervene and work with people who are experiencing or perpetuating harm before they interact with the police or at the beginning of their interaction with the criminal punishment system. The healing justice processes will support community accountability. The healing justice team works alongside the organizing team to build peace and power in neighborhoods.

At FCC, we have an opportunity to seek a different path, one marked by healing, true accountability, and reparative solutions that will transform those involved so that they might participate in imagining an alternative future for themselves and our community. This work is materialized through our Free US project but also through our community organizing branch called Power Builders, where we build power within our community members. We interrupt violence both systemic and interpersonal by forging a different path toward reconciliation, transformation, healing, and freedom.

Position Summary:

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is the senior operational and administrative leader of Freedom Community Center, serving as the Executive Director's primary organizational partner and the internal architect of FCC's infrastructure, financial health, and institutional sustainability. This is a significant leadership role for an experienced nonprofit executive who brings deep experience across finance, operations, compliance, and development. This position requires someone who is ready to hold the full operational strategy of a growing, mission-and-values-driven organization.

Reporting directly to the Executive Director, the COO oversees FCC's finance and financial governance, development and fundraising, compliance and risk management, human resources, organizational technology, facilities, and impact measurement and evaluation. The COO directly supervises the Fundraising and Development Lead, an Impact and Evaluation Associate and an Operations and Finance Associate, and manages a network of external contractors and service providers. The COO also serves as a key partner to FCC's Board of Directors on matters of financial governance, working closely with the Board Treasurer and Finance Committee.

This role is designed to create organizational capacity at the senior level as a financial and operations strategy partner to the Executive Director. This role enables the Executive Director to focus on external relationships, strategic vision, program leadership, and community impact while the COO ensures FCC runs with rigor, integrity, and operational excellence. The ideal candidate brings 5-7 years of senior nonprofit leadership experience, proven financial management skills, a track record in development oversight, and an unwavering commitment to FCC's abolitionist values and the communities FCC serves.

Areas of Responsibility:

Finance & Budget Management

• Lead FCC’s financial operations including budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management, and monthly and annual financial reporting.
• Oversee contracted accounting staff and ensure accurate preparation of financial statements, tax filings, and government agency reports.
• Compare income projections and budgeted expenses to actuals; make adjustments to projections and present findings to the Executive Director and Board as needed.
• Manage FCC’s payroll and benefits administration in coordination with JustWorks, FCC’s Professional Employer Organization.
• Serve as the primary staff partner to the Board Treasurer and Finance Committee, supporting financial oversight, audit processes, and board-level financial decision-making.
• Advise the Executive Director and Board on financial planning, organizational sustainability, and long-term fiscal strategy.

Development & Funder Relations

• Provide strategic leadership and management oversight of FCC's full development function, supervising and partnering with the Fundraising and Development Lead.
• In close partnership with the Executive Director, set the direction for FCC's multi-year fundraising strategy, with an emphasis on growing and diversifying revenue away from sole reliance on institutional grants.
• Hold the Fundraising and Development Lead accountable to revenue goals, managing the full grant lifecycle, growth of individual donor base, reporting timelines, and funder relationship standards.
• Serve as an organizational leader in high-stakes funder relationships and major donor cultivation alongside the Executive Director.

Compliance & Legal

• Ensure organizational compliance with 501(c)(3) regulations, including restrictions on political lobbying and other applicable federal, state, and local requirements.
• Lead FCC's risk management function, including insurance procurement, liability assessment, and organizational policy development.
• Manage relationships with contracted general counsel on legal matters, insurance procurement, and risk management.
• Oversee employment practices, including maintaining and updating FCC’s employee handbook and HR policies in compliance with applicable law.
• Manage fiscal sponsorship relationships and ensure donor acknowledgment and reporting obligations are met.

Human Resources

• In collaboration with the Executive Director, lead hiring, onboarding, and HR functions for the organization.
• Supervise and develop direct reports including the Fundraising and Development Lead, Impact & Evaluation Associate, and Operations and Finance Associate.
• Administer employee benefits and wellness policies in coordination with JustWorks.
• Collaborate with supervisors and managers to develop HR plans for staff requiring leave or accommodations.

Organizational Technology & Systems

• Own and advance FCC's full technology stack, including Salesforce, EveryAction, and Google Workspace.
• Direct the administration and continued development of FCC's Salesforce instance, ensuring seamless adoption across staff.
• Administer FCC's Google Workspace environment, managing user accounts, permissions, and organizational settings.
• Identify and evaluate new tools and systems to strengthen organizational infrastructure and data integrity.

Impact Measurement, Evaluation & Learning

• Supervise the Impact & Evaluation Associate; oversee the design and refinement of evaluation frameworks across FCC's programs.
• Collaborate with program directors to develop reports for program management, evaluation, and impact measurement.
• Support a culture of organizational learning by translating evaluation findings into actionable insights for staff, leadership, and funders.
• Identify opportunities to expand data infrastructure to support organizational learning and funder reporting.

Vendor & Contract Management

• Manage relationships with external contractors and vendors including accountants, legal counsel, IT support, and other service providers.
• Negotiate and oversee contracts and service agreements to ensure cost-effectiveness and alignment with organizational needs.

Facilities

• Oversee FCC's physical office space, with support from the Operations and Finance Associate, including vendor relationships, maintenance, lease compliance, and ensuring a safe and functional environment for staff and community members.

Organizational Strategy & Planning

• Serve as a primary thought partner to the Executive Director on organizational strategy, sustainability, and operations.
• As directed, collaborate on strategic priorities across program, organizing, and development functions.
• Represent FCC externally to funders, partners, and other stakeholders as needed.

Skills & Experience:

• Deep commitment to FCC’s mission and abolitionist values; understanding of organizing, intersectionality, and anti-oppression principles with experience applying them in organizational contexts.
• 5-7 years of nonprofit management experience, including financial management, operations, and oversight of small to medium-sized organizations.
• Demonstrated experience providing oversight and strategic direction for a development function, including institutional fundraising and individual giving.
• Strong nonprofit financial management skills including budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and audit preparation; experience serving as a staff partner to a board finance committee strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing organizational risk, insurance, and legal relationships.
• Experience owning and administering organizational technology systems; familiarity with Salesforce, EveryAction, and Google Workspace strongly preferred,
• Experience with HR functions including hiring, onboarding, performance management, and employee relations in a nonprofit setting.
• Familiarity with payroll and benefits administration, preferably including experience with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO).
• Proven ability to supervise and develop staff across multiple functional areas.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate financial and operational information clearly to board members, funders, and staff.
• Ability to hold significant organizational authority with autonomy, judgment, and accountability.
• Master’s degree in nonprofit management, public administration, business administration, or a related field preferred; CPA designation a plus.
• Experience with criminal justice reform, community organizing, or social justice organizations preferred.

This is a full time exempt position. The Freedom Community Center offers competitive health benefits, dental and vision plans, flexible PTO, life insurance, and relocation assistance.

Interested applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to info@freedomstl.org. In the cover letter, please address the following:

• Why do you want to work for Freedom Community Center?
• Please share 1-2 experience(s) that highlights why you would be a strong candidate for the position?

No faxes or phone calls please. Applicants will be notified regarding whether or not they have been selected for an interview. Applications without cover letters will not be processed.

The Freedom Community Center is proud to be an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and actively seeks the candidacy of people of color, women, LGBTQIA people and formerly incarcerated individuals. We are committed to inclusive hiring and dedicated to diversity in our work and staff.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $95,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Professional development assistance
• Vision insurance

People with a criminal record are encouraged to apply

Work Location: In person

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