Job Summary:

Reporting directly to the Founder, this newly created position is focused on one goal: ensuring that Forthright is high-functioning, efficient and productive by leading the firm’s operations and administration.

Responsibilities:

The right person for the job loves creating processes from scratch, has obsessive attention to detail and thrives on making sense from ambiguity. We’re looking for someone with a commitment to conscious leadership, who deeply believes that happy and healthy teammates lead to happy clients. The Director will play a fundamental role in ensuring Forthright is operating efficiently and in line with our company values. They will ensure account teams have the knowledge, resources, information and support they need to meet our clients’ needs and exceed expectations. The Director will also track achievement of the firm’s strategic objectives, both for financial performance and internal reporting.

Contracting and Legal Oversight - 30%

Manage ongoing relationships and legal agreements with all of Forthright’s external client partners and vendors.
Directly responsible for overseeing all contracting in partnership with Forthright’s General Counsel, preparing scopes of work and ensuring client contracts are negotiated and signed with fidelity and in Forthright’s best interest.
Maintain and keep Forthright’s legal record keeping up to date (i.e.: Annual Report filings, employee handbook updates) and manage legal workflow with Forthright’s subcontractors and vendors.
Identify and recommend organizational and legal operational process improvement, workflows, and automation opportunities to meet the growth trends and operating needs of the organization.
Revise and/or formulate new business policies or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and oversee their implementation to ensure that the company runs with legality and conformity to established regulations, and in line with Forthright’s values and ethics.

Client Account Logistics and Project Management - 25%

Coordinate logistics and planning for large Forthright events, such as client trainings, team retreats and other in-person or virtual events (ie: webinars).
Create project plans and SOPs as needed for client accounts in partnership with the Account Lead.
Partnering with the Founder and the Account Lead, operationalize account kickoffs and account closures, ensuring streamlined processes and administrative tasks (i.e. loading the account into the time management system, ensuring file structures are set up, etc.)
Coordinate meeting schedules for clients and take meeting notes.
Coordinate assets for client teams; for example, overseeing our engagements with partners such as graphic designers and videographers to support client work.
Manage vendor feedback processes on behalf of client Account Leads (i.e. managing editing rounds on deliverables with a graphic designer, arranging logistics for video shoots with a videographer partner).

Ensuring Smooth New Business Processes - 25%

Partner with a peer Director in creating thoughtful, well-crafted, winning business proposals, aligning all required resources (i.e. research, team capacity, legal requirements, etc.).
Responsible for developing accurate cost estimates by predicting hours and partnerships required to complete client projects based on historical data, team input and Forthright’s proprietary methodologies.
Actively assess team and partner/vendor capacity with a People First leadership approach, resulting in effective account staffing for each new client.
Revise and/or formulate new business policies or SOPs and oversee their implementation.

Financial Oversight - 20%

Working with Forthright’s accounting partners, manage the firm’s financial system including time tracking, billing and invoicing, and collections to oversee bookkeeping, expense management, and accounts payable.
Improve existing forecasting and scoping processes to bring added value and insights.
Understand, evaluate and proactively manage new and ongoing project scopes, overseeing budgets and allocated hours ensuring that client accounts close at or under budget.
Manage and run day-to-day people-related needs such as payroll, employee relations, subcontractor management (ie: NDAs, contracts, onboarding), multi-state compliance, and benefits enrollment).
As needed, identify new revenue opportunities for Forthright.
Revise and/or formulate new finance policies or SOPs for the firm's financial management and oversee their implementation.

Experience & Qualifications:

At least 10 years of related experience.
Must have at least 3 years of prior experience with contracts management (ie: master services agreements, independent contractor agreements and others)
Experience in a start-up environment, nonprofit or association operations and/or consulting agency experience preferred
Impeccable and unfailing attention to detail
Thorough understanding of practices, theories, and policies involved in business and finance, gained through either formal education, practical work experience, or both
Experience in designing effective budget models for projects, including experience analyzing financial information (e.g. revenues, expenditures) to ensure all operations are within budget
Demonstrated experience in effectively scoping projects (ie: accurately predicting how many hours a task is going to take, accurately estimating expenses)
Proven work experience assembling and overseeing a diversely skilled team of communication, marketing and graphic design professionals
Authorized to work in the United States

About You

You want to make the world a better place for kids. You’re a senior-level professional. You value work-life integration and lead with a People First approach. You’re excited to join a constellation of teammates who share your same passion for kids, high-quality work and smart strategies.

You truly enjoy creating something from nothing. Forthright is still young at just 4 years old, and this position is our first-ever one dedicated to operations. You are a self-starter who thrives on inventing processes and procedures for the very first time.
You’ve got impeccably high standards for yourself. You have an incredible attention to detail and intolerance for errors. Mistakes happen, of course, but you fail gracefully and with humor.
You are a helper at heart. You know an operations role is a service role, and you enjoy making others’ lives easier. You have great customer service skills and are responsive and prompt.
You’re a team player. You have the humility and perspective to believe that every task you do – from booking hotels to taking notes in a meeting – is valuable and makes the company run smoothly.
Efficiency is your favorite. You love finding ways to streamline a process, and nothing brings you joy like a well-functioning system. You ensure your meetings start on time and end on time and you get what you need to move forward.
You love data and can research with the best of them. You never make a recommendation without reasons, and you love using research to back up your ideas. If you don’t already know how to do something, you have the resources and confidence to know you can figure it out, no matter what.
You are ethical and truthful. Doing the right thing, even when it may be the harder path, is in your blood. You uphold the highest of ethical standards in everything you do.
You are flexible in your approach. You expect things will change and priorities will shift. You respond positively and share workable solutions for any opportunities that present themselves.
You commit to maintaining an environment where everyone is valued. You proactively sustain a culture where all teammates, consultants, clients, partners and friends know they are valued, regardless of gender identity, race, color, sexual orientation, language, national origin, religion, disability or age.
You lead with empathy. You’re a conscious leader who understands that healthy, happy teammates create great work for clients. You prioritize your team’s well-being above all else and are always on your team’s side.
Feedback is your favorite. You know some discussions are hard, but having a hard discussion is much better than not having one at all. You deliver and expect open, candid and respectful feedback, all day, every day.
You identify with our mission. You have a love of kids and a dedication to making them successful.

Location

All positions at Forthright are permanently 100% remote, and employees can live anywhere in the United States. You should be able to travel for in-person client meetings as needed (roughly 5% of the time). Applicants must have the availability and willingness to work during Forthright’s business hours (8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. EST).

Work Environment:

The incumbent in this position will work closely with all team members within the firm as well as external clients and vendors.
Environment requires both independent and collaborative decision-making on issues that affect the entire firm.
The environment requires flexibility and the ability to handle many projects and deadlines simultaneously.
Discretion and sensitivity to confidential information is of utmost importance.

Physical Demands:

Ability to operate computers and other office equipment.
Ability to travel to external meetings and/or conferences.
Ability to remain in a stationary position for more than one hour at a time.