Chief Operating Officer

Location: Washington, D.C. (preferred) or remote with regular D.C. travel, ability to be available East Coast hours is a must

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Status: Full-time

Compensation: $180k-270k, depending on experience and other factors, plus competitive benefits

About the Recoding America Fund

The Recoding America Fund (RAF) is a new, bipartisan $120-million philanthropic fund to strengthen America by building the federal and state governments we need to compete globally and serve citizens effectively. RAF aims to restore the core capabilities of government and move to a new operating model—the right people, doing the right work, with purpose-fit systems and test-and-learn frameworks—so it can reliably deliver on its goals. The Fund seeks to help accelerate the growth and development of an ideologically diverse field of state capacity organizations, connect them to each other, fill in the gaps, and help them set ambitious common goals to drive transformational change across all levels of government in this time of unprecedented disruption. Change is coming to public institutions, and now is the time to shape that change in the public interest. That ambitious task cannot be the work of just one party or faction.

The Opportunity: Not your typical COO role

We’re looking for a COO, reporting directly to the CEO and serving as a key strategic partner to the CEO, to build the operational platform that will enable RAF to be a high-performing organization and to enable RAF to be an exceptional field catalyst. The COO will ensure that RAF is “walking the walk” of the operating model we aspire for our government partners to embrace – having the right people, in the right roles, supported by purpose-fit systems (including, importantly, ensuring we’re a highly AI-enabled organization), focused on outcomes, and nimbly adapting as we test and learn. 

Our COO will be the architect of RAF’s operational backbone across our hybrid 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organization—designing and building from systems, processes, and culture that allow a hybrid philanthropic and advocacy organization to run effectively and scale impact fast. 

Because this is a scrappy early-stage start-up, the COO will need to roll their sleeves up (just like the other RAF staff at all levels) and can build a small operations team as they go. 

Key Responsibilities

Operating Core

• Design and launch systems that power RAF’s work—from people operations, grantmaking operations, finance (in partnership with our fractional CFO), compliance (in partnership with our fractional GC), and technology.
• Stand up the operational architecture for both our 501(c)(3) and soon-to-launch 501(c)(4), ensuring alignment, compliance, and creative use of each entity’s capabilities.
• Oversee key operational vendors and internal workflows, balancing speed, integrity, and scalability.

People Operations

• Build the people function from the ground-up to ensure RAF is able to get the right talent in the right roles, in the right places, quickly
• Build lightweight, tech-enabled, and values-aligned people operations systems 

Grantmaking, Contracting, and Compliance

• Create nimble, low-burden processes for managing grants and contracts to support our program partners’ work
• Oversee organizational compliance, including nonprofit and lobbying regulations, audits, and board reporting, in collaboration with the fractional CFO and GC

Technology

• Leverage modern technology to make the organization as productive and insight-driven as possible—implementing best-in-class tools for collaboration, grants management, and data security.
• Champion automation and smart systems to ensure staff maximize time on impact.
• Put in place and oversee a fractional or vendor IT/systems administration service to ensure the organization has the IT administration, hardware, ongoing helpdesk support we need to enable staff to focus on impact.
• In partnership with other colleagues and in consultation with ecosystem partners, develop and test ideas for using technology to enable more effective ecosystem engagement and learning.

Strategic Partnership and Leadership

• Serve as a close thought partner to the CEO, ensuring operational and organizational decisions advance the fund’s broader mission, including ecosystem development.
• Build and oversee a small, high-leverage operations team as the organization grows.

Ideal Candidate Profile

This role is for you if you are: 

• A builder and operator. You’ve built or rebuilt systems, teams, or organizations before—ideally in early-stage and/or high-growth contexts in a mission-driven context or other start-up. If you’re a maintainer, not a builder, and/or if your experience is in leading large operations functions in large well-established organizations, you may not be a good fit.
• Comfortable with complexity. You’ve worked across multiple entity types (c3/c4 or analogous structures) or in environments that combine philanthropy, advocacy, and program delivery.
• Entrepreneurial and resourceful. You’re energized by ambiguity, thrive on problem-solving, and get things done with limited resources. You come to others with solutions or recommendations.
• Tech-forward. You see digital infrastructure as essential to enabling operational excellence. You are well-versed in platforms to enable effective functions across all core operational domains. You love a good AirTable. You may not be AI native, but you use AI-enabled tools every day and are constantly trying to learn how best to use them to enable you to work more effectively and efficiently.
• Mission-driven. You care deeply about improving how government works and are eager to help build a movement that can make it happen.
• Collaborative and low-ego. You know how to lead through influence, build trust across teams, and act as a force multiplier for organizations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of operations experience, ideally in start-up, nonprofit, or hybrid philanthropic settings
• Highly entrepreneurial, proactive, “get stuff done” operating model
• Experience working across both 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) entities preferred. 
• Demonstrated ability to build systems, teams, and culture from the ground up.
• Proven judgment in balancing speed, risk, and compliance.
• Track record of managing cross-functional projects, budgets, and vendors.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills
• Track record as a trusted advisor and partner to other senior executives
• Willingness and ability to engage constructively and with curiosity with people and organizations that have different ideological perspectives and ideas than you, including ones with which you may disagree, even strongly
• Willingness and flexibility to be available outside of core work hours as a senior executive in a fast-moving, mission-driven start-up

We encourage anyone who is interested in this role to apply, regardless of whether you feel you meet 100% of the qualifications. The top candidates will bring their own unique perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds from a variety of industries/sectors along with many but not necessarily all the qualifications listed above. We especially encourage candidates who feel they would bring ideological diversity to the team and ecosystem to apply. 

Next Steps and Start Date

We’re building and need you fast. We will run a rigorous candidate assessment process between Dec 1 and Dec 19, targeting making a decision by Dec 19 and the offeree starting in first half of Jan. That timeline may slip somewhat, but we will move fast and, all things equal, we will choose a candidate who can start faster.