Director Of Finance And Operations

Hiring: Operations Director

Organization: The Guelph Outdoor School

Location: primarily virtual / remote work, and the ideal candidate is embedded in Guelph community

About GOS

Founded in 2012, The Guelph Outdoor School (GOS) leads programs for youth, adults, and families, serving thousands in the Guelph area annually. Central to all of our programs is a unique organizational philosophy that prioritizes building connections and relationships in outdoor spaces. GOS nurtures the development and empowerment of youth by fostering reciprocity with nature, cultivating regenerative practices, and uplifting equity and environmental justice. Our programs are a non-clinical mental health intervention in a drastically changing world. Our programs are offered on a barrier-free sliding scale.

GOS’s current program priorities include:

Supporting Guelph and Area Youth and Families - Summer and Year-round Programs: GOS has offered year-round programs and summer camps since its founding in 2012. We provide youth ages 4-17 opportunities to cultivate their sense of agency and belonging through interactive, sensory-based team building experiences that connect them with nature, inspiring leaders, and one another.

Supporting Students in Schools: Since 2012 GOS has supported students and teachers in schools since 2012 through field trips, our Outdoor Toolbox program and more recently In 2022 through our Raccoons program. This work helps students connect with the natural world at their doorsteps and has provided social and emotional support to Upper Grand/Wellington Catholic District school students by cultivating consistent mentoring relationships and offering experiential and sensory based programming on the playground and in the woods we steward. This work also supports teachers in getting their classes outdoors.

Community Engagement Partnerships: GOS is committed to engaging in collaboration with local partners and organizations with aligned vision and values. We believe in the continued growth of regenerative practices and structures that support joy, wellbeing, and connection to place; for our communities require a sustained and shared effort among community and organizational leaders.

As the organization supports growth across its program areas, GOS continues to more fully center justice, access, representation and equity in our approach and endeavors and a strong commitment to mutual aid.

At GOS, our dynamic staff team of 40 are passionate about our mission and work. We are taking our beginning steps towards flattening the organization to invite deeper staff collaboration in a participative leadership framework to uphold the organization’s vision and mission.

The Director of Operations plays a lead role in cultivating organizational culture and internal and external collaboration. In GOS’s emerging participative leadership model, the Director of Operations works in close partnership with an Admin team to design and implement strategic direction, policy and practice, guided by the cohort of full and part-time staff and confirmed by the Board of Directors. The Director of Operations will play a central role in setting and supporting the organization’s strategic vision while contributing to the cultivation of an annual budget of $1.2m and a team of 40 staff. GOS is currently a non-profit organization applying for Charitable status.

Lived experience is equally valuable to academic and professional experience. Guelph Outdoor School welcomes and strongly encourages people from marginalized communities and identities to apply. This includes Black, Indigenous and people of colour.

Term

Full-time position (40 hrs/week) Monday to Friday, with flex time to accommodate evening board meetings.

Remote / work from home, GOS currently does not have an office.

Begins Monday July 24, 2023. Remote / work from home

Compensation

$53,000 - $58,000 annually (depending on experience)

Overview

This role is responsible for oversight & delivery of all finance, office and administrative operations for GOS. Creates and maintains a welcome and supportive back office home base for both families and staff. This role also works collaboratively with our Program Director, Human Resources Support, Managing Director, Outreach Coordinator (and other admin team members) as we work to flatten our organization towards a shared leadership model to oversee all organizational operations (policies and procedures) and evolution.

Roles and Responsibilities

Manage overall VHI operations

Support Directors with administrative & operational support including:

• Creation of calendar of events - when to open/close each trimester, when to open more spaces, have upcoming programs ready to launch
• Co-ordinates & implements family requests related to account changes, refunds, credits, general inquiries, subsidy support via phone, email
• Ensuring correct staff are listed in Amilia & Activity Messenger for communications leads & working teams
• Ensure staff have access to their programs via Amila app and/or activity messenger
• Streamlining filing and information sharing through Google docs
• Reviewing & re-balancing program registration allocations for Mutual Aid/Sliding Scale and adjusting weekly
• Updates forms as needed to align with policies administrates Google Workspace for email & drive creation & maintenance
• Welcome emails & reminder notes throughout sessions
• Reviewing Oaks & Acorns registrations to ensure all family members are registered. Sending follow up emails and assisting with registration as needed.
• Administrates access to Activity Messenger
• Overseeing the administrative end of Amilia. Creating new programs in Amilia, reviewing programs for accuracy, adjusting pricing, staffing, dates, Installment plans etc..
• Administrates access to Slack
• Maintaining all supporting accounts (Amilia, Activity Messenger, Nationbuilder, Google Workplace etc..), tracking passwords & log in details
• Oversees & administrates attendance of all GOS programs
• Setting up installment payment plans & payment sources
• Ensures website domains are current & renewed annually
• Program change notifications to families
• Works with Insurer annually to renew term, identify changes required. Requests & distributes additional insured and certificates of insurance as needed

Manage Overall Finances:

(with support from a part-time Business Operations Administrator)

• Oversees & administrates overall financial systems & internal controls (employee reimbursements, vacation/stat holiday pay etc..)
• Bookkeeping functions daily, weekly, monthly, annually - *** may need further support once Charitable Status is attained
• Monthly journal adjustments against Amilia program registrations in Quickbooks
• Prepare financials for accountant and participate in audit as needed
• Oversees Accounts payable
• Conducts all government remittances (SD & HST) - reviews reporting requirements regularly to adjust payments as needed
• Oversees & Implements all invoicing for GOS families
• Monthly Credit Card reconciliations - ensuring all accompanying receipts are filed
• Monthly bank reconciliations - ensuring all accompanying receipts are filed
• Oversight on fundraising including grant writing/tracking/reporting
• All financial reports & analysis - including review & implementation of pricing changes for all programs
• Budget creation & management
• Coordinate with funding sources for required financial documents & reporting to receive funding
• Monitor & maintain cash-flow - identifying risks as needed
• Oversees Accounts receivables
• Bank deposits & transfers

Manage Payroll:

• Processing of payroll through quickbooks
• Process ROE’s for terminated/quit staff - file & notify as needed
• Process annual requirements such as T4’s
• Bi-Weekly payroll
• Track & Maintain sick day usage & payout accordingly
• Maintenance of health spending accounts - addition & deletion of staff, ensuring funds are available, individual balance reviews

Vision-Forward Thinking:

• Support a Strategic Planning Process
• Support the clear articulation of organizational Mission, Vision, Values
• Review and revise Wage Ladder
• Focus on deepening Equity within the organization
• Partner in Program Development, designing with mutual aid commitments
• Support Managing Director with Board Development and Engagement

Qualifications

• Proven experience with successful strategic planning and visioning within nonprofits
• Ability to support a team of dynamic leaders toward increased capacity in strategic decision making and appropriate risk-taking
• Passionate understanding of the importance of supporting people and communities to connect with outdoor spaces as part of an environmental justice lens
• 5+ years in successful fundraising and donor/grantor cultivation
• Proven competency in financial planning and reporting
• Strong understanding of fiscal and legal aspects and responsibilities of a non-profit organization
• Excellent communication and relationship building skills with various stakeholders, ie: participant families, community partners, donors and grantors, and the broader community
• Experience with organizational leadership in a shared, participative, or distributive leadership model
• Strong understanding and commitment to environmental justice, mutual aid
• Strong understanding and experience using CRM systems and online platforms
• Commitment to Justice, Access, Diversity, and Equity, while welcoming those with identities historically excluded from outdoor & nature immersion programs, including as Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, 2SLGBTQIA+, women and girls

*** Ideal candidate is embedded in the Guelph community

Timeline & How To Apply:

Apply with this form.

Interviews will be scheduled as responses come in.

Deadline for applying is Friday, July 14, 2023.