Job description

Vida Verde Chief Operations Officer
Job Posting

as of 9.5.22

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is the right-hand to our Executive Director. With your experience and skills, you’ll help lead our team of high-performing, passionate individuals to be efficient, productive, and effective. The ideal candidate is from the
Vida Verde community or has extensive experience in the nonprofit sector, perhaps having worked their way up to an executive role. Experience in education and/or in the outdoor space is a bonus. We are looking for a unique mix of operations and Teams/HR management expertise, plus a commitment to the mission, values, and established procedures and systems of this social justice organization. We have our eyes open for a COO who has strong leadership skills and the ability to approach their role with a creative point of view.

MISSION STATEMENT: Vida Verde is a nonprofit that promotes educational equity by providing free, overnight, environmental learning experiences for students who don’t otherwise get the opportunity.

Objectives of this role

● Collaborate with the Co-Founders (Executive Director & Director of Facilities and Capital Projects) in driving organizational vision and operational strategy
● Translate strategy into actionable steps for growth, implementing organization-wide goal setting, performance management, and annual operations planning
● Oversee nonprofit operations and employee support, building a highly inclusive culture that ensures team members can thrive and organizational outcomes are met
● HR: Ensure effective recruiting, onboarding, professional development, performance management, and retention
● Help create or revise company policies as needed and adhere to governmental business requirements, ensuring compliance and taking action when necessary

Responsibilities

● Build and maintain trusting relationships with Co-Founders (ED & DFC), and co-lead, hand in hand with them.
● Report to & consult with the ED, DFC weekly
● Build and maintain trusting relationships with entire staff team, as well as with key d onors, community members, school partners and peer organizations.
● Analyze internal operations and identify areas for operational enhancement, including systems and use of technology for organizational efficiency
● Directly oversee operations, HR, and partner with ED to ensure that department heads are meeting/adhering to their budget goals
● Provide ongoing whole-staff training on all things operational or HR-related if/when needed
● Monitor capital investments per policy, employee pay rates & benefits disbursements
● Monitor employee engagement, and company DEIJ with tracking software and propose/lead PD
& meetings to improve based on data.

Required skills and qualifications

● Five or more years of experience in nonprofit/business leadership positions
● High-functioning professional with personal integrity
● Enjoyment and facility working with team dynamics, team health, personnel management
● Ability to diagnose problems quickly and foresee potential issues
● Creative problem solver, utilizing past experience and sector references
● Comfortable with both group presentations and individual conversations

Preferred skills and qualifications

● Bilingual
● Experience with fundraising, nonprofits, education work, outdoor/environmental work,
● People of color, women and individuals from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply

Compensation

● Annual salary $90k-$102k dependent on experience.
● Eligible for retirement benefits (Vida Verde matches up to 5% of your salary) after nine months of employment. V.V.’s contributions are applied retroactively upon completion of 9 months of work, and are vested over a five-year period. Vida Verde doubles the matching 2:1 after 5 years.
● Eligible for coverage by the organization’s medical, dental, and vision insurance plans. V.V. contributes $200 monthly to a plan of your choosing from several available.
● Paid sick leave and paid time off.
● Secluded rural setting. Use of sites’ facilities: hot tub, trail, creek, etc.
● Pro Deals (deep discounts on products from: Smartwool, Patagonia, Chaco, and others.)

Site: Vida Verde’s farm and office main site are located at 3540 La Honda Road, San Gregorio, CA
94074. This is a 25-acre property along San Gregorio Creek, 1 hour from San Francisco, 45 minutes from Santa Cruz, and 5 minutes from the coast. The nearest town is Half Moon Bay, which is 15 miles away.

Application Procedure: Send Letter of Interest, Resume, 3 References and any other materials you wish by EMAIL ONLY to: Laura Sears at Laura(at)Vveducation.org, Shawn Sears at shawn(at)Vveducation.org, and Paula Alves at paula(at)Vveducation.org.

Org website: www.vveducation.org

Position Open until filled.

“Priority” application due date: 11.30.22

*Vida Verde is committed to building a staff that is reflective of the incredible diversity of our communities and of the students we serve. Because we are committed to increasing the diversity of our workplace, people of color, women and individuals from diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Vida Verde is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (includes religious beliefs, observance or practice, including religious dress), sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, transgender status, pregnancy, childbirth or related condition (including breastfeeding), marital status, national origin, veteran status, ancestry, age, medical condition, genetic characteristics, family care status, registered domestic partner status, or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable laws. All applicants will be evaluated and job offers made based on experience and merit.

Values of Vida Verde

Organization Mission
Vida Verde is a nonprofit that promotes educational equity by providing free, overnight environmental learning experiences for students who don’t otherwise get the opportunity.

We Value
The Mission First
We are a mission-centric organization. We make every decision with the kids' benefit and the mission as our guide. We specifically tailor the program to meet the unique needs of the kids we serve, with deep respect for students and their communities.

Persistent Improvement and Our Best Practices
We are driven to continually improve and reach the highest standards across the organization for the benefit of the kids we serve. From program quality to healthy communication, from strategic goal setting to prioritization: we utilize simple, documented systems. We are detail-oriented, reflective, and strive to serve as a model. We balance our best practices and lessons from our history with innovation and inspiration for improvement.

The Environment and Natural Resources
We practice responsible and long-term thinking regarding land stewardship, facility management, building, and design.
Using resources wisely, we value the earth’s resources over convenience and cost, and share that value with the greater community.

Relationships and Community
People are at the heart of this work. We strive to create long-lasting relationships with our staff, supporters, students, and teachers. We believe that by honoring and including diverse perspectives, our organization is stronger and more sustainable. We believe in love, not hate. We help different people see each other and all that we share in common, as well as what we can learn from each other.

Making It Happen
We overcome outrageous obstacles and successfully achieve ambitious goals by using a combination of resourcefulness, a positive mindset, and our team’s diverse set of skills and experiences, without compromising our work/life balance and well-being. We know that beliefs lead to actions, which lead to results. We "make it happen" even when circumstances would lead most to think progress impossible.

JEDI STATEMENT

We acknowledge that: Everything is not okay.

We live in a world and society with personal, structural, and institutional injustice based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other differences. This is affecting the lives of the Vida Verde students and the Vida Verde community in myriad profound ways.

We see our role as:

We have a deep commitment to examining, understanding, and working intentionally, every day, and for the long run to do our small part in dismantling the pieces of institutional injustice that we are able to. Vida Verde is one of the few outdoor education organizations that is focused on educational equity, and is dedicated to engaging Bay

Area youth from low income families and communities who do not have free access to outdoor education experiences. Even though equity is a cornerstone of Vida Verde’s mission, intentionally and actively engaging in

Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) work more holistically will only continue to support these young people in accessing quality culturally relevant and inclusive nature education experiences that translate to positive outcomes in their traditional classrooms.

Why?

- Culturally relevant outdoor programs better engages students, and supports them in developing necessary critical thinking skills, improving their health and wellness, and more meaningfully connecting them to the land and food, and often fostering a passion and interest in the outdoors.

- The future of the environment is tethered to connecting the diverse youth of today to the outdoors.

- Research shows diversity in staff, an inclusive workplace culture, and culturally responsive practices lead to both better experiences and outcomes for students, and better attraction and retention of talented staff.

- Vida Verde aspires to serve as a blueprint/model for other values-aligned organizations (especially outdoor education organizations) who are looking for a examplenorth star in JEDI work.

Our vision:

We envision a future where all people have access to quality experiences in the outdoors, which have the power to profoundly impact hearts, minds and bodies.

Our commitments:

- To steadfastly work toward our mission to promote educational equity by providing culturally relevant, free, overnight, environmental learning experiences for students who don’t otherwise get the opportunity.

- Through culturally relevant programming, work to ensure Vida Verde students view nature as a place FOR them; a place they have a fundamental right to access, and a place that may influence them as leaders to vote, act and spend with the environment in mind.

- To build and grow a more racially diverse staff and board, and foster an inclusive culture within Vida Verde where all staff, donors and volunteers feel they are valued and belong.

- To serve as a blueprint/model for other values-aligned organizations (especially outdoor education organizations) who are looking for an example in JEDI work.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $90,000.00 - $102,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Employee discount
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Professional development assistance
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• 8 hour shift

Ability to commute/relocate:

• San Gregorio, CA 94074: Reliably commute or planning to relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person

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