Chief Operating & Financial Officer

Project Evident•Boston, MA

8d•Hybrid

About The Position

Project Evident (PE) is seeking a Chief Operating and Financial Officer (COFO) to ensure the organization has the necessary infrastructure to support its ambitious programmatic plans. This role, reporting to the CEO, oversees finance, operations, HR, and technology, serving as a core leader on the executive team. The COFO will manage these functions to allow the CEO to focus on external partnerships, funding, and strategic growth. The position involves owning the finance, operations, HR, and technology infrastructure, ensuring integration of administrative functions, and acting as a trusted advisor to the CEO and executive team. Key responsibilities include defining processes, setting clear expectations, and ensuring accountability for enterprise-wide policies. The COFO will also serve as the chief financial steward, guiding budgeting, forecasting, and reserve planning for a $12.6M operating budget, overseeing audits and tax filings, and ensuring rigorous governance and reporting for new work. Additionally, the COFO will build and maintain the HR and resource allocation infrastructure to meet client-facing needs, evolve the resource allocation system to show staffing capacity, bring outsourced HR and administrative functions in-house, and own policies and systems for scaling. The role includes directing the Enterprise Leadership Team to ensure infrastructure keeps pace with strategic priorities and preparing accurate reporting for the Board of Directors. The COFO is expected to operate in a manner that reflects PE’s core values (SWAP: Smart, Warm, Approachable, Productive) and fosters a culture of belonging and accountability.

Requirements

Significant leadership experience in a VP or Chief role spanning operations/HR, technology, and finance, in a fast-moving social enterprise.
Skill and comfort across three core areas (operations/HR, technology, finance) and the ability to ensure integrated operations with financial statements and projections.
Experience at organizations experiencing rapid growth and change is a must.
Direct experience both standing up systems in a growing organization and sustaining them over time.
Skilled at change management and holding people accountable.
Experience having difficult conversations with staff, including on performance matters, and knowing how to handle them well.
Experienced in a project-based, client-facing organization.
Understanding of how talent, technology, and finance intersect when delivering work against client and funder engagements.
Ability to build workflows and allocate talent across both internal staff and outside experts and partners.
Comfortable in an organization where needs surface quickly and evolve in real time.
Skilled at keeping multiple initiatives moving at once so nothing falls through the cracks.
Ability to move well between long-term planning and immediate, hands-on problem-solving.
Genuinely comfortable with technology, including AI.
Experience through a major technology transition or system replacement before, such as a build, a retirement, or a replacement, and the change management that comes with it.
Well-versed in commonly used business systems.
Direct, trustworthy communicator with high emotional intelligence.
Ability to share the full picture, raise concerns before they become problems, and follow through consistently.
Ability to read people and situations well, and know when to push, when to listen, and when to step back.
Energized about Project Evident's mission and growth trajectory.
Belief in the power of evidence to improve outcomes for practitioners and the communities they serve.
See oneself in PE's SWAP values and want to help lead a culture built on belonging and accountability.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a comparable client-serving or project-based organization e.g., a nonprofit consultancy, social enterprise, B Corp, or EdTech organization
Direct experience with grants management, re-granting, or reporting across a multi-funder portfolio
Familiarity with Xero, Rippling, Bill.com, Gusto, Salesforce, Claude, and/or comparable systems

Responsibilities

Serve as the organization's senior-most administrative leader and key member of the executive team.
Own the finance, operations, human resources, and technology infrastructure, ensure all administrative functions are well integrated, and be a high-trust partner and advisor to the CEO, the Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, and the executive team.
Directly manage the operations, human resources, technology, and finance teams.
Bring clarity and consistency to ensure operational excellence.
Define processes, set clear expectations, and train and hold people accountable to enterprise-wide policies and procedures across management practices, closing gaps around core processes like performance reviews and OKR management so ownership and timelines are always clear and accountability is maintained.
Function as chief financial steward for the organization.
In close partnership with the Director of Finance & Controller, guide budgeting, forecasting, and reserve planning across a roughly $12.6M and rapidly expanding operating budget; provide strong oversight of the annual audit and all tax filings; and ensure new work is governed and reported with rigor.
Build and maintain the allocation, workflow, and HR infrastructure to meet fast-growing, client-facing needs.
Evolve PE's resource allocation system so program leaders can see staffing capacity across both internal staff and the organization's technical assistance partner pool; bring outsourced HR and core administrative functions in-house; own the policies and systems that keep the organization running well as it scales.
Direct PE's Enterprise Leadership Team, which is a sub-group of the executive team, focused on enterprise priorities to ensure that processes and infrastructure are on pace with strategic priorities.
Ensure accurate reporting for the Board of Directors to ensure sound governance.
Prepare and deliver finance, operations, and technology reporting to the Board and its Audit Committee, manage the audit committee of the Board, and serve as a steady, credible presence with Board members on operational matters.
Operate in a manner that reflects PE’s core values and fosters a positive culture.
Lead from a place that models our SWAP values — Smart, Warm, Approachable, and Productive — and a culture of belonging and accountability.