Operations Manager at the Herbert Simon Family Foundation
About The Position
The Operations Manager at the Herbert Simon Family Foundation (HSFF) is the internal steward of governance processes, stakeholder coordination, and operational clarity. The role connects the Executive Director, Board, staff, family members, and external advisors by tracking priorities and ensuring work moves forward with clarity, discretion, and follow-through. The position owns process and execution, while strategic, financial, philanthropic, and family-level decisions remain with the Executive Director, Board, and appropriate stakeholders. The Operations Manager manages grantmaking workflows, coordinates Board and family communications and meetings, supports staff coordination and Foundation-hosted events, and identifies practical improvements to systems and processes. The role also maintains clear documentation and boundaries across Foundation operations, family-office activities, and related entities. HSFF focuses its grantmaking on Arts & Culture, Basic Needs, Environment & Climate, Equity & Justice, and Jewish Causes.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
- At least 5 years of experience in a foundation, nonprofit, family office, project management, governance, operations, or a similarly complex coordination environment.
- Demonstrated project-management and stakeholder-coordination experience.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office/365, Salesforce or a similar CRM, and project management software; HSFF uses Asana.
- Ability to learn new systems quickly, including SmartSimple, HSFF’s grants management platform.
- Exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and comfort with tracking systems, documentation, and data.
- Ability to work independently, think critically, and solve problems without constant direction or recognition.
- High discretion and comfort handling confidential, sensitive information.
- Professional judgment, including knowing when to act independently, present options, or defer a decision to someone else.
- Ability to listen closely, synthesize complex information, and translate it into clear next steps.
- Comfort navigating multiple constituencies, personalities, and priorities.
- Ability to balance precision and quality with the practical need to keep work moving.
Nice To Haves
- Familiarity with nonprofit governance, family systems, or philanthropy.
Responsibilities
- Manage HSFF’s general inquiry inbox for unsolicited outreach to the Foundation.
- Maintain grant inquiry lists and communicate grant-round timelines and processes to organizations.
- Coordinate preparation of grant summaries and write-ups for Board packets.
- Coordinate with CICF operations staff on online grant application and grants management workflows.
- Coordinate payment processing for competitive grant rounds, discretionary grants, and donor-advised funds with CICF operations staff.
- Coordinate the creation and dissemination of grant award information with CICF operations staff.
- Design and maintain the Board meeting cadence, agendas, materials, and decision flow in partnership with Foundation leadership.
- Coordinate information and follow-up among the Executive Director, Board members, family members, internal staff, and advisory partners.
- Clarify who needs what information, when, and in what format, while avoiding unnecessary complexity or information overload.
- Support family learning, next-generation engagement, and cross-functional working sessions through thoughtful preparation and discretion.
- Support scheduling and logistics for organization-wide meetings and outings.
- Support coordination and logistics for events and convenings hosted by HSFF.
- Identify workflow friction, duplication, and gaps, and recommend practical improvements.
- Maintain clean boundaries and documentation across Foundation operations, family-office activities, and related entities.
- Translate complex discussions, advisor guidance, and decisions into clear actions, owners, and timelines.
- Help prevent decisions in one area from unintentionally creating confusion or friction in another.
Benefits
- Employer-provided health coverage
- Employer-provided dental coverage
- Employer-provided vision coverage
- 7% employer 403(b) retirement contribution
- Paid time off
- Paid holidays, including MLK Day and Juneteenth
- Paid sabbatical program
- Annual one-week holiday closure
- Potential annual performance bonus
- Hybrid work flexibility on Mondays and Fridays
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
