Operations Manager
Our Work
We are an architecture and real estate development social enterprise creating spaces that embody justice, healing, and self-determination. By designing with communities most impacted by incarceration and disinvestment, we build infrastructure that supports community ownership, redistributes power, and lays the foundation for a world rooted in care, not punishment.
To achieve this mission our team is composed of architects, designers, real estate developers and community members working together to create solutionary spaces and places that bring dignity, well-being and care to the communities we serve.
The Role
Operations Manager · Oakland, CA — Hybrid (3+ days on-site) · $100,000 – $130,000 · Reports to COO/CFO · Supervises admin contractors and vendors
DJDS is a small, highly intentional social enterprise working across architecture, real estate development, and community engagement. The work is complex and how we operate internally is a big part of whether we’re able to do it effectively. The Operations Manager plays a central role in that.
We have real operational gaps. In your first few months, you'll get our policies and procedures into shape, clean up and reorganize our Google Drive, improve how we onboard and offboard people, and tighten up AR/AP and invoicing. Beyond those projects, the day-to-day is equally varied. On a. On any given day you might process an invoice, draft an employment agreement, and redesign a broken process. To do this job successfully, you'll know what needs to happen now, what can wait, and how to keep track of all of it.
If you’ve worked in a startup or similarly dynamic environment, this will feel familiar. Priorities shift, systems evolve, and there’s real opportunity to shape how things operate. We're looking for someone who can create order without being rigid about it, make good calls with imperfect information, and follow through consistently. This role reports to the COO/CFO, but the right person won’t need constant oversight to do it well.
Who You Are
- You’ve worked in fast-moving environments where the role wasn’t fully defined, and you figured things out as you went.
- You can handle a long, shifting list of priorities. When multiple things hit at once, you triage, make decisions, and keep people in the loop.
- You take ownership—not just of assigned work, but of gaps you notice that no one else has picked up.
- You build processes that people actually use, and you document them so they don’t live only in your head.
- You’re direct, low-ego, and dependable. People trust you with sensitive information and know you’ll follow through.
- You don’t get stuck when things are unclear. You ask good questions, make reasonable calls with the information you have, and keep things moving.
- You use AI tools as part of how you work—whether that’s speeding things up, reducing manual work, or helping you think through a problem.
- You’re motivated by being part of a team doing work that matters—you want your day-to-day effort to contribute to something larger than just keeping the lights on.
What You’ll Do
Some parts of this role are straightforward—keeping financial systems clean, processing updates, staying on top of compliance. A significant part is not. You’ll also be identifying what’s not working, building something better, and seeing it through.
Financial Operations
- Support day-to-day finance workflows, including AP/AR, invoicing coordination with the Design Studio team, and monthly close support
- Maintain and improve systems across Bill.com, Divvy, and QuickBooks
- Monitor spend, flag inconsistencies, and keep leadership informed without needing to be asked
People Operations
- Own administration of Gusto and support the full employee lifecycle—onboarding, offboarding, benefits, payroll updates, and compliance tracking
- Keep employee records, org charts, and PTO tracking accurate and up to date
- Coordinate with IT to ensure smooth onboarding/offboarding from a systems and access perspective
Systems + Infrastructure
- Serve as the internal owner of core platforms (Google Workspace, Harvest, Bill.com, Divvy, QuickBooks, Gusto)
- Create and refine processes that are clear, lightweight, and actually adopted by the team
Compliance + Vendor Management
- Track and manage business registrations, renewals, insurance, and key compliance deadlines
- Manage external vendors (including IT), ensuring work is completed as expected and relationships stay on track
Team Operations + Coordination
- Run the weekly all-staff meeting and support internal communication rhythms
- Help coordinate team events, gatherings, and moments of recognition
Who We’re Looking For
We don’t expect someone to check every box. If this role feels aligned with your experience and how you like to work, we’d encourage you to apply.
What You Bring
- 3–5+ years of experience operating across multiple functions in a fast-moving environment—startup, high-growth organization, or similarly fast-paced and evolving environment
- Experience working without a clear roadmap
- Strong organization and a reliable way of managing competing priorities; you don’t let things quietly fall through the cracks
- Proficient in using AI tools in your day-to-day work; you’re thoughtful about where they add value and comfortable integrating them into operational workflows
- Strong systems thinking—you’re quick to learn new tools and naturally look for ways to improve how things work
- High attention to detail, paired with good judgment about where to focus
- A track record of reliability—you follow through, communicate clearly, and don’t let things quietly fall through the cracks
What We’d Love to See
- Experience in a startup or growing organization where you had to build while operating
- Familiarity with tools like Bill.com, Divvy, QuickBooks, Harvest, and Google Workspace
- Exposure to financial workflows (AP/AR, bookkeeping, or close support)
- Exposure to HR systems (Gusto or similar) and parts of the employee lifecycle
- Experience in mission-driven or social impact work
- A genuine connection to DJDS’s mission and the communities we work with
Benefits
- DJDS covers 100% of medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their children under age 26, with optional coverage for domestic partners, long-term disability, and life insurance
- Paid time off includes vacation (tiered by tenure), sick leave, bereavement, jury duty, and 16 total holidays (12 standard plus 4 flexible/personal days)
- Up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave supported by state and DJDS supplemental pay
- Sabbatical eligibility after 7 years of service, including 12 weeks paid leave and reduced-load continuation
How to Apply
We’d love to hear from you. Please submit a resume and, if you’d like, a brief cover letter sharing why this role and DJDS’s mission resonate with you. We’re reviewing applications on a rolling basis.
Ready to Apply?
If this role resonates with you, we encourage you to apply—even if your experience doesn’t match every requirement. We value curiosity, lived experience, and a deep commitment to community.
We’re building a team that reflects the diversity of the communities we serve, and we’re excited to learn more about what you bring to the work.
Apply for this job
*
indicates a required field