Description
*** PLEASE DO NOT APPLY VIA CNP; SEE DESCRIPTION***
Job Summary
Job Title: Operations Manager
Reports to: Executive Director
Department: Administration/Finance
Salary: $80,000-90,000 annually
Location: Remote-friendly; Anywhere in Southern California
Position Type: Full Time
FLSA Status (Exempt/Non-Exempt): Exempt
Anticipated Start Date: January 2026
The Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law (The Center) seeks an experienced Operations Manager to create, improve, and maintain core organizational systems across finance, technology, and day-to-day office operations. This role carries out essential operational areas, including accounting, payroll processing, and internal policy creation, with a focus on collaboration and nimbleness.
Who We Are
The Center is a California State Bar-funded legal support center that provides training and technical support to direct legal service providers, addresses systemic injustice identified by those providers, and advances and protects the civil, constitutional, and human rights of immigrants, refugees, children, and marginalized communities. The Center has a legacy of impact litigation that has protected hundreds of thousands of immigrants, children, and detained people.
Responsibilities
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Operations Manager will carry out various essential back-end functions, working independently on well-defined responsibilities while also collaborating on cross-functional projects that require thoughtful coordination. The position does not include any direct reports, and each of the responsibilities detailed below requires active and direct work by the Operations Manager.
The person in this role will help steward operational infrastructure, manage relationships with external vendors, and bring a focus on continuous improvement to both routine processes and evolving systems. Over time, the scope of this position may develop based on the candidate’s interests and strengths, as well as emerging organizational needs.
Finance and Accounting
- Manage the full accounts payable and accounts receivable processes in QuickBooks, including vendor records, bill entry, and payment processing.
- Administer semi-monthly payroll, including oversight of time reporting, vacation accruals, and retirement contributions.
- Review and ensure proper coding of employee reimbursements and corporate credit card charges.
- Support financial operations through tasks such as gathering documentation for audits, assisting with special projects, and collaborating with the Executive Director on evolving operational needs.
- Serve as the point of contact for the contract bookkeeper, overseeing accounting work, resolving issues, and supporting accurate recordkeeping.
Grant Compliance and Reporting
- Manage grant compliance, ensuring adherence to funder guidelines and grant requirements.
- Proactively identify and address potential compliance issues or upcoming compliance needs.
- Manage day-to-day grant-related responsibilities to ensure compliant execution of awards.
- Liaise with grantors to maintain compliance with policies and procedures.
- Oversee grant-specific budgeting, expense tracking, and financial reporting.
- Monitor and document grant expenditures and reconcile them with approved budgets and funder requirements.
- Prepare and submit financial documentation and compliance-related documents to relevant grantors.
- Support programmatic and financial grant report preparations and submissions.
- Assist in grant-specific audits and reviews by preparing required documentation, responding to funder inquiries, and ensuring internal teams are informed and prepared for audit/review-related activities.
- Track grant outcomes and expenditures, ensuring data accuracy and quality to support effective monitoring and evaluation.
- Participate in the review of grant opportunities.
- Lead in the preparation and submission of grant proposals, renewal applications and other grant-related documentation.
General Operations
- Oversee day-to-day office operations, including coordinating purchases, maintaining inventory/records of office equipment, ensuring security, and managing mail.
- Contribute to the development, documentation, and maintenance of internal policies and procedures related to HR and Operations.
- Support cross-functional processes related to HR operations - such as onboarding, open enrollment, and performance reviews - in coordination with the Executive Director.
- Identify and recommend opportunities for improving internal systems, tools, or workflows across operational functions.
Necessary Qualifications
- A four-year degree from an accredited U.S. university or college.
- Strong interpersonal, planning, and analytical skills with the ability to make sound and ethical business decisions.
- Excellent written and verbal communication as well as critical thinking and creative problem-solving skills.
- Fostering a positive work environment while being able to juggle many projects, deadlines, and communication threads.
- Experience using accounting systems, including familiarity with QuickBooks or a similar platform.
- Practical knowledge of budgeting, maintaining balance sheets, and monitoring the profit and loss statements.
- Comfort navigating and troubleshooting common workplace platforms (e.g., Google Workspace, Zoom, Slack), with the ability to learn and
adapt to new tools independently.
Desired Qualities and Experience
- Familiarity with nonprofit accounting principles.
- Experience with general accounting tasks such as entering bills, processing payments, and knowledge of coding expenses to support accurate documentation and reporting.
- Experience administering payroll and working with HR systems.
- Familiarity with HR processes such as onboarding, benefits administration, and performance management.
- Experience with grant reporting and monitoring grant compliance.
- Experience improving or building internal operational workflows or tools, with comfort designing and implementing process changes in collaboration with others.
- Proficiency with spreadsheets (e.g., Excel or Google Sheets), including basic to intermediate formulas, formatting, and data organization for operational tasks.
- Residence in or willingness to relocate to Southern California.
- Familiarity with State Bar of California IOLTA & EAF grant funding.
- Experience with audit management.
Compensation and Benefits
The salary range for this remote-friendly position is $80,000-95,000, and the starting salary will be determined commensurate with experience. We offer a robust benefits package that includes health, dental, and vision insurance, paid family leave, an employer-matched 401(k), short-term disability insurance, and generous vacation and sick leave benefits. Full-time employees are eligible for benefits after 30 days of employment.
We are a small team, dedicated to the organization's mission, with a collaborative, flexible, and remote-friendly work environment. We value quality and consistency of work over formalities.
Application Process
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with priority given to applications received by November 15, 2025. Priority Start Date: January 2026.
To apply, please email chrcl@centerforhumanrights.org with the following:
- Include the following Subject: “Ops Manager Applicant - [Last name, First Name]”
- Resume
- A cover letter that includes a statement about your interest in the Center and what you are looking for or hope to accomplish in this role.
- Three references.
Due to capacity, we will only be able to respond to applicants who are selected to move forward in the hiring process.
Equal Opportunity
The Center is an equal opportunity employer, and we strongly encourage and seek applications from women, BIPOC, immigrants, people with disabilities, people who are bilingual or multilingual, including nonnative speakers, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. The Center is firmly committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity (“EEO”) laws. The Center strictly prohibits discrimination against any employee or applicant for employment because of the individual’s race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, height and/or weight, disability, gender identity or expression, medical condition including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related conditions, marital status, partnership status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, military status, arrest record and any other characteristic protected by law. Accommodations will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application. While performing job responsibilities, accommodations will be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.
