Chief Operating Officer (COO)

New York, New York
City Parks Foundation

ABOUT CITY PARKS FOUNDATION

At City Parks Foundation (CPF), we are dedicated to invigorating and transforming New York City parks into dynamic, vibrant centers of urban life through sports, arts, community building, and education programs for all New Yorkers. Our programs — located in more than 400 parks, recreation centers, and public schools across New York City — reach 300,000 people each year.

• CityParks Shows brings hundreds of live music, dance and theater performances to communities throughout New York City’s five boroughs. The SummerStage festival presents over 100 free performances and benefit concerts each year in 16 parks throughout the city, ranging from American pop, Latin and world music to dance, spoken word and theater. The Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, home to one of the last public marionette companies in the US, presents modern takes on classic fairy tales, and the traveling PuppetMobile presents family-friendly puppet shows and workshops outdoors around the city, free of charge.
• Partnerships for Parks is a unique public-private partnership between CPF and NYC Parks that supports and champions neighborhood volunteers by giving them the tools they need to advocate and care for their neighborhood parks and green spaces.
• CityParks Learn environmental education programs help students experience the fun of science, while learning about their relationship to the natural world and the ways in which they can protect our natural environment. We provide environmental science programs for elementary, middle and high school students throughout New York City, serving nearly 3,000 kids through school-day, afterschool and summer programming, as well as credit-bearing training and paid internships for teenagers.
• CityParks Play activates New York’s neighborhood parks with free sports programs for kids, including tennis, soccer, golf, track & field, and multi sport instruction, as well as fitness classes for seniors. We help New Yorkers stay active and healthy, discover new sports, and make new friends.

Our ethos is simple: we believe thriving parks mean thriving communities.

POSITION SUMMARY

The COO provides leadership to assure the successful overall operations of City Parks Foundation. The COO drives financial success; supports efficient and effective operations, including HR, IT and Facilities; manages risk; and assures regulatory and legal compliance. This position reports to the Executive Director and supervises the Chief Financial Officer (staff of three-four); Human Resources (staff and/or consultants); the Salesforce System Manager; and external IT consultants. The COO acts as strategic thought partner to the Executive Director and collaborates with other members of the senior management team in developing goals and strategies and in building the organizational culture necessary for success.

A successful candidate in this role will focus on service: working to assure that their departments provide responsive services, useful information and insights to meet the needs of managers, fundraisers, the board and others who rely on them. We are seeking a candidate who is forward looking: identifying risks; supporting budgeting; and projecting revenues, expenses and cash flows. This is a highly visible role and will work with staff from all areas of the organization, therefore being an effective communicator is one of the key skills required for this position. The COO will communicate using various forms such as financial statements, narratives, presentations and charts as needed to make strategic, operational and financial issues clear to others.

REQUIREMENTS

• Overseeing financial operations and the financial success of the organization through:
• Supervising the CFO (who runs the finance department), working to assure that the finance department provides useful information and insights to meet the needs of managers, fundraisers, the board and others who rely on them.
• Leading the annual budgeting process to produce a budget that is transparent and aligned with the organization’s goals and funding.
• Assuring timely reporting and supporting effective management of program, department and organizational budgets throughout the year.
• Providing operational support for all programs, guiding the development of efficient, equitable, and effective operating policies and procedures.
• Overseeing information technology and cybersecurity, supervising any outsourced technical support team, coordinating with NYC Parks IT staff that provide day-to-day support for equipment and personally guiding all software and hardware purchasing.
• Overseeing Human Resources, supervising the current outsourced HR provider and any future in-house HR staff.
• Overseeing facilities and core administrative operations, including relations with the NYC Parks Department (which provides donated space); corporate insurance, regulatory and contract compliance; equipment leasing and purchasing; office management; disaster recovery planning and retention of files and records consistent with organizational policy.
• Assuring that policies and procedures are created, maintained and followed to assure consistent and efficient operations and compliance with laws, regulations and internal control processes.
• Managing all kinds of risks, including financial, cybersecurity and regulatory risks as well as the physical security of staff, clients and facilities. Assuring the sufficiency of insurance coverage and managing compliance with insurance requirements while identifying risks not fully addressed by insurance.
• Continually seeking opportunities and leading improvement initiatives to increase the efficiency, transparency and effectiveness of operations, and to assure alignment with best practices, including guidelines promulgated by “charity watchdog” groups.

QUALIFICATIONS

The COO brings a strong and expansive executive background in management, particularly financial and operational management, with nonprofit organizations facing comparable operational and financial challenges. They have:

• 8-10 years of experience in operations, finance or related role
• A bachelor’s degree
• A track record of success in managing program, fiscal, and employee matters, under both public grants and private funding
• Proven leadership ability as evidenced by leading teams of 5+ people
• Ability to focus on work processes and details
• A strong understanding of nonprofit accounting
• Ability to collect, interpret, and present pertinent data to analyze operations; to use data to develop operational improvement strategies; and to establish and effectively use Key Performance Indicators to support ongoing success
• Considerable skill and experience working with Boards and Board Committees
• Ability to comprehend both the “big picture” and the minutiae of contractual language
• Excellent verbal and written business communication skills
• Strong skills in G Suite (Google) software applications and ability to comprehend and quickly learn new software and systems.

The COO is an extremely positive contributor to our culture and effectiveness through their abilities, attitudes and actions. The COO:

• Are inspired by the mission of City Parks Foundation and eager to join others in working to achieve it
• Have deep integrity and are highly self-motivated and driven by a strong work ethic to take initiative to drive improvements and achieve goals
• Are a proven collaborator, sensitive and responsive to the needs of colleagues, and able to build strong and effective working relationships with their executive peers, staff across the organization and key constituencies outside the organization such as regulatory and funding agencies
• Create a positive work environment for those who report to them, setting appropriately high expectations, inspiring effort, engagement and connection to the organization’s mission. They are known for providing supportive supervision and fostering teamwork and the professional growth and success of each team member.

WORKING FOR CITY PARKS FOUNDATION

Benefits include excellent health care and dental package, vacation, paid holidays, 403(b) Retirement Plan, Transit Check program, life insurance, and flexible spending plan. City Parks Foundation is a collegial, mission-focused organization that values its employees and encourages professional growth and advancement.