FeaturedChief Operating Officer, Temporary

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and the bridge between vision and execution. The COO oversees the daily operations of Solid Ground, ensuring all functions run smoothly and align with the agency's strategic goals and Vision 2030. The COO is accountable for the operating platform the agency runs on: the enterprise systems that define how decisions are made, work is documented, and performance is measured; information technology and data systems; housing operations and facilities; administration; compliance; and the strategic planning cycle. The COO supervises the leaders of the operations functions, coaches direct reports, and supports a culture of coaching across the agency. This role requires a strategic, results-oriented leader who aligns operational capability with mission impact.

Throughout this role, the COO builds the systems, standards, templates, and tracking that departments use, and monitors adherence; departments and their leaders complete the work within those systems. Where a requirement belongs to the COO's own departments, the COO completes it. The COO does not oversee program services, finance and accounting, grant writing, fundraising and donor stewardship, transportation, or advocacy, and does not supervise any other Chief-level position.

25% Enterprise Operating Systems: Designs and maintains the agency's core operating systems. Leads the development of an enterprise decision-making matrix that defines who owns, decides, is consulted, and is informed across departments, so that decision rights sit with the departments and roles closest to the work and Chief-level leadership is engaged only when a decision requires it. Creates and trains staff on the standard templates for standard operating procedures, internal controls, and role-attached documentation; departments author and maintain their own procedures and submit them for review, so that critical functions have documented procedures and a named backup. Identifies system gaps, develops a triage and roadmap for improvements, and manages implementation through completion. Sets management cadences (meeting structures, reporting rhythms, and review cycles) and works with the CEO to support accountability for adherence to them. Defines the operational metrics for capacity, efficiency, and quality, reviews them with department leaders, and leads cross-functional solutions to bottlenecks that limit service delivery.

20% Compliance, Risk, and Contracts: Responsible for ensuring compliance requirements are met across all programs, including licensing, background check, mandated reporter, food handling, and youth safety requirements. Sets the screening standard for anyone with participant contact, including volunteers, interns, and third-party partners; departments ensure screening is completed, and the COO tracks adherence and issues findings when it is not. Maintains the agency-wide compliance tracking system: departments and their leaders complete their own compliance requirements and submit confirmation of on-time completion, and the COO records adherence and reports it. Issues findings and corrective action requirements to any department regardless of reporting line and escalates unclosed corrective actions to the CEO; personnel consequences are owned by the employee's supervisor with Human Resources guidance and counsel. Leads incident review and corrective action. Requires each site and department to maintain a current emergency and continuity plan, sets what those plans must address, and reviews and tracks their currency; departments author their plans and train their staff on them. Reviews operational contracts and agreements (vendor, service, facility, and lease) and makes recommendations to the CEO. Oversees administrative functions that support agency-wide operations, e.g. Risk Management, Housing Operations, and IT.

15% People Direction and Professional Development: Provides executive direction to the Senior Director of Human Resources on an interim basis : sets priorities for recruitment, retention, and evaluation completion, and holds Human Resources to them, while Human Resources retains functional authority over employment, benefits, employee relations, and performance policy. Maintains the agency's professional development infrastructure: departments author and maintain the training materials for their own work and submit them to a central library, and the COO maintains the library and system and tracks that training is completed for new and mid-year hires. Supervises the leaders of the operations functions, completes timely performance evaluations, and ensures supervisors within scope do the same. Coaches direct reports and supports a culture of coaching across the agency.

10% Strategic Planning: In collaboration with the CEO, designs and manages the agency's strategic planning cycle: the calendar, the framework and templates, facilitation support, the goal cascade to departments, and quarterly progress reviews. Departments author their own goals within the framework. The CEO leads strategy and owns its content; the COO ensures the cycle runs on schedule and that progress is tracked and reported to the CEO for executive review. Tracks the Community Needs Assessment against its required cycle and ensures it is completed on schedule; the assessment itself is executed by program leadership.

10% Housing Operations and Facilities: Oversees, and does not direct, housing operations and facilities through the Director of Housing Operations and Facilities, who is the technical property expert; the COO holds the systems, standards, and accountability layer. Ensures buildings, units, and common spaces are safe, maintained, and compliant with HUD, Project Based Section 8, tax credit, and local requirements. Identifies and prioritizes capital needs across sites and submits them to the Finance-owned capital planning and budget process. Oversees vendor and contractor management for housing operations and facilities, and space planning at existing sites. Coordinates property operations with resident services so that sites function as one experience for residents.

10% Information Technology and Data Systems: Oversees information technology, digital security, and the agency's data function through the Strategic Information Systems Manager and the Information Technology Manager. Establishes data governance across the agency's systems: which system is authoritative for each core data element, and the standards for data entry, timeliness, and reporting drawn from it. Ensures reporting gives executive leadership and department leaders the information they need to make decisions; departments are responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of the data they enter.

5% Executive Leadership and Governance: Serves on the Senior Leadership Team and participates in agency decision making. Manages the budgets of the departments within the operations scope in partnership with Finance; agency-wide budget development, forecasting, financial reporting, and fiscal controls are held by Finance. Supports the CEO in Board relations through the Senior Leadership Team and attends Board and Finance Committee meetings as requested by the CEO to present operational reports. Represents the agency at community functions and on community boards and committees and maintains relationships with council members and City and County representatives on operational matters. Representational commitments, meaning standing bodies where the COO is present as Solid Ground's representative rather than to do the role's own work, are limited to two at any time and to a combined average of no more than one meeting per month, agreed with the CEO and scheduled so they do not displace operational duties; the operational meetings the role requires are not subject to this limit.

5% Business Development: As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, participates in the evaluation of new projects, programs, and partnerships proposed by the CEO and program leadership, contributing the operations perspective: staffing, systems, space, and operational requirements, with cost implications referred to Finance. Strengthens partnerships with public agencies, affiliate organizations, and business partners that serve the agency's operations. Stays current with social justice and homelessness prevention trends.

The duties listed above are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work that may be performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related, or a logical assignment to the position. Women, people of color and persons with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. Solid Ground is an equal opportunity employer committed to workplace diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, race and color, religion, marital status, national origin, disability or veteran status.