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Survivor Alliance

Finance and Operations Director

About Survivor Alliance

Survivor Alliance’s mission is to unite and empower survivors of slavery and human trafficking worldwide to be leaders in the anti-trafficking movement. Founded by three survivors of human trafficking, they are of, by, and for survivors. They believe that investing in survivors is a key anti-trafficking intervention. For too long, survivors have been ignored and tokenized in anti-trafficking work. There remains a gap in ethical, meaningful, and structural engagement with survivors, who are still siloed from social justice movements such as workers’ rights and gender-based violence movements.

By uniting survivors of human trafficking worldwide and building collective power, Survivor Alliance pursues an intersectional approach to social justice.

Through empowering survivors – by providing the resources, support and training so survivors can harness their own inner power – they support the growth of educated, self-aware, and capable survivor leaders. They share their lessons and methodology for working with survivors and link their members to opportunities in the anti-trafficking movement. In all of their programs, they focus on meaningful survivor inclusion, economic empowerment, and well-being. They believe that survivors of human trafficking are more than their traumatic experiences and invite everyone to do the same.

Survivor Alliance’s Core Values

  • Empathy – Bringing an ethic of care to all they do. The organization welcomes the spectrum of human emotions and seeks to be with and do with others instead of for others.
  • Relationships – Healthy and resilient relationships are central to social justice work. They invest in trauma-informed and healing-centered relationships. 
  • Freedom – As something more than a lack of enslavement, everyone deserves to define what freedom means at an individual level. Survivor Alliance holds that freedom is both an individual and collective journey.
  • Learning – Curiosity, exploration, and ardent pursuit of new skills and knowledge. Everyone deserves grace and support in this pursuit. 
  • Authenticity – Building an environment where people can express themselves and what they think, feel and believe. They seek to represent the diverse views of their community and recognize that survivors’ and allies’ experiences are not uniform. 

About the Role

The Finance and Operations Director (FOD) is a new leadership position at Survivor Alliance to ensure a successful transition from a start-up NGO to an established international organization. The FOD will oversee finance, operations, human resources, administration, communications, and IT for staff based in the US and Europe and consultants worldwide. The FOD will also supervise a full-time Admin and Operations Coordinator and serve as the lead point of contact with the contracted accounting and bookkeeping service.

Survivor Alliance seeks an experienced finance and operations leader with supervision experience willing to embrace an international, feminist, anti-oppression stance. The right candidate embraces Survivor Alliance’s core values and brings a leadership style that builds, maintains, and nurtures positive relationships by stating one’s needs, bringing humor and joy, addressing conflicts, and positively managing group dynamics.

Duties and Responsibilities

Finance (35%)

  • Work closely with the Executive Director to transition from separate US and UK financial entities to one consolidated entity.
  • Oversee fiscal management of the organization and be responsible for ensuring the quality and integrity of the systems and policies, including financial audits and program budgeting implementation.
  • Participate in quarterly meetings with program directors to reconcile bookkeeper records with staff records.
  • Amend program budgets and tracking sheets when approved changes occur.
  • Ensure program budgets and expenses align with grant agreements.
  • Review and approve bi-monthly Payment Requests from all employees, including Petty Cash and reimbursement requests.
  • Work closely with the contracted Accountant to ensure timely and accurate payment of vendors and accurate categorization of bank transactions.
  • Provide financial reports to the ED and Board of Directors and program expense reports to employees.
  • Track and manage quarterly and annual tax filings to state and federal governments, including the UK, working with payroll service as needed.
  • Work closely and communicate with the Board Treasurer as needed.
  • As needed, provide receipt of funds to donors.
  • Manage the online donation account (currently set up via Paypal).
  • Develop a Finance Manual that outlines Survivor Alliance’s financial policies and procedures, including documenting financial controls in place, keeping in mind requirements from grantors.

Operations and Systems Management (25%)

  • Oversee state and federal registrations as it pertains to employee taxes, unemployment, non-profit status, etc.
  • Develop and oversee procurement and purchasing processes.
  • Create and monitor the accounts with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.
  • With support from AOC, manage IT services and software integrations.
  • Review organizational policies according to time frames stated within the policy.
  • Work with ED to implement Salesforce CRM to manage tracking of membership, donors, consultants, etc.
  • Serve as the point person for all pro-bono legal requests.

Human Resources (20%)

  • Oversee payroll process, including coordinating with supervisors to approve time off requests and resolve any payment disputes from staff.
  • Ensure accurate employment documentation is reviewed and received from all new hires.
  • Serve as the point of contact between the benefits broker and the plan provider, DC Health Link.
  • Develop, review, and maintain up-to-date organizational policies to align with state, federal, and international regulations.
  • Ensure policies are documented in the Employee Handbook.
  • Manage the existing payroll system.
  • Transition to a new payroll system (e.g., research systems, data transfer between systems, training SA team, document processes).
  • Manage and oversee contracts for consultants.

Supervision (10%)

  • Meet weekly with AOC to review and support work priorities and to provide timely performance coaching.
  • Approve timesheets, paid leave, and schedule changes for the AOC.
  • Complete annual written performance evaluation and meet with AOC to finalize goals for the next year.
  • Meet weekly with Accountants regularly on agreed schedules, and meet with auditors as necessary.

Leadership & Organizational Development (5%)

  • Effective, values-driven leadership to all staff and consultants.
  • Foster a conducive environment that is transparent, accountable and supportive.
  • Provide cover for colleagues on PTO, as needed and appropriate.

Self-Management & Professional Development (5%)

  • Participate in Staff Reading and Reflection Activities to continue learning about social injustice and social justice.
  • Discuss professional development goals with ED and pursue agreed-upon avenues for growth.
  • Attend monthly one-hour sessions with a trauma-informed coach (Optional but highly encouraged).
  • Proactively communicate needs with ED and the team.

Skills and Experience

  • Demonstrated commitment to Survivor Alliance’s organizational values.
  • Experience with accounting software, such as Quickbooks or Sage Intacct.
  • Experience handling international finance processes.
  • A minimum of five years in a similar NGO leadership position.
  • HR-related experience in payroll, managing benefits, and policy management
  • Ability to synthesize and clearly articulate ideas verbally and in writing in English.
  • Strong interpersonal communication skills with various stakeholders and people with diverse demographic backgrounds.
  • Willingness to learn and adapt to the complexity of communicating in a fully remote work environment.
  • Ability to drive projects from inception to implementation.
  • Previous experience supporting staff transitions and maintaining employee relations.
  • Previous experience hiring and supervising employees.
  • Confidence in using online task management platforms, such as Asana.
  • Willingness to provide a background check before starting employment (Survivor Alliance comes with pre-disclosure and discussion regarding any sensitive information).
  • Ability to set clear personal and professional boundaries, manage stress and utilize internal resilience.
  • Ability to uphold a commitment to intersectional, anti-oppression approaches.
  • Previous experience in an international non-profit. (desired)
  • Previous work experience with people who have experienced interpersonal trauma (e.g. homelessness, rape, war, child abuse, domestic violence, slavery or human trafficking). (desired)