The Role
Provides executive support to the COO, managing calendars, communications, travel, expenses, briefings, and sensitive information. Coordinates leadership meetings, board preparation, cross-functional initiatives, and project follow-through across Finance, People & Culture, Compliance, and Operations Support. Designs and maintains AI-enabled workflows using Asana, Notion, Slack, and related tools to improve visibility, reduce manual work, and strengthen organizational processes.
Summary Generated by Built In
Avaaz is seeking an exceptionally organised, proactive, and tech-savvy Senior Operations Officer to serve as a key operational partner to our Chief Operating Officer (COO). The COO oversees Finance, People & Culture, Compliance, and Operations Support across our US and UK entities, and serves as Secretary of the Board.
This is a hands-on executive support role that combines day-to-day coordination with complex project coordination and operational improvement. You'll see both the big picture and the details: you'll anticipate what needs to happen next, connect the dots across teams, and make sure commitments turn into action. You'll also help us work smarter, using tools like Asana, Notion, and AI to connect our meetings, decisions, projects, and knowledge into integrated workflows.
This position reports to an Operations Director and works closely with the COO.
Responsibilities
Executive partnership
- Serve as a trusted operational partner to the COO, anticipating needs, managing competing priorities, protecting her time and attention, and recommending practical next steps.
- Manage the COO's calendar, inbox, travel, expenses, and daily workflows with excellent judgment and discretion.
- Prepare concise, accurate briefings, decision summaries, and executive and board materials.
- Handle sensitive HR, legal, financial, and board information with discretion, and raise compliance risks promptly with the appropriate colleagues.
- Coordinate the COO's operating rhythm, including leadership meetings, Operations team check-ins, planning cycles, and board preparation. Ensure each meeting has a clear agenda, notes, decisions, and assigned actions.
- Track complex, interconnected conversations and workstreams, maintaining context on decisions, commitments, dependencies, and follow-ups. Proactively identify what's stuck, what needs to happen next, and what requires leadership attention.
- Coordinate complex, cross-functional initiatives across Finance, People & Culture, Compliance, and Operations Support, proactively following up with stakeholders, resolving routine bottlenecks, and keeping work moving. Independently manage defined projects from planning through delivery.
- Help design, implement, and maintain integrated workflows using Asana, Notion, Slack, and AI, connecting meetings, decisions, project tracking, and follow-up to improve visibility, reduce duplication, and ensure commitments don't fall through the cracks.
- Use AI and automation thoughtfully to reduce manual work, while maintaining safeguards for confidentiality, accuracy, and human judgment.
- Help colleagues adopt agreed systems and build consistent ways of working.
Skills and Competencies
You should apply if you believe you have the skills and experience to succeed in this role, even if you don't meet every requirement below.
- Relevant experience. You have 5+ years in executive support, operations, or project coordination, ideally supporting senior leaders in a complex, fast-moving environment.
- Exceptional organization and follow-through. You keep track of multiple priorities and commitments without losing the details, and you reliably turn discussions into action.
- Curiosity and initiative. You enjoy solving problems, questioning inefficient processes, experimenting with better approaches, and taking ownership without waiting to be asked.
- Excellent judgment and adaptability. You quickly make sense of complex or ambiguous situations, anticipate needs, identify what matters most, and know when to act independently or escalate.
- Project delivery. You can manage defined projects, coordinate stakeholders without relying on formal authority, and keep work moving as priorities shift.
- AI and systems fluency. You already use AI in your daily work. You're confident with Google Workspace, Slack, Asana, and Notion, and you enjoy helping others get the most out of them.
- Clear communication and synthesis. You can follow complex discussions and produce concise notes, briefings, and updates that help others act.
- Discretion and a hands-on mindset. You handle sensitive information responsibly, take pride in helping others succeed behind the scenes, and are equally comfortable with detailed administration and higher-level coordination.
- Commitment to our mission. You care about global justice, citizen empowerment, and social change.
- Excellent English. Strong written and spoken English is required.
Location, compensation and benefits
Location. Avaaz is a remote organization, with most of our work done over email, Google Docs, Slack, and Zoom. This role works on US Eastern Time, and candidates based in the Virginia / Washington, DC area are preferred.
Salary. We set salaries by experience and local cost of living, in line with leading international NGOs.
- US candidates: $93,636 - $104,367
Benefits include:
- 5 weeks paid vacation per year
- 10 paid holidays per year
- Up to US$3,000 per year for training and development
- Up to US$1,500 per year for language development
- Out-of-home workspace rental
About
Avaaz is an international campaigning and advocacy organization that provides its global membership of almost 70 million people with opportunities to make our world a better place.We’re one of the world’s largest online global campaigning movements, with people from every corner in the world taking action to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want. This includes protecting human rights worldwide, supporting indigenous struggles, saving our planet from climate change and other threats, and fighting to stop disinformation and other cyber threats from undermining our democracies. Our model enables people to channel their voices into a powerful collective force at tipping point moments to impact the pressing global challenges of our time, from climate and ecological collapse to human rights abuses and the dismantling of democracy. Avaaz is funded through small donations from individual Avaaz members, no big money from governments or corporations. This keeps us independent and allows us to keep a laser focus on doing what the world needs.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of experience in executive support, operations, or project coordination
- Exceptional organization and follow-through across multiple priorities and commitments
- Curiosity, initiative, and process-improvement problem-solving skills
- Excellent judgment and adaptability in complex or ambiguous situations
- Ability to manage defined projects and coordinate stakeholders without formal authority
- Experience using AI in daily work
- Confidence with Google Workspace, Slack, Asana, and Notion
- Clear communication, synthesis, and concise writing skills
- Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion
- Commitment to global justice, citizen empowerment, and social change
- Excellent written and spoken English
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The Company
What We Do
Avaaz is a US-based nonprofit organization and global web movement launched in 2007. Its mission is to bring people-powered politics to decision-making worldwide, empowering millions to take action on pressing global, regional, and national issues. They focus on closing the gap between the current world and the one people want, tackling critical issues such as climate change, human rights, animal rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict.
