Manager, Development Operations Administration

BOF The Barack Obama Foundation; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 87,000 - 109,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Insurance

Paid time off

Retirement plan

Job summary

The Obama Foundation, based on the South Side of Chicago, offers a hybrid role in Development Operations at the Obama Presidential Center. This position emphasizes financial stewardship, talent acquisition, onboarding, and strong operational leadership to drive program success.

You will collaborate with the Senior Director, manage budgets, contracts, and reporting, design onboarding for new hires, supervise an analyst, and help build a high-performing, inclusive team aligned with the

Qualifications

• 4–6 years of progressive experience in operations, project management, internal budget tracking, or non-profit administration.
• Strong financial acumen with hands-on experience building, tracking, and reconciling departmental operating budgets and managing procurement/contract lifecycles.
• Proven experience in talent coordination, designing onboarding workflows, or leading team professional development initiatives.
• Exceptional organizational, project management, and time-management skills; highly detail-oriented with the ability to manage competing priorities under tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to build strong, empathetic working relationships across teams and with external partners.
• Proficiency with CRM systems (Salesforce preferred), financial tracking software/spreadsheets, and project management tools.
• Commitment to the values and mission of the Foundation.

Responsibilities

• Oversee internal operating budget and liaison with Finance.
• Manage end-to-end contract and procurement lifecycle.
• Produce monthly progress reports and executive dashboards.
• Lead hiring pipeline with People Team.
• Design onboarding programs for new hires.
• Develop divisional training and professional development.
• Supervise Development Operations Analyst and optimize processes.
• Deliver measurable outcomes: budget tracking, onboarding, contract workflows.

Skills

Financial management

Budget tracking

Talent coordination

Onboarding design

Leadership

Communication

CRM proficiency

Tools

Salesforce

Spreadsheets

Project management tools

Job description

At The Obama Foundation, our mission is to inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world. We seek to build an active democratic culture where people are equipped and motivated to make change in the communities where they live, work, and play. Right here on the South Side of Chicago, we’re building a home for this vision, a global center for change with a range of opportunities - coordinated programming, community outreach events, educational moments, and more - that invite visitors from down the block or across the globe to turn hope into action. Achieving our ambitious goals starts with an exceptional team built on our Hope to Action Values - Courage, Empathy, Integrity, Accountability, Community, Inclusivity, Pragmatism, Resilience, Imagination, and Hope. A Framework that anyone, anywhere, can use to build trust, activate participation, and expand opportunity in their community.

Core Job Responsibilities

• Fiscal Management, Procurement & Executive Support
  • Internal Budget Oversight: Drive the creation, monthly tracking, and formal reconciliation of Development Operations’ internal operating budget, serving as the primary liaison to the Finance department for internal operational expenditures.
  • Contract & Procurement Management: Manage the end-to-end lifecycle for divisional vendor contracts, statement of work (SOW) processing, purchase orders, and invoice approvals, ensuring compliance with institutional procurement policies.
  • Executive Reporting Support: Partner closely with the Senior Director of Development Operations to compile, manage, and distribute monthly progress reports, executive dashboards, and performance analytics for Development, Board and Foundation leadership.
• Talent Acquisition, Onboarding & Professional Development
  • Hiring Pipeline Management: Serve as the division's primary operational lead to the People Team, efficiently coordinating job descriptions, sourcing workflows with talent acquisition, and providing updates on progress to the division.
  • Onboarding Architecture: Design, organize, and lead a standardized, high-touch departmental onboarding program for all new operations hires, partnering directly with hiring managers to ensure rapid role acclimatization and technical readiness.
  • Professional Development & Culture: Co-design and administer divisional training modules and professional development opportunities. In particular, supporting the Development team’s group of dispersed Analysts, ensuring cohesion and coordinated oversight of projects and training, as needed. Proactively drive initiatives that foster a collaborative, inclusive, and high-performing team culture.
• Pod Leadership & Operations Support
  • Direct Supervision: Manage, coach, and evaluate the Development Operations Analyst, directing their daily task prioritization across central projects, operational help-desk triage, and cross-pod support.
  • Process Optimization: Continually audit internal administrative processes, standardizing operating procedures to eliminate friction and maximize operational efficiency across all operations subteams.
• Key Deliverables / Outcomes
  • Flawless monthly budget tracking, invoice processing, and variance reporting delivered to the Senior Director and Finance.
  • A streamlined, highly efficient hiring and onboarding pipeline executed in close partnership with the People Team and hiring managers, measurably shortening time-to-fill and new hire ramp-up periods.
  • Standardized vendor contract workflows with zero contract lapses or compliance delays.
  • Effective supervision and mentorship of the Development Operations Analyst to excellence.
  • Measurable contribution to high team morale, retention, and operational cohesion across the Development Operations division.

Required Qualifications

• 4-6 years of progressive experience in operations, project management, internal budget tracking, or non-profit administration, with demonstrated leadership readiness or direct supervisory experience.
• Strong financial acumen with hands-on experience building, tracking, and reconciling departmental operating budgets and managing procurement/contract lifecycles.
• Proven experience in talent coordination, designing onboarding workflows, or leading team professional development initiatives.
• Exceptional organizational, project management, and time-management skills; highly detail-oriented with the ability to manage competing priorities under tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to build strong, empathetic working relationships across teams and with external partners.
• Proficiency with CRM systems (Salesforce preferred), financial tracking software/spreadsheets, and project management tools.
• Commitment to the values and mission of the Foundation.

Compensation

The salary range for this role is between $87,020 and $108,775.

Working Arrangement & Location

This is a hybrid role based at the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park in Chicago.

For an overview of our benefits package, including insurance, paid time off, retirement & more, please visit https://www.obama.org/careers/.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Foundation is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, parental status, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable laws.

We encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply.

If you are a qualified candidate with a disability, please e-mail us at [e-mail] if you require a reasonable accommodation to complete this application.

At the Obama Foundation, we are guided by a core belief: that ordinary people working together can change history. The Foundation is committed to inspiring people to take action, empower them to change their world, and connect them so they can achieve more together than they can alone.

We were founded by community organizers, so when we seek change, we do it by bringing people together. That approach begins at home, on the South Side of Chicago, where we are building the Obama Presidential Center. The Center represents a historic opportunity for Chicago: a chance to build a world-class museum and public gathering space that celebrates our nation’s first African American President and First Lady, steps away from where he began his career, where she was raised, and where—together—they made their home.

But that approach extends to all our work, whether it’s holding leadership training sessions in communities throughout the U.S., bringing local leaders together in countries around the world, working to support the global education of girls, or ensuring young men of color have pathways to opportunity. As President Obama has said, "we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together." So join us. For more information, please visit www.obama.org.