[Remote] Director, Finance and Operations, The AI Access Initiative

Note: The job is a remote job and is open to candidates in USA. Evidence Action is launching The AI Access Initiative, an organization focused on scaling AI-enabled innovations to benefit people in poverty in low- and middle-income countries. The Director of Finance and Operations will be responsible for establishing financial systems, driving organizational decisions, and managing compliance and legal affairs to support the scaling of this initiative.

Responsibilities

• Establish high-caliber financial systems and reporting: Build and manage grant tracking, reporting calendars, and spend-down requirements across all transferred and new grants; own year-end audit, Form 990, budgeting, and board-level financial reporting
• Run analyses to drive strategic organizational decisions: Build financial models, scenario plans, and organizational forecasts to support strategic decision-making in a fast-scaling environment
• Drive organizational spinout and setup: Own financial, legal, and compliance workstreams to stand up the AI Access Initiative as an independent 501(c)(3), including entity creation, payroll, benefits, and staff transfers
• Design, procure, and oversee a lean, high-performing finance and compliance ecosystem: Manage outsourced partners (e.g., accounting, audit, legal, payroll, insurance, and HR) while ensuring strong institutional controls without unnecessary bureaucracy
• Enable our expansion: Design financial systems capable of supporting rapid international scaling and increasingly complex funding structures
• Drive high-leverage resource allocation: Partner with leadership to build a culture of analytically rigorous budget allocation and organizational decision-making
• Build and own compliance infrastructure: Own critical compliance and institutional risk infrastructure, including charitable registration, insurance, governance, and regulatory filings
• Support governance and board operations: Establish board meeting cadence, minute-keeping, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and fiduciary orientation for new members
• Manage legal affairs & contracting: Serve as the primary internal point of contact for all legal matters; review and negotiate vendor contracts, grant agreements, MOUs, and partnership arrangements, while ensuring IP protections are in place for open-source assets

Skills

• 8+ years in finance, strategic operations, consulting, nonprofit leadership, startup operations, or related fields, including significant experience managing organizational finance and budgeting
• Experience sourcing and managing outside counsel, accounting firms, auditors, insurance brokers, and payroll providers — you know how to get the most out of external partners
• Comfort operating at both strategic and operational levels: you can set policy and also handle the detail work required to ensure nothing slips
• Strong written communication skills; able to translate complex financial and legal concepts clearly for board members, program staff, and funders
• CPA, JD, or equivalent professional credential strongly preferred; nonprofit-specific training or certification (e.g., CGAP, CNAP) a plus
• Experience with nonprofit finance, compliance, and 501(c)(3) environments strongly preferred: e.g., Form 990, single audit, charitable solicitation registration, IRS rebuttable presumption, and state-level tax exemptions

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits including international health care
• HSA/FSA options
• Life insurance
• Disability coverage
• Retirement plans with a matching component
• Generous and flexible leave options
• Other employee perks on a reimbursement basis

Company Overview