Position Summary:
The deputy director serves as NICWA's chief internal operations officer, ensuring organizational effectiveness, operational excellence, and internal alignment, while the executive director focuses primarily on external engagement, advocacy, fundraising, and strategic partnerships. This role is essential to translating external engagement strategy into internal execution, managing day-to-day operations in a hybrid work environment, and ensuring organizational capacity supports mission delivery.
The deputy director provides strategic leadership for all internal operations, including financial management, human resources, facilities, travel, risk monitoring, compliance, and operational systems. This role supervises key operational leaders and coordinates cross-functional work to ensure seamless organizational functioning. During the executive director's absence, the deputy director serves as acting executive director and provides organizational leadership.
This position is internally focused by design: building and maintaining organizational capacity, operational infrastructure to support virtual and onsite work, and team effectiveness that enables NICWA's external impact and mission success.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Oversees all internal operations, including finance, human resources, facilities, travel, and administrative systems
- Provides oversight of fiscal operations, including budget development, financial planning, cash flow management, and financial reporting, in collaboration with the fiscal director
- Oversees all personnel functions, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, benefit administration, professional development, and staff retention as well as trains and coaches supervisors for consistent implementation of policies and procedures
- Oversees administration of all NICWA contracts and grants, including proposal development, implementation, compliance, evaluation, and reporting
- Facilitates coordination between the executive director's external strategy and internal operational execution
- Leads development and implementation of operational policies, procedures, and systems that support organizational effectiveness
- Ensures compliance with all legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements, including nonprofit governance, employment law, grant compliance, state charitable requirements, and organizational policies
- Works with the executive director and senior leadership to translate the external strategy into internal operational priorities and annual objectives
- Leads organizational development and change management initiatives, including structure, systems, and capacity building
- Provides staff support to board committees and prepares board materials and reports on operational matters
- Serves as acting executive director during absences with full authority for organizational leadership and crisis response
- Leads development and maintenance of organizational risk management, business continuity, and emergency response plans
Essential Functions:
- Develops and implements organizational management systems, including organizational structure, operational procedures, and performance metrics
- Supervises operational staff and coordinates the work of cross-functional teams
- Monitors organizational health indicators, including financial stability, staff wellbeing, operational effectiveness, and program quality
- Ensures accurate and timely reporting on organizational operations to the executive director, the board of directors, and external stakeholders
- Maintains organizational philosophy, values, and culturally grounded practices in all operational decisions
- Fosters a positive organizational culture that supports staff wellbeing, professional growth, equity, and high performance
Additional Responsibilities:
- Performs other duties and assignments as directed
- Participates in NICWA activities and teams as required
- Contributes to organization-wide initiatives and special projects as needed
- Leads the Management Team and Supervisor Team
Supervision:
- This position reports directly to the executive director
- This position supervises the fiscal director, operations and human resources manager, development manager, and operations coordinator
Core Competencies:
- Models ethics, integrity, and accountability
- Exercises sound judgement and decision-making
- Upholds high standards of accuracy and quality of work standards
- Actively contributes to NICWA's learning community
- Effectively manages workload and prioritization of tasks
- Navigates adversity with resilience and adaptability
- Develops strategic perspectives to enhance organizational success
- Demonstrates professional effectiveness in all aspects of the role
- Champions and promotes NICWA's mission, vision, philosophy, and goals
- Builds and shares organizational knowledge
- Maintains a strong constituent focus, building and deepening constituent knowledge
- Champions and supports organizational change
- Builds and nurtures relationships across teams and stakeholders
- Communicates clarity, influence, and impact
- Encourages collaboration and fosters teamwork
- Inspires and motivates others to achieve high levels of performance
- Adheres to NICWA's policies, procedures, and organizational framework
Qualifications:
- Master's degree in nonprofit management, business administration, public administration, social services, or related field preferred; 10 or more years of relevant experience may substitute
- At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in nonprofit operations, with demonstrated expertise in organizational management, financial oversight, and human resources
- Proven track record managing complex operations, including budgets over $5 million, multi-site or hybrid work environments, and teams of 20+ staff
- Experience working with or for Tribal Nations, serving Native peoples or communities, or working with or for a Native nonprofit organization
- Strong nonprofit financial management skills, including budget development, financial analysis, cash flow management, and fiscal compliance
- Expertise in human resources management, including recruitment, performance management, staff development, and employment law compliance
- Experience managing federal, state, Tribal, foundation, and private grants, including compliance, reporting, and evaluation
- Strategic mindset with the ability to see connections between operations and mission impact
- Excellent written and oral communication skills with the ability to communicate complex information clearly to diverse audiences
- Deep knowledge of and respect for Tribal, Indigenous, and Native cultural contexts and protocols
- Ethical leadership with high integrity, accountability, and transparency
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office, project management tools, and software, leveraging technology and data to improve organizational efficiency
Travel Requirements:
This role requires the ability to travel up to 10% of the year.
Work Environment:
This role operates in a hybrid work setting, with specified in-office and remote workdays. In-office collaboration at NICWA's Portland office location is required on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Remote work requirements include the ability to work in a virtually professional, quiet, and distraction-free environment while maintaining availability and responsiveness during work hours. Reliability and readiness of technology is also required.
Regular use of standard office equipment, including computers, phones, photocopiers, and filing cabinets is required.
Physical Demands:
Frequently involves prolonged periods of sitting or standing. May require occasional bending, stooping, and lifting of up to 15 pounds.
Physical requirements are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this position with or without reasonable accommodation.
Disclaimer:
This job description provides a general overview of the responsibilities associated with the role. Duties, responsibilities, and activities are not intended to be construed as exhaustive and may change with or without notice.
NICWA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, disability, veteran, or any protected status.
How to Apply
Please submit the following materials to Operations Coordinator Andrea Zaragoza via email at andrea@nicwa.org by March 9, 2026:
- Cover letter (maximum 2 pages)
- Current resume
- Contact information for three professional references
- NICWA employment application
In your cover letter, please address:
- Your experience with Tribal communities, Native organizations, or Indigenous service systems (if applicable)
- Your approach to operational leadership and building culturally grounded organizational systems
- What draws you to NICWA's mission and how your values align with our work
- Specific examples of how you've managed complex operations and led organizational development
Questions about the position? Contact Executive Director Sarah Kastelic at skastelic@nicwa.org.
To learn more about this position, organizational culture, and benefits of working for NICWA, please join our webinar entitled “Job Opportunities at NICWA” on Thursday, February 26, 2026 at 10 a.m. PT. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FLIEifR2QPaNE8EGrDmD4g