Heartland Fund is seeking a Senior Operations Associate. For a thoughtful, mission-driven professional, this position is an exciting opportunity to support new systems and processes in a rapidly growing grantmaking organization and ever changing compliance environment. 

Heartland Fund’s Senior Operations Associate plays a central role in keeping our organization running smoothly, weaving together board and governance support, internal communications, leadership team coordination, and day-to-day operational backbone. The ideal candidate is highly organized, proactively anticipates needs, and exercises excellent judgment in a fast-paced environment.

You will have an opportunity to help us enable equitable investment in rural communities, democracy, and climate solutions. This is a unique and dynamic position with opportunities for growth and impact as the Heartland Fund prepares to launch as an independent entity in 2027.

About the Organization

As a funder collaborative, the Heartland Fund scales investment, supports local leaders, and builds long-term partnerships with rural and Native organizations to create thriving places where rural working people can determine our own futures, strengthening the entire nation. Heartland's grantmaking and programmatic investments support rural people working to transform their lives and communities toward shared prosperity, a healthy climate, and stronger democracy. We invest in building local capacity for issue advocacy, community organizing, economic development and local jobs, climate solutions, civic engagement, and sustainable urban-rural coalitions. We prioritize racial justice in all aspects of our work. In addition to grantmaking, Heartland also supports rural leaders and organizations through convening, research, and communications and storytelling.

Heartland Fund has three programs: 

1. Rural Democracy expands nonpartisan civic participation and counters policies that harm our democratic institutions in places where rural action can define policy and democratic outcomes. 
2. Resource Rural (RR) mobilizes resources enabling rural communities to unlock public and private investment to create positive economic change in their communities. 
3. Rural Climate Partnership (RCP) supports hometowns across America to accelerate climate solutions and build healthy local economies.

Both RR and RCP programs help rural communities access public funding – through place-based technical assistance, local organizing, and a large-scale communications and narrative effort – to make a tangible difference in rural people’s lives and to advance climate mitigation and resilience.

Primary Duties & Responsibilities

The Senior Operations Associate reports to the Senior Director of Finance & Operations and works closely with members of the leadership team to support the Governance and Management functions of the organization. This role is responsible for scheduling, logistics, communications and administrative support for the board, board committees and the leadership team. 

Board & Committee Support

1. Serve as the primary logistical liaison for the Rural Horizons Fund and Rural Action Funds’ Boards of Directors and committees.
2. Prepare and distribute agendas, briefing materials, and minutes for board and committee meetings.
3. Maintain board calendars, track governance deadlines, and maintain board member onboarding materials.
4. Coordinate meeting logistics (virtual and in-person), including scheduling, technology setup, and follow-up action tracking.
5. Maintain organized records of governance documents, resolutions, and filings.

Leadership Team Support

1. Provide robust administrative, scheduling, correspondence, and logistical support to the Leadership Team.
2. Actively manage Leadership Team calendars to ensure meetings happen as planned, proactively identifying and resolving conflicts, rescheduling as needed, and keeping members informed.
3. Plan and coordinate staff retreats, off-site gatherings, and trainings, including venue research, logistics, and materials preparation.
4. Support preparation and distribution of internal announcements and staff updates as needed.
5. Provide administrative and scheduling support for hiring, onboarding, and offboarding processes.

Daily Operations & Administration

1. Update organizational systems including shared drives, databases, and operational calendars.
2. Identify opportunities to streamline administrative processes and implement improvements.
3. Triage and respond to incoming inquiries from organizational websites and general contact channels, routing as appropriate.
4. Provide programmatic and other operational support, as needed.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is a highly organized administrative professional, ideally with 4+ years of nonprofit or mission-driven organizational experience, who thrives as the connective tissue between a board, leadership team, and daily operations. They bring exceptional judgment and discretion, can draft board materials, and wrangle complex scheduling conflicts. 

Heartland Fund’s growing team takes pride in building an organizational culture rooted in learning, collaboration, racial justice, and a deep commitment to our mission. All staff are expected to provide leadership and vision to advance our mission, vision, and core strategies.

Qualifications 

We realize that some great candidates may not have every single thing on this list. If you believe you would be a great fit for this role, we encourage you to apply.

Essential 

1. Minimum of 4 years in an administrative or executive support role within a nonprofit, philanthropic, or mission-driven organization
2. Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to juggle multiple priorities and shifting deadlines
3. Strong written communication skills; able to draft clear, polished correspondence and materials 
4. High degree of discretion and professionalism, especially when handling sensitive or confidential information
5. Strong project management skills, and experience tracking, coordinating and helping complete complex collaborative projects
6. Proficiency with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Calendar, Drive) and video conferencing platforms (Zoom, etc.)
7. Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative, distributed team

Desired

1. Experience supporting a Board of Directors or formal governance structures
2. Background in event coordination, communications, or stakeholder engagement
3. Strong proficiency with project management tools (Asana, Monday.com, or similar) and CRMs (Donor Perfect)
4. Experience in a start-up environment
5. Demonstrated experience working effectively with colleagues of diverse backgrounds and perspectives:
6. Appreciation of the diverse culture traditions of rural people and places 
7. Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills 
8. Comfort working with a range of individuals in nonprofit organizations, government, foundations, and private sectors. 
9. Experience living and/or working in rural America is strongly preferred

Compensation & Job Design

This is a full-time, non-exempt position. The organization is virtual, and the position may work remotely from their home within the United States. The starting salary range is $75,650 - $89,000.

The comprehensive benefits package includes 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision insurance for employees (and their families). Employees are able to enroll in a 401k retirement plan and are eligible for a 3% automatic contribution and up to a 3% employer match on 401k contributions. Employees are also eligible for pre-tax transportation benefits. Full-time employees will receive 120 hours of vacation time, 80 hours of health leave, up to 2 days of casual leave, and 20 hours of volunteer leave annually. Employees will also receive 13 paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Employees are eligible for 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave after 90 days of employment. All employees of Windward are required to complete timesheets.

Heartland Fund is a project of Windward Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity that incubates new and innovative public-interest projects and grant-making programs. Windward Fund is committed to attracting, developing and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential.

Windward Fund’s work environment is safe and open to all employees and partners, respecting the full spectrum of race, color, religious creed, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, ancestry, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, and all other classifications protected by law in the locality and/or state in which you are working.

The individual holding this position will also work part-time for a coordinated project, Rural Victory Fund, in Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization, under a resource-sharing agreement between Windward Fund and Sixteen Thirty Fund. The responsibilities under that position will be overseen by Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Windward participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employees’ Form I-9 information to confirm authorization to work in the United States. Job candidates and employees authorized to work may not be discriminated against on the basis of national origin or citizenship status.

Travel Requirements

This position requires occasional travel within the United States.

How to Apply

Applications will be reviewed and considered on a rolling basis. A limited number of screening calls and interview spots will be filled starting in September 2026, with a desired start date by November 2026. Early applications are strongly encouraged.

Apply by submitting a cover letter and resume to: 

https://cloversearchworks.hire.trakstar.com/jobs/fk0zi7y