The Operations Director designs, implements, and stewards financial structures across YFC/USA and the YFC Foundation, translating strategic financial objectives into clear systems, processes, training, and operating rhythms.
This role manages YFC Foundation operations, such as Growth Grants, Estate Planning, and Investments, while coordinating subject matter expertise retained through outside counsel and specialized advisors. The ideal candidate is a process-minded operational leader who can build new workflows, equip stakeholders, and lead a small team with clarity, accountability, and service.
Essential Functions
Design and Implement Financial Structures Across YFC
- Design, build, and implement financial structures, operating models, and processes that support YFC/USA priorities and chapter-facing services.
- Translate strategic financial direction into practical workflows, decision rights, timelines, tools, documentation, and reporting rhythms.
- Develop scalable systems and processes that improve consistency, accountability, visibility, and ease of use across the movement.
- Partner with the Chief Financial Officer and other YFC leaders to identify operational gaps, clarify priorities, and implement solutions.
- Create and maintain process documentation, standard operating procedures, training resources, and best practices for assigned areas.
Manage YFC Foundation Operations
- Lead day-to-day operations for YFC Foundation services, such as Growth Grants, Estate Planning, and Investments.
- Design and manage intake, approval, tracking, communication, compliance, reporting, and follow-up processes for YFC Foundation services.
- Coordinate with retained outside counsel, investment advisors, estate planning experts, and other subject matter specialists to ensure technical excellence is available where needed.
- Become sufficiently competent in Foundation services to communicate clearly with YFC Chapters, donors, vendors, and internal stakeholders, while not serving as the technical legal, tax, investment, or estate planning expert.
- Monitor service quality, operational risks, timelines, and stakeholder experience, recommending improvements as needed.
Implement Financially Related Strategic Plan Objectives
- Help design and implement financially related strategic plan initiatives, including diversified funding sources, an economic growth model, and YFC financial health and stewardship plans via design teams.
- Build plans, operating rhythms, measurements, and cross-functional processes that move strategic objectives from concept to execution.
- Create tools, training, templates, and communication resources that help leaders understand and adopt new financial structures and stewardship practices.
- Collaborate with Finance, Development, Chapter Support, Legal, and other teams to align financial systems with ministry strategy and field needs.
Lead Team, Training, and Process Excellence
- Lead, train, and develop a 2-3 person team responsible for assigned operational and Foundation processes.
- Establish clear roles, goals, KPIs, meeting rhythms, accountability structures, and development plans for team members.
- Train national staff, chapter leaders, and other stakeholders on new or revised processes, systems, and expectations.
- Model proactive communication, collaborative problem solving, process discipline, critical thinking, and continuous improvement.
- Apply a Design Thinking mindset in daily work, integrating innovation and Christ-centered, human-centered problem-solving into planning, collaboration, and execution.
Spiritual Responsibilities
Because the overriding religious purpose and mission of Youth for Christ USA is to communicate and introduce the Gospel of Jesus Christ to young people and their families, and in that regard to make, educate and encourage life-long disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is very important that you as an employee in the movement of Youth for Christ be recognized as an associate minister of the Gospel.
As an employee of Youth for Christ and an associate minister of the Gospel, YFC expects all employees to:
- Seek God’s guidance and wisdom, through prayer and meditation, for the organization as a whole, as well as for specific ministry initiatives.
- Participate and lead regular times of prayer, devotion and worship as a regular aspect of your role within YFC.
- Teach and preach from the Holy Bible at YFC staff meetings, conferences, camps and events.
- Model empathy, humility and care for all people. This includes promoting equity and inclusion in words and in the practice of faith expression.
YFC employees will have an opportunity to be commissioned or licensed as a minister of the Gospel through the established Youth for Christ process, and/or ordained by an outside body recognized by Youth for Christ USA.
YFC Cultural Attributes
Our cultural attributes are not about competency. It is an obedience to the call of Christ on our lives. YFC believes that spiritually healthy adults foster healthy relationships with our kids. We place a heavy commitment and emphasis on developing and equipping a Christ-centered life marked by Enduring Humility, Relentless Trust, Joyful Camaraderie, Courageous Faithfulness and Kingdom Inspired Diversity.
Our leaders are expected to be willing to demonstrate and/or possess the following:
- Ability to humbly serve and honor others even in difficult situations with prayer, consistency, transparency, and resilience. (Enduring Humility).
- Demonstrate proper reliance on God, others, and self through generous giving of time and skills, by collaboratively incorporating others’ ideas, welcoming candid input, recognizing others’ need for grace and extending forgiveness and empathy. (Relentless Trust).
- Prioritize others’ needs for a missional outcome, characterized by joy, with active listening and problem-solving skills, while encouraging and empowering fellow believers. (Joyful Camaraderie).
- Trust God with new approaches and changes, and communicate needs and limits with emotional intelligence*, while seeking confidence and wisdom in Christ. (Courageous Faithfulness)
- Seek and foster authentic Christ-Centered relationships with people of various backgrounds and an inviting environment and empower historically marginalized groups and indigenous populations (within the local context), through active listening, inclusion, advocacy of those who are vulnerable and respect of others’ experiences. (Kingdom Inspired Diversity).
Fundraising Responsibilities
All YFC employees are expected to regularly and actively participate in faithful activities that advance the stewardship functions of YFC/USA. These activities will include—but are not limited to— extending invitations to fund raising events, recruiting personal circle of influence/YFC donor contacts, sending letters, handwritten notes, personal calls, and personally ministering to donor contacts.
For Affiliate and Chapter Staff: YFC may attach a minimum fundraising goal to certain projects, activities, departments, or individuals.
Budget Responsibilities
A Budget Manager is responsible for aligning all financial resources to the YFC/USA strategic plan in accordance with the delegation and direction of the Division Head. The Budget Manager is responsible for coding, approval, and financial decision-making for their assigned Division, Department and/or Action Plan budget. When a budget is overfunded or underfunded, the Budget Manager is responsible for course correcting through the MCCR process.
This position has direct oversight of assigned Operations/YFC Foundation operational budget(s), as delegated.
Position Requirements
Knowledge and Skills
- Experienced operations leader with a passion for the mission of Youth For Christ USA and the ability to lead with both process excellence and relational wisdom.
- Strong systems and process design acumen, including the ability to build new workflows, document procedures, improve handoffs, and implement change across teams.
- Ability to understand financial concepts and services well enough to lead operations, communicate clearly, and identify when outside counsel or specialized expertise is needed.
- Skilled at translating strategic direction into practical implementation plans, training resources, dashboards, and operating rhythms.
- Strong and patient communicator, comfortable explaining financial processes and service offerings to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Able to lead a small team with role clarity, accountability, encouragement, and a focus on service quality.
- Comfortable working with outside counsel, advisors, vendors, donors, chapters, and cross-functional internal teams.
- Strong project management, prioritization, follow-through, and problem-solving skills.
Credentials Required & Preferred Education
- Bachelor’s degree required in Business, Finance, Accounting, Operations, Organizational Leadership, or related field.
- Preferred experience in nonprofit operations, foundation operations, finance, grants, investments, planned giving, estate planning administration, or related services.
- Demonstrated experience building systems, documenting processes, training users, and leading process implementation across teams.
- Experience leading a small team preferred.
- Strong Excel skills required; experience with Salesforce, CRM, project management, workflow, or financial systems preferred.
Physical Requirements
The ability to communicate orally with customers, vendors, management, and other co-workers is crucial. Regular use of the telephone and e-mail for communication is essential. Sitting for extended periods is common. Hearing and vision within normal ranges is essential for normal conversations, to receive ordinary information, and to prepare or inspect documents.
Activities require the ability to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time, occasionally move about inside the office to access files or office equipment, operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, handheld devices, copy machine, and computer printer.
No heavy lifting is expected, though occasional exertion of up to 10 lbs. of force may be required. Good manual dexterity is required for the use of computers, mobile devices, and other productivity technologies.
The job is performed indoors in a traditional office setting. Extended periods of sitting and extensive work at a computer and phone are normal.
Travel Requirements
- Occasional travel to YFC training/events. Approx. 2-4 trips/year.
EEO Statement
Youth For Christ (YFC) provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, age, handicap, marital status, or other unlawful discriminatory characteristics in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.
YFC is classified as an Association of Churches and as such our hiring practices reflect that designation. As a religious nonprofit organization, YFC incorporates within each leader role, the requirement to model, teach, share and live the faith. The relationship between YFC’s mission and each of its leaders is its lifeblood and as such does at all times and in all instances reserve the right to make employment decisions based upon a person’s religious beliefs, personal character and lifestyle consistent with our understanding of the Bible or with our overall goals and requirements for Christian ministry.
We seek to create a workplace that is intentional about Kingdom Inspired Diversity. Our commitment to our employees extends to their opportunities for growth, development, promotion, training and compensation.
We will make reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with known disabilities, unless doing so would result in an undue hardship to the organization.