Chief of Staff
Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island
Job Type: Full-Time, Exempt | Hybrid — based in Rhode Island (RI residency strongly preferred)
$65,000–$80,000 annually
About Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island
Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island is a grassroots network of neighbors advocating to build more homes in the Ocean State. We advocate for statewide policy reforms, support neighbors advocating in their communities, and research strategies to achieve a robust and sustainable housing market.
About the Role
Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island seeks a highly organized, entrepreneurial, and mission-driven Chief of Staff to serve as the right hand to the Executive Director and the operational backbone of a growing advocacy organization. This is a rare, three-part role: you will protect the Executive Director's time and focus, build and run the systems that keep the organization moving, and stay hands-on and present — in the office, at events, and alongside the team.
This is a role for a builder who is equally comfortable designing an operating plan and chasing down a payroll or tax-withholding issue the same afternoon. As a small, fast-moving organization operating at the pace of politics, we need someone who can hold the big picture and the details at once, exercise sound judgment with discretion, and take the catch-all work off the Executive Director's plate so she can lead. If you are energized by creating order, protecting a leader's focus, and being genuinely in the mix of the work, this may be the right role for you.
What You'll Do
Executive Partnership & Time Protection
- Serve as the Executive Director's closest thought partner and operational right hand, protecting her time, focus, and priorities.
- Manage and triage the Executive Director's calendar, commitments, and follow-through. Decide what needs her, what can be handled without her, and what can wait.
- Establish and run the organization's operating rhythm: meeting cadences, agendas, decision tracking, and accountability for follow-up.
- Prepare the Executive Director for meetings and represent her priorities across the team, board, coalition partners, and stakeholders.
Operations & Systems
- Oversee day-to-day operations and build efficient, durable systems, processes, policies, and documentation.
- Coordinate organizational calendars, internal communications, records, and databases.
- Ensure compliance with nonprofit filing requirements, reporting deadlines, and organizational policies.
- Support board operations — scheduling, materials, minutes, and tracking follow-up actions.
Finance & Vendor Coordination
- Support budgeting, expense tracking, invoice processing, and financial reporting in coordination with leadership and external accounting partners.
- Maintain accurate financial and donor records and support fundraising operations, including donor acknowledgments and database management.
- Approve timesheets and payroll for current and new staff
- Coordinate relationships with vendors, consultants, contractors, and service providers.
- Assist with grant administration, reporting, and documentation
People & HR Backstop
- Own the operational HR catch-all the organization needs handled: payroll checks, tax-withholding follow-up, personnel and volunteer records, and onboarding coordination for staff, interns, and volunteers.
- Help develop clear operational policies and employee/volunteer procedures.
- Help cultivate a collaborative, inclusive, mission-driven culture.
On the Ground: Events & Campaigns
- Provide hands-on operational support for public events, trainings, volunteer activities, and advocacy campaigns — including logistics for community meetings and organizational events.
- Show up in person across Rhode Island, all-hands, when events and campaigns call for it.
What Success Looks Like
- By 90 days: a clear-eyed assessment of the organization's current state — its systems, workflows, and communications, and the work that outside consultants and contractors have handed off. You'll have identified where those handoffs left gaps, what still needs building, and what next steps should be. This is delivered as a presented plan that names immediate priorities (what gets fixed and stabilized now) alongside a longer-term roadmap for systems, efficiency, and communications
- The Executive Director has reliable protection of her time and focus, and a partner she trusts to hold the details.
- A steady operating rhythm is in place: decisions are tracked, follow-ups don't fall through, and the team knows who owns what.
- The organization's administrative, financial, and HR backstop functions run consistently and no longer live on the Executive Director's plate.
What We're Looking For: Who You Are
We recognize strong candidates may not meet every qualification. If you're excited about this role and believe your experience could contribute to our mission, we encourage you to apply.
Qualified candidates will bring:
- 3–5+ years in nonprofit operations, administration, or project management roles. Open to transferable skills shown clearly.
- A track record of building systems and bringing order to fast-moving, resource-constrained environments.
- Exceptional organization, attention to detail, and the ability to manage many priorities independently.
- Sound judgment and discretion.
- Comfort managing up, gatekeeping, and handling sensitive information.
- Genuine willingness to move between strategic and hands-on work, including the unglamorous backstop tasks.
- Strong at balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution.
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
- Proficiency with common workplace and nonprofit tools (Google Workspace, spreadsheets, CRMs, project management platforms, Zoom).
- A real commitment to expanding housing opportunity and building welcoming communities.
These experiences are also highly desired:
- Background in advocacy, housing policy, community organizing, or grassroots nonprofit environments.
- Familiarity with nonprofit budgeting, grant management, and donor systems.
- Knowledge of Rhode Island's civic, housing, or policy landscape.
- Experience supporting boards of directors or volunteer-led organizations.
- Familiarity with tools such as Gusto, Mailchimp, Canva, Airtable, Action Network, or similar.
- Residence in Rhode Island is strongly preferred and will be prioritized.
Work Environment
This is a hybrid role based in Rhode Island, with regular in-person work and events across the state; RI residency is strongly preferred and will be given preference. We operate in a fast-paced advocacy environment, at the pace of politics — dynamic, collaborative, and hands-on.
What We Offer
Salary: $65,000–$80,000 annually
Time Off: NWRI offers 15 days of paid time off per year, separate paid sick leave, paid parental and medical leave, and a paid organizational closure the week between Christmas and New Year's.
Benefits: NWRI offers health insurance, a Simple IRA retirement plan, an annual professional development stipend, and a monthly remote work stipend to support internet and phone costs.
The opportunity to shape the operations and culture of a growing organization working to make Rhode Island more affordable and welcoming by building more homes!
Note: This is a grant-funded position with recurring grant funds.
Commitment to Equity & Inclusion
Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island is committed to building a diverse and inclusive organization. We strongly encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, including people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and individuals with lived experience related to housing instability or community advocacy.
What to Expect — Interview Process
- Screening interview with the Executive Director.
- Round 2 interview with the Executive Director and 1–2 board members.
- Final round interview with the Executive Director and 1–2 board members.
How to Apply
Our priority deadline for this application is September 10th, 2026. Applications will close on September 18th. We do not require a cover letter. Instead, we ask you to respond to the prompts below so we can understand your experience, judgment, and approach.
Please submit your resume and your responses to the prompts by filling out the application.
Application questions:
Tell us about a time you were the right hand to a busy leader, or ran operations for a small organization. What did you take off their plate, and how did you protect their time and focus?
Describe a system or process you built or overhauled in a resource-constrained environment. What was broken, what did you change, and what was the impact?
This role is both strategic and hands-on — you might design an operating plan one hour and chase down a payroll or tax-withholding issue the next. Tell us about a time you moved between high-level and in-the-weeds work, and how you think about that balance.
What draws you to Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island's mission, and how has that interest shown up in your past work or choices?
AI Policy
We believe AI can be a helpful tool in work and learning and are not opposed to its use in general. We use 100% human review of these applications. For this process, we ask that your responses reflect your own thinking, experience, and communication style. Please do not use AI in this application. This role requires strong independent judgment and problem-solving, and we want to understand how you naturally approach real situations.
EEOC Statement
Neighbors Welcome! Rhode Island is an equal opportunity employer, committed to building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams, and encourages applications from candidates of all backgrounds and lived experiences.
For accessibility accommodations or questions, there is a question in the application for any requested accommodations or questions. No phone calls.