The Tulsa Flyer seeks a Director of People & Operations to oversee organizational culture, human resources, and administrative functions for an independent, community-centered nonprofit news startup.

The director will lead the design and upkeep of key components of the organization’s human resources infrastructure and organizational culture, including employee policies, handbooks, support systems, and internal communications. They will work collaboratively with organization leaders to develop performance management and professional development systems, and take lead on management of vendors, including outsourced IT support, event coordination, and our office and facilities.

The ideal candidate will be a highly organized self-starter and a collaborative team player; they will have an understanding of the complex issues facing startups and nonprofits, and the ability to develop the strong operational systems necessary for this organization of diverse, talented individuals to thrive. This position presents an opportunity for someone who can manage multiple tasks meticulously and juggle several conversations across departments with a steady “can do, will do” nature. This is a broad strategic operations role; as such, candidates do not need to have a human resources background; if you do not have SHRM Certification, Tulsa Flyer will support you in getting certified.

The Tulsa Flyer is a startup nonprofit organization that has raised $14 million so far in service of a vision to give everyone in Tulsa the local news they need to live more informed and more engaged lives. The newsroom will produce high-quality accountability journalism while engaging with residents to produce and distribute community reporting, employing an innovative model for local journalism that is directly responsive to local information needs. In addition to a team of editors and beat reporters, the Tulsa newsroom will have best-in-class community engagement expertise, multimedia production, dedicated capacity for service journalism and research, and Tulsa Documenters. 

At the Tulsa Flyer, we value learning, curiosity and diverse perspectives. We are dedicated to equitable hiring and follow best practices to create an inclusive hiring process. 

• Work collaboratively with the leadership team to develop institutional standards, policies, and processes that create a welcoming and inclusive culture where employees feel supported and are able to do their best work, within budget. Support team leads in the rollout of these standards, policies, and processes.
• Assess and monitor Tulsa Flyer’s ongoing hiring, onboarding, offboarding, and other people-related processes, and identify ways to make them continuously more consistent, transparent, inclusive, and equitable, in line with our values. 
• Act as a central project management discipline for all vendor, contracting, and payment processes across departments 
• Oversee the maintenance and continuous upgrade of the appropriate infrastructure and resources, including: data, security, systems, technology, policies, procedures and controls; search for, vet, and hire outsourced support when needed.
• Manage facilities to ensure employees can safely, comfortably and efficiently operate, within budget. 
• Assess and monitor systems that impact employees such as professional development, expense reimbursement, and ethical guidelines, to identify areas in need of standardization or improvement. Work with managers to ensure successful roll outs of system changes when needed.
• Develop an organization-wide performance management system that creates a supportive workplace and healthy feedback loops for employees and managers, while maintaining high performance and delivery of impact across the organization. Work with team leaders to be trained on the system and to roll it out, monitor its effectiveness, and make changes as necessary.
• Lead all internal organizational communication with staff. Develop a plan for a regular cadence of sharing organizational updates with employees, and soliciting input from employees.
• Serve as a leader within the organization by actively working to support the success of other members of the entire team; cultivating an organizational culture that is highly collaborative, positive, and productive; and that drives impact through continuous improvement and learning.
• Support organization leaders in developing cross-departmental communications systems needed for cross-functional collaboration.
• Manage Tulsa Flyer’s professional employer organization (Justworks), oversee and execute on all aspects of human capital development & management.
• Oversee the administration of employee payroll and benefits programs through the PEO Justworks, including benchmarking benefits and compensation.
• Develop a system to monitor progress to goals across teams and work with the leadership team to develop and carry out solution proposals.
• Own annual staff retreats and culture-building activities.

• Detail-oriented - Ability to organize, delegate and monitor projects with clear structure that also provides for flexibility for others to adapt and lead as well. 
• Mission-oriented - You’re committed to our mission to advance democracy and improve the lives of all Tulsans.
• Self-starter - You’re a decisive critical thinker who can prioritize. You are ready to experience startup life and are ready to work hard. 
• Multitasker - Your flexibility to move from task to task almost seamlessly is a must as we are ever-changing and adapting to improve our workflows.
• Exemplary communicator - Empathetic and persuasive in driving home organization’s mission, values and priorities to peers, other staff and stakeholders. Able to interpret and convey thoughts easily to provide order to projects at hand.
• You are passionate, positive and patient - You want you and your peers to achieve the biggest goals possible, and you foster a workplace where collective achievement is celebrated. 

We value a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. If our mission resonates with you and you believe you have the potential to thrive in this role, we’d love to hear from you—even if you don’t meet all of the listed qualifications.

Salary: $75,000-$90,000, commensurate with experience

Benefits: Full health benefits, including coverage of 100% of the employee’s medical premium; paid leave including the last week of the year for all staff, and 401K with a 4% match

Training: $2,000 stipend toward outside training and professional development opportunities

We’re committed to building an inclusive organization that represents the people and communities we serve. We encourage members of traditionally underrepresented communities to apply, including women, people of color, veterans, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities. Tulsa Flyer is dedicated to equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. We encourage people of all races, colors, national origins, ancestries, creeds, religions, genders, ages, disabilities, veteran status, sexual orientations, and marital statuses to apply.

‍What to expect in the hiring processWe hope to fill this role as soon as possible, though the hiring process can typically take from a few weeks to a few months. We will do our best to communicate with you about timing expectations throughout the process. Candidates who advance to later rounds of this process can expect several interviews, including with a panel of community members. Semifinalists will be asked to complete a written assignment designed to help us understand your thinking and approach to the role, and you will be offered an optional prep session to ask any questions that will help you put your best foot forward in this process. We aim to truly get to know you, to help you fully understand the role you’re applying for.