Operations Manager
Enjoy the Journey With PixelSpoke!
PixelSpoke is an environment for the good-humored, analytical, creative spirits inside each of us — and we’re looking for the next outstanding team member. If you can laugh at yourself and have a passion for building creative solutions, PixelSpoke may be a great fit for you.
We’ve been called a “happy collective of goodness” by people who’ve observed our team in action, and we’ve happily adopted the description. PixelSpokers have a wide variety of interests, backgrounds, and experiences, but we come together to form a closely connected group that continually works at improving, learning, and growing.
If that sounds good to you, keep reading! There’s lots of great stuff in here.
About the Position
You will work closely with our small team of creative and talented individuals to continue building a world-class environment and culture. At the most basic level, the customer you support is our internal team, which allows them to focus on delighting our clients.
As an Operations Manager at a small company, you will be expected to do both the high-level management activities commensurate with the title as well as execute on the daily administrative activities that keep our office and team running smoothly. Executing strongly on both the management and administrative duties required of the role are equally important to the success of the team and company Your responsibilities will include:
- Keeping our office environment clean, attractive, and conducive to high-quality work
- Leading and executing on a variety of initiatives to keep building a high-functioning culture where team members are open, honest, and vulnerable with each other
- Managing our social & environmental impact teams
- Working with our bookkeeping, HR benefits, and IT partners to make sure these functions operate at a high level with efficient costs and minimal friction for our team and clients
- Assisting with a variety of administrative tasks such as onboarding new clients, coordinating team meetings, ordering lunches and helping with logistics, and supporting our team with whatever other needs arise to keep PixelSpoke running effectively
A Day in the Life
Your day-to-day activities in this role will vary through the week and through the month. Most days you’ll start your day by preparing the daily internal newsletter, the Daily ’Spoke, and by sending meeting confirmations for people meeting with our CEO for the coming business day. You join the team for our 15-minute huddle, which we use to get everyone on the same page.
From there, you do a walk around the office to make sure the shared spaces are clean and tidy, taking note of any improvements we should consider to the office. You make sure the conference room has water and snacks for meetings taking place that day, and place an order for notebooks and the snack basket as you notice our supplies are getting low. You heard in the huddle that one of our teammates was having a stressful day and, on the meeting calendar, another teammate has an upcoming birthday, so you prepare cards and gifts for them both.
At lunchtime, you might join your teammates in the kitchen for some conversation after you grab something from the food carts across the street or prepare your lunch you brought from home.
You settle in at your desk for some admin time. You may be working on:
- Preparing the agendas for your monthly meetings with our bookkeeper, IT specialist, and benefits company to problem solve issues that have come up
- Updating our Client Gross Margin Report, depositing checks, and paying bills
- Booking a venue for the company’s upcoming quarterly planning
- Updating our time tracking tool to account for projects and retainers in the new month
- Taking notes on your ideas for events the team can participate in to build team cohesion
- Working on improvements to our hiring and culture training planning and processes
You offer a friendly greeting to the mail carrier as you receive a package delivery and a bit later show a visiting client to the conference room. You spend some time reviewing the PixelSpoke impact metrics related to our B Corp Score, paid volunteer time, and other objectives and prepare a proposal for the next social impact team meeting on improvements you’d like their help implementing. You wrap up your day preparing the onboarding plan for our upcoming programming team hire and send it to our Technology Director for review. A few team members say goodnight as you head home for dinner.
More about the Position
We’re Looking for Someone With…
- 3+ years of work in administrative and operations roles
- Excellent attention to detail and expert organizational skills
- A consistently positive outlook that derives joy from taking care of our team and keeping the office humming
- Ability to work alone on key tasks and double check your work without oversight
Year 1 Success Metrics
- Score 8/10 or higher on company Benefits, IT, and office management surveys
- Score 4.5/5 or higher on our quarterly employee engagement survey
- Benefits and IT expenses within 5% of 2018 costs
- Supporting our Client Services and Sales Teams with key administrative tasks
- Being able to manage a hiring process from start to finish
- Fully documented processes for all processes you manage
Key Questions
- Are you passionate about the core responsibilities and tasks of this role?
- Can you manage your time effectively and work well on your own to meet key objectives?
- Do you have high emotional intelligence and are you skillful working with your colleague’s diverse work styles and backgrounds to achieve the best result for the collective?
- Are you comfortable having open and honest conversations around difficult topics and coming up with creative solutions to delight multiple stakeholders?
- If you’re not sure about your answer to a few of these questions, are you excited by the challenge of learning how to develop these new skills?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, we want to meet you!Why Join the PixelSpoke Team?
We have a lot of reasons for loving our workplace, but here are a few of the biggest ones:
Our Core Values
Our culture determines how we communicate with each other and our clients, and everything we do is guided by our core values:
Enjoy the Journey – We actively cultivate gratitude and joy, for ourselves and for others
Improve Every Day – We are always looking for what we can start, stop, or continue to improve
Everybody Wins – We create positive outcomes for our clients, community, and the planet
Solutions not Blame – We are transparent in our behavior and take ownership of problems
Curiosity with a Purpose – Constant learning is the fuel that leads to superior ideas for our clients
Authenticity – We are genuine and authentic in our dealings with others
High Quality Work & Outstanding Clients
PixelSpoke has received numerous awards for our outstanding creative work, including 18 Communicator Awards, 12 Davey Awards, and 6 W3 Awards. We actively seek out clients that are aligned with our desire to make the world a better place. Our client base is focused on credit unions, because we believe local finance is a critical component of healthy communities and we can help them to stand out and compete against the big guys. We also seek out forward-thinking businesses and non-profits that are committed to being a force for good in the world.
Business as a Force for Good
PixelSpoke is made up of people who care about the world we live in and are committed to making it a better place. As a certified B Corp that has been honored as a “Best for the World” company two years running, PixelSpoke is making the world a better place by improving our environmental, community, and workplace impact. On an individual level, members of our team are committed to environmental action, social justice, community development, the arts, and more. To learn more, watch our CEO Cameron talk about Business as a Force for Good.
Our company and team have volunteered with and supported many organizations, including:
- Innovation Law Lab (pro bono counsel for immigrants & refugees)
- Showing Up for Racial Justice
- Metropolitan Family Services
- Urban Gleaners
- Kiva (microfinance loans to underserved populations)
- Business for a Better Portland
- B Local PDX
Our CEO has been honored as a 2018 B Economy Leader by the B Corp community for his work building local communities of impact-driven companies and was named the 2017 Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Citizen of the Year for his work with refugees from Central America.
Emphasis on Wellness & Work-life Balance
We believe physical and mental health is vital and offer strong benefits to keep our team healthy and well. We encourage everyone to get to the office by foot, bike, bus, or Max in order to make ourselves and the community a little healthier. We also work hard to intentionally ensure that our team is working appropriate hours and has time to enjoy other interests outside of work.
Team Member Benefits
PixelSpoke is committed to maintaining a motivated, positive work environment full of great people who share and live our core values. Our benefits include:
- Competitive compensation package
- 100% paid health insurance (Kaiser Platinum Plan with vision and alternative care)
- 100% paid dental insurance
- 401k retirement plan with 4% match
- Short- and long-term disability policy
- Company paid ongoing training and personal development
- Vacation, personal time off and company paid holidays
- The option to work from home 1 day/week
- Outstanding working environment
- Family-friendly atmosphere and culture
- Working with other top performers inspired to create great client results
- Flexible Spending Account for healthcare, child care, and travel
- Employee Assistance Program
We value lifelong learning as the basis of an Everybody Wins relationship with each and every team member. We support professional development by encouraging our employees to get involved in professional organizations, take classes, and spend time on individual development.
What Comes Next
Our Hiring Process
We have a more thorough hiring process than most small businesses. This is because we believe that the cost of a mis-hire is enormous to both an individual and a company. Our process consists of several interviews, a review of your career history, and in-depth reference checks. We respect your time and appreciate your participation in our process. We want you to find the ideal position for your skill set and strengths.
PixelSpoke is committed to equity and values a diverse workforce. As part of this commitment, we seek team members whose diverse personal and professional background gives them a unique perspective to further PixelSpoke’s work with credit unions and other organizations that serve diverse member bases and marginalized communities. People of all types, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, people of different ages, veterans, and members of the LGBTQ community are strongly encouraged to apply.
If there is anything we can do to accommodate you to participate fully in the recruitment or interview process, please let us know.
How to Apply
If you feel you can contribute to a dynamic, growing company, please begin your application process by submitting your application here.
No emails or phone calls, please.