Chief Operating Officer (COO) – Volunteer Executive Role

The Donovan’s Venom

About the role

The Donovan’s Venom is a nonprofit organization aiming to create a scalable ecosystem for fine arts and music education. This role is a build-and-operate position for someone who can translate strategy into effective, consistent, and scalable execution.

Responsibilities

• Translate strategy into clear operational plans and priorities
• Establish KPIs, workflows, and performance structures
• Ensure alignment between strategy and day-to-day execution
• Build scalable operational systems, processes, and standards
• Implement policies, SOPs, and operational frameworks
• Create consistency across teams, programs, and initiatives
• Oversee execution of programs and organizational initiatives
• Establish and lead project management structure (PMO)
• Ensure timelines, deliverables, and outcomes are met
• Align people, tools, and priorities to maximize efficiency
• Identify operational gaps and implement solutions
• Support sustainable growth through smart resource use
• Identify and mitigate operational risks
• Ensure compliance, accountability, and operational integrity
• Build systems that prevent issues — not just react to them
• Continuously improve workflows, systems, and performance
• Use data to drive operational decisions and improvements
• Ensure the organization runs better tomorrow than it does today
• Partner with executive leadership to align strategy and execution
• Provide operational insight into feasibility and scalability
• Ensure all functions move together — not in silos

Requirements

• 5+ years in operations, program management, or organizational leadership
• Experience building or managing systems, processes, or infrastructure
• Strong ability to translate strategy into execution
• Experience leading teams or cross-functional initiatives

Preferred

• Experience in nonprofit, startup, or scaling environments
• Familiarity with project management methodologies (Agile, PMP, Lean, etc.)
• Experience working with remote or distributed teams

Qualifications

• 10–20 hours per week
• Flexible schedule
• Fully remote

Benefits

Direct impact on scaling mission-driven work

Pay

Volunteer leadership role

Schedule

Flexible schedule

Benefits

Opportunity to build systems from the ground up

Skills

Strategic thinking, operational oversight, risk mitigation, system building, team leadership

Benefits

Leadership visibility and long-term organizational influence

Application Requirements

• A current resume
• Responses to all application questions (thoughtful and complete)
• A brief overview of your strategic experience and areas of impact

Important Disclaimer

This is a volunteer executive leadership role requiring consistent engagement. Applicants must be able to begin within 14 days. Incomplete or low-effort applications will not be considered.