Building on our recent analysis of near and medium-term AI opportunities in LMICs, we are advancing the highest-scoring interventions through a rigorous vetting process, including evidence reviews, cost-effectiveness analyses, risk assessments, and early operational/technical scoping. We are excited about the opportunity to deliver, and are now running deeper analysis on opportunities in global health.

The Role

We are seeking a high-ownership and rigorous finance and operations leader to help architect the institutional backbone of a rapidly scaling AI-focused global development organization. This founding role will partner closely with the CEO and leadership team on financial strategy, organizational scaling, and operational infrastructure. While incubated at Evidence Action, we plan to spin out in Q4 '26.

The right person thrives at the intersection of institutional rigor and startup pragmatism. You will set the strategy, own the outcomes, and serve as the internal expert, while identifying, contracting, and managing high-quality external partners: accountants, attorneys, payroll providers, auditors, insurance brokers, and state compliance vendors. You are comfortable in a high-ownership, high-ambiguity role, and excited by the opportunity to define an organization’s operating system from scratch.

We are open to this role being structured as a full-time employee or a senior fractional/contract engagement for the right candidate.

You Will:

• Establish high-caliber financial systems and reporting: Build and manage grant tracking, reporting calendars, and spend-down requirements across all transferred and new grants; own year-end audit, Form 990, budgeting, and board-level financial reporting.
• Run analyses to drive strategic organizational decisions: Build financial models, scenario plans, and organizational forecasts to support strategic decision-making in a fast-scaling environment.
• Drive organizational spinout and setup: Own financial, legal, and compliance workstreams to stand up the AI Access Initiative as an independent 501(c)(3), including entity creation, payroll, benefits, and staff transfers.
• Design, procure, and oversee a lean, high-performing finance and compliance ecosystem: Manage outsourced partners (e.g., accounting, audit, legal, payroll, insurance, and HR) while ensuring strong institutional controls without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Enable our expansion: Design financial systems capable of supporting rapid international scaling and increasingly complex funding structures.
• Drive high-leverage resource allocation: Partner with leadership to build a culture of analytically rigorous budget allocation and organizational decision-making.
• Build and own compliance infrastructure: Own critical compliance and institutional risk infrastructure, including charitable registration, insurance, governance, and regulatory filings.
• Support governance and board operations: Establish board meeting cadence, minute-keeping, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and fiduciary orientation for new members.
• Manage legal affairs & contracting: Serve as the primary internal point of contact for all legal matters; review and negotiate vendor contracts, grant agreements, MOUs, and partnership arrangements, while ensuring IP protections are in place for open-source assets.

Requirements

The ideal candidate is a finance and operations leader with a track record of standing up or significantly scaling organizational infrastructure. You are excited by the challenge of helping a new organization scale responsibly under conditions of rapid growth, evolving strategy, and funding uncertainty. We seek someone with high throughput, strong judgment, and the ability to manage complexity across multiple workstreams simultaneously.

You will likely have:

• 8+ years in finance, strategic operations, consulting, nonprofit leadership, startup operations, or related fields, including significant experience managing organizational finance and budgeting.
• Experience sourcing and managing outside counsel, accounting firms, auditors, insurance brokers, and payroll providers — you know how to get the most out of external partners.
• Comfort operating at both strategic and operational levels: you can set policy and also handle the detail work required to ensure nothing slips.
• Strong written communication skills; able to translate complex financial and legal concepts clearly for board members, program staff, and funders.
• CPA, JD, or equivalent professional credential strongly preferred; nonprofit-specific training or certification (e.g., CGAP, CNAP) a plus.
• Experience with nonprofit finance, compliance, and 501(c)(3) environments strongly preferred: e.g., Form 990, single audit, charitable solicitation registration, IRS rebuttable presumption, and state-level tax exemptions.

Traits

• High ownership mindset: you hold yourself accountable for outcomes, not just tasks, and you proactively surface and resolve problems before they escalate.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and early-stage environments; you can build structure from scratch without waiting to be told exactly how.
• Collaborative and low-ego; you work well with a small, fast-moving leadership team and can flex between big-picture strategy and detailed execution.
• Mission-aligned: you are motivated by the opportunity to ensure that the legal and financial infrastructure of this organization is a platform for impact, not a bottleneck.

Position Location

This role location is flexible anywhere within the United States for fully remote candidates

We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of a U.S. employment visa at this time. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. for roles based in the U.S.

Evidence Action is an Equal Opportunity Employer with a commitment to diversity. All individuals, regardless of personal characteristics, are encouraged to apply.

Benefits

The expected role range for this US position is listed below. We consider multiple factors when determining the base salary for a role, including but not limited to: role scope, program budgets, internal equity, and a candidate's qualifications and/or prior experience.

Note: Pay and benefits will be commensurate with the role specifications, local statutory requirements, and the cost of labor in the markets where we operate.

The pay range for this role is $155,000 - $170,000 per year.

This role will initially be housed at Evidence Action, with the explicit plan to transfer with the AI Access Initiative as a founding member of the team when that project is spun out as a new entity later this year. At that point, benefits and policies may change. For US based roles, Evidence Action provides comprehensive benefits including international health care, HSA/FSA options, life insurance, disability coverage, retirement plans with a matching component, generous and flexible leave options, as well as other employee perks on a reimbursement basis. For more information visit our careers page or ask our recruiting team!

Originally posted on Himalayas