Cheif Operating Officer (Finance and Operations) Trans Legal Clinic Our Rights, Our Fight. in London

The Trans Legal Clinic is hiring a Chief Operating Officer to oversee finance and operations and build the backbone of a fast-growing, mission-driven legal service. You will own the numbers, systems and rhythm of the organisation. You will keep accounting, payroll and invoicing precise and compliant. You will design and run day-to-day operations across casework, admin and volunteers, manage IT and case management tools, and oversee GDPR-secure data practice. Finance, HR, recruitment, IT, and service delivery will all sit within your wheelhouse. We are looking for a builder with ownership, judgement and pace who can simplify, standardise and scale what works, and who believes in client-centred, trans-inclusive practice.

Why this role exists: We deliver practical legal support that changes lives. To grow responsibly, we need a COO to build operational excellence and keep our systems ready to scale.

What you will lead:

• Financial leadership: Build, manage and monitor our budget. Lead forecasting and cashflow. Produce monthly and quarterly reports. Oversee accounting, bookkeeping, payments, payroll and invoicing. Maintain strong financial controls and compliance. Track and report restricted funds. Support grant bids and donor reporting.
• Day-to-day operations: Keep the organisation running smoothly. Maintain efficient systems across casework, admin and volunteers. Design operational policies, SOPs and quality assurance. Oversee IT, digital tools and case management platforms. Ensure GDPR-compliant, confidential data handling. Lead operational responses to risk and regulation.
• Strategy and organisational development: Work with the Executive Director on medium- and long-term strategy. Lead service development, scaling projects and national expansion. Improve volunteer pathways, client experience and internal processes. Provide data-driven insight for Board discussions.
• People, volunteers and HR: Support recruitment, onboarding and retention. Develop clear HR processes, policies and documentation. Ensure supervision, wellbeing and safeguarding frameworks.
• Governance, risk and compliance: Manage risk registers and mitigation plans. Lead internal audits and quality reviews. Prepare Board papers. Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory and charity requirements.

You’ll thrive here if you show:

• Ownership and follow-through: you take responsibility and land the work.
• Planning under pressure: you bring order, rhythm and clarity.
• Bold, informed judgement: you improve systems based on evidence, not habit.
• Entrepreneurial drive: you simplify, standardise and scale what works.
• Inclusive practice: you design operations that are easier to use and safer to deliver.
• Clear communication: you turn complexity into simple actions and updates.
• Team-building and collaboration: you help staff and volunteers succeed together.
• Constant learning: you refine processes and leave usable documentation.

What you will bring:

• Significant operational leadership in a non-profit, legal, community or mission-driven setting.
• Strong financial management across budgeting, forecasting, reporting and controls.
• Ability to build robust systems in a small but scaling organisation.
• Strategic, organised and analytical working style.
• Confident people leadership and clear communication.
• Understanding of governance, safeguarding, risk and regulatory compliance.
• Commitment to trans equality, dignity and client-centred practice.

Helpful extras:

• Experience in legal services or legal operations.
• Grants or donor-funded programme management.
• Scaling organisations or building new infrastructure.
• Knowledge of trans community needs and support services.

Practicalities:

• Hours: 40 Hours Per Week.
• Location: Central London.
• Salary: £31,000.

What We Look For:

The Co-founders Mindset: At the Trans Legal Clinic we are building a Trans+ rights revolution; our mission is Trans Liberation. That means access to justice for Trans & Non-binary people everywhere. We deliver work that changes outcomes for people, case by case and system by system. That calls for a particular mindset. We call it the co-founder mindset. Co-founders take the mission personally, set the pace, turn ideas into working services and campaigns, bring others with them, and make change you can point to. Co-founders are entrepreneurial: they spot openings others miss, move decisively, and create momentum. Co-founders build teams, drawing in volunteers who believe in our mission, care deeply about our clients, enjoy working with us, and keep one another going. Co-founders are bold: they are willing to innovate, to be first, and to change the status quo; they check the source, avoid assumptions, solve problems, make firm, collaborative, evidence-based decisions, and take responsibility for results. Co-founders are pioneers. If you want responsibility, pace, and the chance to trailblazer new routes to justice and public impact, this is the place to build your career.

We select candidates based on their performance in 8 areas:

1. Ownership and follow-through: You are a self-starter who owns tasks and takes responsibility without waiting to be asked. You carry your work through to a tangible result. You define the problem, set a course, keep the right people informed, and deliver what you said you would.
2. Bold, informed judgement: You are willing to change accepted practice when the evidence supports it. You check primary sources rather than rely on assumptions, weigh real options and risks, make a clear, evidence-based, collaborative decision, and stand behind it.
3. Entrepreneurial drive: You spot openings other people miss and turn ideas move decisively and get others working on the plan alongside you with clear roles and timelines.
4. Planning under pressure: You keep priorities straight when time is tight. You organise people and tasks, set simple checkpoints, communicate early when plans shift and always deliver.
5. Inclusive practice: You strive to make everything you create accessible to others, designing work that is easier for others to take part in, with people who face barriers always in mind. You identify what is getting in the way, make practical changes that remove those barriers, and check the effect with the people involved.
6. Clear communication: You write and speak in plain terms and adjust tone and detail to suit clients, volunteers, partners and the public. You choose the right format for the moment and make it easy for people to act on what you say. You like feedback, don’t get offended and see it as a chance to improve.
7. Team-building and collaboration: You bring people with you and help groups perform well together. You draw in volunteers who believe in the mission and care about our clients, set shared expectations, handle disagreements well, and leave relationships stronger.
8. Constant learning: You improve your own practice and the system around you. You reflect honestly on what worked and what did not, learn quickly, and turn that learning into simple tools or habits that make future work better.

These eight criteria are what we look for. Use the right place for you and to shape the examples you share in your application.