Position: Team Operations Associate
Reports To: Director of Communications
Department: Marketing and Communications
Location: Seattle Office
Position Type: Full-time, Salaried, Exempt
Pay Grade: $42,000
Benefits: Eligible, Class III: Forterra’s benefits include ten paid holidays per year and up to 160 hours of paid time off (PTO) leave. You will also be eligible to enroll in the employer-sponsored medical, dental, and flexible spending account (FSA) plans. You will also be able to enroll in Forterra’s 401(k) program. Forterra also provides a subsidized Orca Card program for public transit commuters
About
Forterra is a Green Pathways Partner. Green Pathways is a program that creates a pathway to the green sector for low-income young adults in living wage entry-level positions in the environmental justice movement.
Forterra aims to make sure the Pacific Northwest is livable and beautiful for generations to come. To accomplish this, Forterra focuses on land — how we all live, work and play sustainably on it today, knowing we will see significant growth over the next century.
Over the past 29 years they’ve become the common ground where people, often with very different points of view, come together around a shared love for this place. Forterra emphasize the connection between people and place — vibrant cities and healthy lands. Forterra work in all landscapes, from our most urban cities to our most majestic wild places. And they apply their broad range of skills including land conservation, stewardship, policy innovation and community engagement — all with one mission, to sustain our region.
Summary of Position
As Operations Associate for the five-person Marketing and Communications Team, you will help capitalize on Forterra’s strong momentum to make our work better known and supported among donors, opinion leaders, the media, and prospective partners. Specifically, you’ll coordinate key work of the team such as project calendars, scheduling of creative kickoffs, routing of proofs, and work with contractors such as freelance writers, designers, videographers and printers.
This is a job for someone with high energy and attention to detail, who enjoys organizing people and projects and can do so with a soft touch and a sense of humor. A person with an enterprising spirit will find many opportunities to stretch and contribute to the full range of the team’s work, and be positioned for advancement whether within Forterra, another nonprofit, or an ad and design agency.
Job duties and approximate time commitments
| 20% | In coordination with the Communications Director and the team VP, manage the team’s calendar, and ensure the flow of work stays manageable and deadlines are met. |
| 20% | Facilitate development and review of creative briefs, and monitor milestones in subsequent work by writers, designers, and editors. |
| 10% | Facilitate vendor relationships, ensuring that contracts are accurate and fully executed, and invoices are promptly paid. Relatedly, continuously monitor the team budget, flagging concerns for the Program Manager |
| 30% | Pitch in on other work of the team, while building skills. This could include assisting with social media, laying out a message in the email system, making website edits, doing light design work, editing copy for a brochure, or representing Forterra at community events. Also: Coordinate with operations unit on the Development/Fundraising team, ensuring smooth data flow between the departments. |
| 20% | Unstructured time for professional development with others from Rainier Valley Corps cohort, or other Forterra work as assigned. |
Required qualifications
- Great multi-tasking and organizational skills.
- Tact and grace in interpersonal dealings (the role sometimes has to push people on deadlines!)
- Interest in building and continuously improving systems and processes.
- Basic knowledge of office tools such as Outlook, Word and Excel.
- Proficiency in English and basic writing.
Other desirable qualifications
- Skills in team management tools such as Trello, Slack or Basecamp.
- Skills in email and social tools such as MailChimp, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- Skills in layout tools such Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.
Travel, Working Conditions, and Physical Environment
This position is subject to indoor environmental conditions typical to a professional office setting. Forterra will provide reasonable accommodations for people who are differently abled. The essential physical requirements of this position include:
- Ability to exert up to 20 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects.
- Ability to sit, stand, or otherwise remain in a stationary position at a computer workstation for the majority of the work day.
- Ability to occasionally move about inside the office to access file cabinets, office equipment, etc.
- Ability to constantly operate a computer and other office equipment such as calculators, copy machines, and printers.
- Ability to communicate accurately with co-workers, clients, and vendors about financial information and other matters related to the daily operations of the organization.
Background Check
A criminal background will not automatically eliminate you from consideration. However, because this position involves access to confidential/sensitive information and physical assets, Forterra will not hire into this position anyone who has been convicted of a criminal offense related to theft or fraud. A criminal history background check will be conducted on the final candidate prior to beginning employment.
Equal Opportunity Employer
Forterra believes that historic and current methods of real estate acquisition and development disproportionately affect the most marginalized people in society – including people of color, low-income people, women, and LGBTQ people. We believe that these communities must be centered in the work we do. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members or other marginalized communities.
Forterra is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE). Qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, veteran status, or any other class protected by law. Assistance and/or reasonable accommodations during the application process are available to individuals upon request. To request assistance or accommodation, please contact Human Resources at [email protected], 206-292-5907 and also cc Florence Sum at [email protected].