Job Description

Chief Operating Officer (31,000)

Central London | 40 Hours Per Week

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 into useful services, processes or campaigns. You 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 them to decide whether this is the right place for you and to shape the examples you share in your application.

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

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: 31,000.00 per year

Application question(s):

TAKING SOMETHING FROM PROBLEM TO RESULT.
In 750 words, tell us about a time you spotted a problem and took the lead to fix it. What was happening, what did you do, and what changed because of your actions? Please include any way you measured the result.

BUILDING RESPECT AND ACCESSIBILITY INTO YOUR WORK.
In 750 words, give one example where you made it easier other groups of people to take part. What was getting in the way, what did you change, and how do you know it helped? If your example is not trans-specific, say briefly how you would apply the same approach in a trans-led context.

Work Location: In person