Head of Operations and Finance at IT/Energy Nonprofit (Remote | English & German)

Head of Operations and Finance at IT & Energy Nonprofit  (Remote | English & German)

Location: Fully remote. We welcome applications from a range of countries, provided there is sufficient working-hours overlap with our European team. Our ability to hire in a particular country depends on local employment arrangements and compensation levels.

Employment: Full-time preferred; 80-100% arrangements can be considered.

Languages: Fluent English required; German strongly preferred

Experience Required: Significant relevant experience in Finance & Operations, typically 8+ years.

Salary Range: Market-related by region and based on experience

Work Travel Requirements: Up to once per quarter

Start Date Goal: Flexible, depending on notice period

About Us:

Open Energy Transition (OET) is a German nonprofit making energy planning faster, more equitable and more trusted. We do this by  developing and applying open-source software and data.

Our fully remote team of around 50 people works with grid operators, regulators, funders and other energy institutions around the world. Our operating model combines philanthropic funding, complex B2B and B2G projects, and software products and services.

As OET grows, we are bringing our Finance and Operational functions under one senior leader.

To learn more about OET and our team, visit our website  and browse around our public Handbook.

The role

We are looking for a Head of Operations & Finance to lead the organizational backbone that enables OET to scale effectively and sustainably.

In this role, you will be part of OET's senior leadership team, and the CEO's primary partner for matters relating to business operations, risk mitigation, and financial management.

Reporting directly to the CEO, you will lead financial management, project and grant finance, business administration and internal business systems. You will also oversee the existing people operations and coordinate internal teams and external consultants to ensure we meet deadlines and regulations in the IT support, information security, data protection, and corporate compliance areas, ensuring that they all have clear ownership and appropriate specialist support.

A major priority will be building strong financial management across a project-heavy organization. This includes restricted funds, project budgets, cost allocation, forecasting, financial reporting and donor or client requirements.

This is a role with broad accountability, not an expectation that one person does everything. While we expect a hands-on leader, you will lead a lean internal team and coordinate project leads, technical colleagues, and external specialists across areas such as accounting, tax, legal, IT, information security, and data protection. 

You will have significant freedom to shape the team, systems, and external-support model as OET grows. Important is that you enjoy building better organizations: creating clarity, improving systems, solving problems, and helping colleagues make good decisions.

What you will own

Finance & Project Control

• Lead organizational budgeting, forecasting, cash management, controlling, and management reporting.
• Own the financial framework for projects and restricted funds, including budgeting, cost allocation, expenditure tracking, and forecasting.
• Ensure reliable accounting, payroll, banking, tax, statutory reporting, and audits together with internal colleagues and external advisors.
• Partner with the CEO and Project Leads on proposal budgets, contracts, pricing, indirect-cost recovery, and major financial decisions.
• Provide clear financial analysis that helps leadership and project teams make sound decisions.
• Ensure information security, data protection, organizational risk, and business continuity activities meet internal and regulatory standards, by coordinating with a team of specialist colleagues and external advisors.

Business Operations & Systems

• Own core business administration, including contracts, procurement, vendors, insurance, BusOps policies and recurring corporate obligations.
• Develop and improve OET's finance and business systems, including ERP, project accounting, reporting, workflows and automation.
• Establish a scalable internal IT support function covering employee support, access and account management, onboarding and offboarding, business software and vendor coordination.
• Ensure information security, data protection, organizational risk and business-continuity activities are appropriately managed together with specialist colleagues and external advisors.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and build pragmatic solutions that work for a growing, fully remote organization.

Team & Organization

• Lead and develop a lean team across Finance, People Operations and Administration/Operations roles.
• Set clear responsibilities and ensure important operational work is coordinated and completed.
• Decide what should be handled internally, automated, or supported by specialist external providers.
• Work closely with the CEO and other leaders to continuously strengthen OET's operating model.

What you bring

We are looking for someone with:

• Significant experience in finance, accounting, controlling, or finance-led business operations.
• Strong experience with project accounting, restricted funds, grants, or contract-funded work.
• Broad business-administration experience beyond finance, for example across systems, vendors, contracts, organizational processes or people operations.
• Experience building or substantially improving finance and operational systems in a growing organization.
• Confidence working with accountants, auditors, banks, software providers, and other professional advisors.
• Strong analytical judgment and the ability to turn financial and operational information into clear decisions.
• Experience leading people and creating effective teams.
• Excellent written and spoken English, a high level of integrity, and comfort working in an autonomous, fully remote, asynchronous organization.

You do not need to be an expert in every operational discipline. We value the ability to establish ownership, work effectively with specialists, and ensure outcomes are delivered.

Bonus Points For:

• Knowledge of German accounting, tax, or non-profit administration.
• Professional proficiency in German. Our internal lingua franca is English, but German is a big bonus for some external stakeholders.
• Experience in a project-based nonprofit, professional-services organization, technology / IT company, or SaaS environment.
• Experience with donor reporting, public grants, or multi-country projects.
• Experience with ERP and project accounting systems such as Odoo or DATEV.
• Experience establishing internal IT support or IT service management processes.
• Familiarity with ISO 27001, SOC2, data protection, or comparable governance frameworks.
• A finance, accounting, or business administration qualification, or equivalent professional training.

A university degree is not required. We care more about demonstrated financial competence, business judgement, and the ability to build effective organizations.

Why OET

This role offers:

• Real influence: you will report directly to the CEO and play an important role in organizational and financial decisions.
• Meaningful ownership: lead a critical function while having the freedom to shape how it operates.
• Interesting complexity: work across international projects, philanthropy, software, and organizational growth.
• High autonomy: join a fully remote, flexible, high-trust working environment.
• Meaningful mission: help strengthen an organization working on critical infrastructure and the global energy transition.

Application process

Please apply with your resume and brief answers to a small number of role-specific questions. A generic cover letter is not required.

The selection process will include an introductory conversation, structured interviews focused on relevant experience and working style, a short practical case based on situations you could encounter in the role, and reference checks. OET may also require applicable background checks, depending on the final nature of the role, subject to agreement by the successful candidate.

OET is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds, and encourage you to apply if you meet most of the essential requirements, even if you do not meet every preferred qualification.