Vice President of Finance & Operations

Opportunity Profile

Administer Justice (AJ) is a national ministry headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, empowering vulnerable neighbors with the help of a lawyer and the hope of God’s love through the home of the church. Our vision is to expand access to justice and Jesus through 1,000 Gospel Justice Centers transforming lives in the name of Christ. For this to happen, we need a talented Vice President of Finance & Operations. You will be part of a team doing what has never been done before - advance gospel justice through church-based legal clinics for the underserved across America.

AJ’s VP of Finance and Operations will define the process and implement the financial and information systems needed to support substantial growth over the next five to ten years. They will continue to build and manage effective and efficient systems, including financial, accounting, human resources (HR), legal, information technology (IT), and physical infrastructure. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, their careful financial analysis and informational infrastructure will provide critical guidance for leadership to make strategic decisions as well as for Gospel Justice Centers to have excellent transparency in center operations, leading to the health and expansion of new sites nationwide.

THE PROBLEM WE ARE ON MISSION TO SOLVE

Today there is a crisis in America. It goes beyond the economy, and political divisions. When you look carefully, even within your own neighborhood, the crisis leaving a devastating wake is in our Justice System. America ranks 119th in the world for providing affordable access to justice. Today, 1 in 3 Americans cannot afford the high cost of lawyers. Did you know that one of your neighbors is turned away from legal help every second – that is 120 people in the time it takes to read this page - and 36 million requests this year. While TV and movie characters say “you have the right to a free attorney” that is only true if you are charged with a serious crime - NOT if you are the victim of violence, unfairness or discrimination. Without legal guidance, individuals are 21% more likely to be abused, 47% more likely to experience financial, physical, and emotional loss, and 70% more likely to need public assistance.

Mission: Since 2000, Administer Justice has stood in the gap to empower vulnerable neighbors with the help of a lawyer and the hope of God’s love. We exist to invite others to use their gifts to advance God’s kingdom of justice and righteousness. God’s heart beats for justice for the poor which is the second most prominent theme in the Bible. Because He cares, so do we. While Americans face 150 million civil legal issues a year, only 1 in 5 problems are ever reported and only 8% of those problems receive adequate attention. In a nation that pledges “liberty and justice for all”, that should not be. As Christ followers who are called to Administer true justice (Zech. 7:9), that must not be. Together we can change that story.

Vision: Our vision is to see 1,000 Gospel Justice Centers transforming lives in the name of Christ. Transformation takes place as a trained team of volunteers establish neighborhood church-based legal ministries. Each Center uniquely affirms dignity & sustainability, is biblical & holistic, while being church-led, team-supported and neighborhood based. The team provides legal, social, and spiritual support though a Justice Champion leader, Community Advocate promoter, Hospitality, Prayer, Intake Specialist, Interpreter, Attorney, Client Advocate, and Client follow-up advocate. Our logo demonstrates many diverse hands coming together to shine the light of the Holy Spirit into the darkness of injustice. We multiply impact through volunteers using their gifts to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God (Mic. 6:8).

Values: No one does justice alone. We value everyone doing their P.A.R.T. (1 Cor.12:12) We are passionate, adaptive, result-oriented, team-players. We live these values through our work knowing that our boss is Jesus. We embrace the truth that “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” Col. 3:23. Our values drive us to measure and improve results. We perform with excellence because we know we will give an account. This drives our staff to work through three teams to Engage, Equip and Ensure great outcomes. Staff use a model called Traction to align our mission, vision, and values.

Leadership: Administer Justice is led by CEO Bruce Strom. Bruce founded Administer Justice in 2000. He was the senior partner of a highly successful law practice before being called by God to leave that practice and join the ranks of the poor as he learned from them and served with them. He is the author of Gospel Justice published by Moody in 2013 and Persevering Power published by InterVarsity Press in 2023. Bruce is a pastor and a lawyer. He is married to Helen Lopez Strom and has twin sons, Joseph, and Daniel.

YOUR OPPORTUNITY

Administer Justice is currently seeking a talented full-time VP of Finance & Operations to strategically help advance our fast-growing national ministry. We are looking for an energetic and high-capacity leader who has demonstrated leadership in finance, HR, IT, and operations. This person is excited for the joy and challenge of applying his or her time, talents, and treasures to make a profound impact in the lives of thousands of vulnerable neighbors as they seek justice and find freedom to the glory of God.

The individual who assumes this role will report directly to the CEO and be an integral member of the senior leadership team, working to make strategic decisions for the organization. They will also be responsible for the following 4 areas:

Finance/Compliance

• Provide SLT with recommendations based on financial analysis and projections, cost identification and allocation, and regular revenue/expense analysis.
• Monitor and advise on a cash flow forecasting tool.
• Maintain plan to assess Cost of Acquisition, Sustaining Cost, and Return on Investment for a Gospel Justice Center (GJC) to achieve economies of scale for stewardship of God’s resources and advance self-sustainability. Present this information to the board each May.
• Develop, monitor, and implement vendor acquisition and assessment plans.
• Direct and manage the annual budget, audit, 990’s, and other legal and financial compliance matters.
• Develop and direct budget applications to teams for monitoring and daily accounting and finance functions.
• Oversee daily financial matters, payables, and payroll through oversight of Cedarstone, a key vendor handling these functions.
• Partner with CEO and legal counsel to manage multi-state corporate filings and legal compliance.

Human Resources

• Oversee hiring, onboarding, and offboarding processes and assist staff through those processes as needed.
• Oversee and assist managers with our semi-annual and annual performance review process, including compensation and role description review.
• Advance company compliance with HR, update Employee Handbook, and be responsible for effective management of HR functions.
• Evaluate and oversee all benefits negotiations, thus providing the most competitive packages for AJ’s employees.
• Support managers and staff with seeking appropriate Professional Development opportunities
• Help staff ensure proper work/life balance.

Data/IT and infrastructure

• Lead and implement AJ’s approach to data architecture, tech stack, system integrations, and governance for constituent management (Bloomerang CRM), financials (QBO), operations (LegalServer and Acuity), reporting, and communications systems (MS Teams, phones, video conferencing).
• Supervise our Impact & Data Systems Manager and help oversee the continuous improvement process.
• Secure our non-profit certifications and renewals.
• Develop, adopt, and implement new technology tools and practices, while improving upon existing systems. Manage relationships with IT Vendors.
• Partner with the Equip and Engage Team to support their data/reporting needs.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration using information systems, technology tools, and efficient workflows to bridge across systems and teams.
• Critically evaluate all formal finance-, IT-, and HR-related procedures, processes, and administration, recommending improvements and automation to the systems in place for efficient management of the systems going forward.

Facilities

• Serve as point of contact for landlord and utilities companies.
• Oversee policies and processes for maintaining our office. Seek out cost-savings in our facilities usage.

The impact you will have: When done well you will experience joy from:

• Knowing you were used by God as His instrument in moving His church and His people to advance His heart for justice in a way that has never happened before.
• Seeing the success of the ministry resulting from inspired confidence and trust through full transparency and compliance with all legal, grant, and other accounting policies and practices.
• Knowing the systems and processes you helped implement led to growing sustainability.
• Seeing lives transformed through the expansion of Gospel Justice Centers.

SKILLS NEEDED

The skills needed to ensure the success of the role include:

1. Competent – Solid financial skills and background, nuts and bolts experience in the operations of a business and/or nonprofit, a strategic thinker with a big-picture mentality.
2. Committed – Passionate about the mission of the organization and understands the realities of the nonprofit sector.
3. Communicative – Able to speak in non-financial language, can translate and teach financial literacy, relates well to the board of directors and multiple stakeholders.
4. Strategic – Flexible, thinks outside the box, figures out how to say “yes” and make things possible! The ideal candidate does not simply do the same old thing but will be a specialist who watches new accounting, regulations, technology, and other areas that could impact compliance or operational growth to raise with the CEO and leadership team.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Success in this role is measured by:

• Highest level of achievement from not-for-profit certifications. This will require financial and data integrity and accuracy with budget, cash flow projections, and reporting.
• Compliance with grant funds, 990s, audit, legal, internal policies for expenditure approval and reimbursements, reporting to Board Treasurer/full board as evidenced by a clean management report from the auditors.
• Consistently identifying cost-savings for the organization, while not compromising growth, as evidenced by keeping cost within the board’s approved budget.
• Consistently achieving the board’s goal in staff engagement and culture metrics.
• Successful advancement of Ensure Team goals and objectives.

QUALIFICATIONS

• In a growing, energetic relationship with Jesus Christ and aligned with Administer Justice’s Statement of Faith.
• A collaborative and flexible style, with a strong service mentality. Needs to be seen as a team player who is committed to lifelong learning.
• Bachelor's and/or master’s degree in accounting, Finance, or Business and/or a combination of equivalent education and/or experience preferred.
• The VP of Finance & Operations will have at least five to eight years or more of professional experience, ideally including managing the finance and administration of a high-growth organization (nonprofit experience a plus). They will have experience creating and driving the analytic framework across finance (accounting, budgeting, control, and reporting), HR, and IT for planning and managing organizational change in a highly entrepreneurial organization.
• Understanding of QuickBooks Online (QBO), budgeting, cash flows, designated funds, balance sheets, not-for-profit information returns, and audits.
• Flexible and a self-starter; able to multitask while also being highly detail-oriented.
• Strong analytical skills and experience interpreting a strategic vision into an operational model.
• Demonstrated effective interpersonal skills, resourceful and creative problem-solving, conflict resolution, and ethical management. Experience managing multiple vendors/contractors.
• Motivated by good stewardship and seeing the impact that has on the team as they advance God’s Kingdom of justice.

COMPENSATION

The position is full-time salaried exempt and provides health insurance, 3% matching retirement plan, holidays, paid time off days, cell phone reimbursement and other reimbursements. Compensation is benchmarked against not-for-profits of comparable size in the range of $78,000 to $82,000.

INQUIRY PROCESS

If after reading this description, you have interest in the VP of Finance & Operations position at Administer Justice and you feel you meet the qualifications for the role, you are invited to submit the following information for consideration:

• Your resume or CV (PDF).
• 3 references (at least 1 ministry, 2 professional peer/colleague). Include phone and email information for each reference. These references will be contacted later in the process and only with your prior approval.
• Take the bosiDNA “Employee” Assessment at https://bosidna.com/assessment and submit your results
• Written response to:
  • Share your personal faith story. How and when did you enter a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? How have you been growing spiritually? How do you stay spiritually refreshed amid a busy life?
  • What specifically about Administer Justice is attracting you to apply for this position?
  • What experiences and/or accomplishments have you had that make you an ideal fit for the position?

Application Deadline 11:59pm on Monday, November 30, 2026