Senior Coordinator - Volunteer Operations

Job Title: Senior Coordinator, Volunteer Operations

Team: Volunteer Team (External Affairs)

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: October 2026

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs Report.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000–100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Senior Coordinator, Volunteer Operations who will serve as the operational backbone of Braven’s volunteer pipeline, ensuring that thousands of Leadership Coach, Professional Mentor, and Mock Interview volunteers move through selection, vetting, training, and onboarding with consistency, quality, and care.

As a member of the Volunteer Team within External Affairs, you’ll be the operational steward of the systems and processes that keep the volunteer journey running smoothly, owning their day-to-day execution, working closely with colleagues across the full volunteer lifecycle, and bringing a continuous improvement mindset to everything you do.

Because Braven is a rapidly scaling organization, this role is designed to provide nimble, skilled support wherever it’s most needed across the volunteer lifecycle. Some of your most impactful contributions may come from stepping into gaps that aren’t yet in anyone’s job description.

This role is on the Volunteer Team within External Affairs and reports directly to the Head of Volunteer Programs.

What You’ll Do

Volunteer Pipeline Operations: Info Sessions, Selection, Vetting, and Training (50%)

• Run the day-to-day execution of pipeline conversion across the full recruitment and onboarding process, maintaining the systems, outreach cadences, and trackers that move volunteers from info session to application, application to interview, acceptance to vetting, and vetting to training completion.
• Execute targeted outreach to volunteers who have stalled at any stage of the pipeline using Salesforce reports, Mogli, Jira, and other tools to identify, prioritize, and re-engage candidates in close coordination with the stream leads who own conversion goals for their respective phases.
• Conduct candidate interviews and complete weekly selection audits evaluating applicants against Braven's volunteer standards scoring rubrics, and reviewing recommendations made by part-time Selection Specialists for quality and consistency. Ensure background check compliance.
• Oversee VIP applicant coordination and Salesforce record accuracy across the pipeline, flagging issues, driving high-priority candidates to completion, and maintaining clean data through key milestones.
• Lead roughly 50% of volunteer info sessions as a primary program spokesperson, managing related scheduling and follow-up logistics, and supporting occasional volunteer office hours.

Volunteer Communications Operations (20%)

• Manage the volunteer pipeline inbox during peak periods, providing responsive, on-brand support to applicants and active volunteers, and developing response templates and triage protocols over time.
• Engage in structured feedback of Braven’s mass communications to volunteers, reviewing dozens of automated email journeys for clarity and consistency.
• Collaborate on informational materials used by volunteers, such as role descriptions and onboarding guides.
• Serve as a cross-functional point of contact for internal teams – relaying relevant updates and helping ensure consistent communication between central Volunteer Operations and key partners in delivery (e.g., regional partners).

Drive Operational Improvement & Automation (15%)

• Actively identify manual or high-lift processes within your scope and bring concrete proposals to streamline, automate, or eliminate them, including potential use of AI-powered connectors, a ticketing system for inbox management, or similar solutions.
• Document processes, maintain Confluence pages across the volunteer pipeline, and create or update operational materials to ensure knowledge is not siloed.
• Share insights from volunteer interactions and pipeline data with the broader team, surfacing patterns and pain points to inform program improvements.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Flex Support (15%)

• Provide nimble support across the volunteer lifecycle during unanticipated moments of high need, including recruitment surges, launch preparation, and coverage during leaves or transitions.
• Support the broader Volunteer Team with internal communications, meeting preparation, and follow-through on team commitments, helping ensure that key information is documented, shared, and acted on, particularly during high-demand periods and transitions.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• At least 1 year of work experience

Preferred Qualifications

• At least 2 years of work experience in volunteer management, program management, human resources, or recruitment
• Adapt nimbly, innovate, and make decisions with rigor, grounded in data and lived experience
• Get things done through effective planning, prioritization, project/team management, and follow-through
• Commitment to continuous learning and improvement and comfortability seeking out, receiving, implementing, and sharing constructive feedback
• Strong ability to collaborate effectively and cross-functionally with teammates in a complex and fast-paced environment
• Unwavering customer service orientation with the ability to stay committed to finding solutions when challenges arise
• Strong communication and facilitation skills with the ability to present ideas in a concise, clear, engaging way, and adapt the approach to meet the needs of a variety of audiences
• Natural problem solver at the systems level with the ability to thrive in the gray, while being excited about and able to convert that gray into black and white
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL) 3 days per week
• Travel: 3-4 times annually out of state for team events
• Some evenings and weekends are required to support programming activities, including around 6-8 Saturdays per year and 3-5 evenings per month

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Performance Task
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Benefits

Compensation

Braven offers opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly relative to one another, their qualifications, and their impact on the organization, and we take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each offer is carefully determined using external and internal benchmarks.

The hiring range is determined by role scope, qualifications, and internal equity, with annual growth based on performance. Braven does not base compensation on individual candidate salary expectations and is committed to maintaining internal equity. The hiring ranges for this role by geographic market are set forth in Chicago at $47,000-$50,500. This is based on a 50-hour work week at an hourly rate. This is a full-time, regular, non-exempt, and benefits-eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.  

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe our total rewards package aligns with what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply. 

Location

We gather in the office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and work remotely 2 days a week (Monday and Friday). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of Chicago. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.