Administrative Manager

About UDC

At Upside Down Consulting (UDC), we work to replace our socio-economic system with a solidarity economy that centers life, care for one another, and justice. We focus on the economy in recognition of the multi-generational violence that our racist, capitalist economy has inflicted on all of us, and especially on poor and working class people of color.

We specialize in cooperative start-up development. In partnership with Chicago organizers, UDC incubated ChiFresh Kitchen, a worker cooperative food service contracting business which is owned and determined by Black women oppressed by the criminal injustice system. We are now expanding on that work and planning to build two new worker cooperatives as well as a housing cooperative - Jumpstart Housing Co-op - each of which will be owned and governed by Black women with lived experience in the criminal injustice system. Together, UDC and these cooperatives have come together in an umbrella organization, VOLTS: Village of Leaders Thriving in Solidarity.

UDC is a worker-owned cooperative and this role will be eligible for membership in the cooperative.

Responsibilities

Upside Down Consulting is looking for a full-time administrative manager who will be responsible for developing and managing the increasingly complex bureaucratic needs of all of the organizations in the VOLTS ecosystem. We’re looking for a highly organized and detail-oriented individual who excels at navigating bureaucracy, managing deadlines, and ensuring that administrative processes run smoothly and efficiently. The administrative manager will be responsible for:

• Grant Management: Managing timelines and submissions for grant applications, collecting metrics, invoicing fiscal sponsor, and reporting.
• Legal & Insurance Compliance: Maintaining legal good standing, MWBE certification applications and renewals, licensing, industry specific certifications, and insurance requirements.
• Document Management: Setting up Google Drive structures for new entities, sorting incoming mail, setting up and maintaining physical file structures.
• Administrative Coaching: Support organizations and individuals in the VOLTS ecosystem with developing the professional and technical skills needed to take on parts of this work.

As part of the UDC team, you are also expected to spend some time learning about the solidarity economy movement.

• Learn about cooperative practices and solidarity economy principles and values
• Build skills in one or more areas of cooperative development (facilitation, collective decision-making, conflict resolution, business development)

Experience & Qualifications

Research shows that women, people of color, people with disabilities, and members of marginalized/systematically excluded groups only apply to jobs if they meet 100% of the qualifications. If you are in alignment with the values and work of UDC, even if you don’t meet all of the qualifications, apply anyway and let us decide before you count yourself out. People who have been directly impacted by incarceration are strongly encouraged to apply as well.

• Minimum of 1-3 year(s) of professional experience
• Professional email writing experience
• Experience with organizational, productivity and communication tools. Currently we utilize Google Suite, Slack, Miro, Trello, Calendly and Zoom.

Core Values & Commitment to Social Justice

• Everyone at UDC is expected to be committed to an ongoing personal journey of anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-ableism, anti-homophobia, anti-transphobia, anti-classism, and anti-oppression in all its forms.
• Everyone at UDC is expected to recognize that the “professional” skills - like those we are requiring here - are not inherently more valuable than any other form of work, and that these skills are overvalued in capitalism.
• While you do not need to have any experience in cooperatives, we expect you to become familiar with solidarity economy concepts and to be aligned with cooperative economics and anti-capitalism.

Workstyle & Culture

• Each member of our team is self-directed and autonomous. We currently do not have capacity to provide long-term supervision or mentorship. As a result, we are looking for people with experience in self-management.
• We expect everyone to work toward a direct and collaborative communication style.
• Community, joy, and care for each other is part of our workplace culture. We bring our whole selves to work and expect a level of care that you would provide to anyone you are in community with.
• Sometimes we have more work on our plates than we can reasonably get done. We expect team members to proactively communicate when that is the case so we can rethink our priorities and reallocate our capacity across the team.
• Mistakes (even big ones) are expected. Questions are welcome and we have multiple channels available to make sure we are able answer them. We expect all team members to admit and acknowledge mistakes, learn from previous mistakes, apply measures to avoid repeat concerns, and be open to feedback.
• We appreciate outspokenness and the willingness to bring new ideas and/or push back against practices that may be ineffective or not in line with our values. Our team practices humility and a growth mindset.

Location & Start Date

• This position is based in the Chicagoland area and is a hybrid in person / at home position, bearing in mind in order to perform at your role effectively you may require being in person heavily in the first 6 months of your employment
• We are looking to fill this position as soon as possible