São Paulo
40h weekly
About Us
LALA identifies high-potential, highly motivated young people aged 14 to 20 (many of them from historically marginalized communities) and gives them access to programs that develop skills in leadership, entrepreneurship, social innovation, social-emotional learning, and critical thinking. LALíderes join a lifelong community of change agents and partner organizations that work to address the region's most pressing challenges. To learn more about our mission, visit our website: https://latinamericanleadershipacademy.org/
The Field
LALA Brazil's Finance and Operations department is responsible for ensuring that the organization's back office functions smoothly, efficiently, and strategically. It covers the following sub-areas: Administrative-Financial, Legal, Admissions, People, and Communication. Each of these plays an essential role in enabling LALA to deliver its programs with excellence and expand its impact.
All bureaucratic and legal administration of the entity and its programs fall within the Operations area. For finance, we rely on external suppliers to help us with routine tasks and budget control for the organization, but the board is responsible for reporting to LALA Global, which consolidates data with other hubs. In the legal department, LALA also relies on an external pro bono law firm that provides regulatory, tax, corporate, and other support that we need, including for the programs, teams, and partnerships we carry out, ensuring compliance with Brazilian law.
The Admissions team plans and conducts the entire selection process for young people from across Latin America to join the LALA community. The responsibilities of the four-person team include: defining the strategy and searching for these young people, working in partnership with the communications department; researching and efficiently using technologies such as Artificial Intelligence for customer service and recruitment and selection platforms; supporting young people in raising funds to participate in LALA; managing the LALíderes hired to provide seasonal support with interviews and panels; conducting socioeconomic assessments of candidates for scholarship offers and identifying specific profiles to receive support from partner organizations, among other activities.
The RH area is responsible for recruiting, selecting, and supporting the management and development of the team based at LALA Brazil, as well as providing operational support to seasonal contractors
throughout Latin America.
Finally, the communications area coordinates the dissemination of applications, programs, tells the stories of LALíderes, and works closely with other areas (such as fundraising and partnerships) to ensure that the message is always aligned with the objectives of LALA Brasil and the guidelines of LALA Global.
Together, these sub-areas form the basis of Finance and Operations, which enables the continuity of LALA Brazil's activities and supports the sustainable growth of the organization.
The Job
The Director of Finance and Operations will play a strategic and cross-functional role, being responsible for defining the vision, strategy, and priorities of the Operations area, always in alignment with the direct support of LALA Brazil's leadership and LALA Global's guidelines, ensuring efficiency, financial sustainability, legal compliance, operational excellence, and a strong organizational culture aligned with LALA's values.
He or she will have a team of 10 people distributed among the areas that report to the Directorate. He or she will work in close partnership with the Executive Board, Associates, and Advisors in Brazil, as well as LALA's Global team, leading diverse and high-potential teams.
Profile
Behavioral profile:
• Strategic, inspiring, and collaborative leadership.
• Strong sense of responsibility and autonomy.
• Excellent communication with multiple stakeholders.
• Analytical skills, systemic vision, and complex problem solving.
• Adaptability, innovation, and openness to new approaches.
Mandatory Requirements
• More than 10 years of experience in leadership positions in the Third Sector or
Education organizations;
• Solid experience in financial and operational areas (legal, people, project management, or operations);
• Knowledge of governance, compliance, audits, and good management practices in the third sector;
• Higher education in Administration, Economics, Law, People Management,
Engineering, or related areas;
• Postgraduate degree, MBA, or master's degree (preferably in management, the third sector, finance, people, or operations).
• Advanced English; Spanish will be a plus.
• Experience in using data for decision-making.
Application Process
Send your CV and a cover letter/motivation letter of no more than one page, including your desired salary or current remuneration, by February 1, 2026, to [email protected].
Three interviews are planned, with participation at different stages of the process by the Executive Management of Brazil and LALA Global (in English), Global Operations Management, and HR Coordination, in addition to a case to be resolved in English.
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