about the job
The greatest waste of our time is the waste of talent. There are millions of people who once had the ambition to do great things with their career, but got stuck in jobs that don't make the world better.
The School for Moral Ambition helps people turn their ideals into action. We run fellowships, community programs, and campaigns that empower talented people to work on the world's most pressing problems, from ending factory farming to fighting the tobacco industry and advancing tax fairness.
We believe that moral ambition, the drive to be one of the best but measured by different standards of success, can become a cultural force. We're not driven by guilt, but by enthusiasm: we're simply excited about making the world a wildly better place. You can read our founding principles here.
about the role
Behind every fellowship, campaign and community event sits unglamorous, precise work: invoices booked correctly, suppliers paid on time, payroll that lands without surprises for colleagues in three countries. We are looking for someone to own that work.
Let’s be honest about what this is: it is administration. A good part of the week is steady, repetitive work: matching bank transactions to receipts, processing invoices, checking payroll data line by line. If you get satisfaction from an inbox at zero and a set of books where everything reconciles, read on!
Luckily, there’s more to it than inbox-zero. First, precision really matters: we are funded by people and large foundations who trust us with their money, and our administration is the fundament of that trust. Second, we like people who tinker: our books run on Moneybird and QuickBooks, payroll on Remote and Gusto, our work on Asana and Slite. We have automated a lot and use Claude where possible, but there’s more. Much of the work has one shape: go into Moneybird or QuickBooks, get information out, and check that it agrees with the same figure somewhere else. Parts of that can be automated, and automating them is part of this job. If you are the type who builds a smarter spreadsheet or figures out how to make two tools talk to each other, there is room for that here once the basics run smoothly.
This is an entry-level role with real ownership from day one. You start with two clearly defined roles and take on more of our finance and people administration step by step as you grow into the job. You work closely with our Finance Lead, our People Ops Lead and our Operations Director.
We are hiring for 32 hours a week, or 40 if you would prefer that — there is enough work either way. The School is growing, and so is Moral Fabric, our spin-off operations-as-a-service organization, which is building up its own finance and payroll administration.
Key responsibilities
We work with clearly defined roles that you hold yourself, with real authority over how you do them. Click any role to see exactly what it is accountable for.
From day one:
- Bookkeeper — sending invoices, donation proofs and donation requests; processing incoming invoices in Moneybird; matching every bank transaction to its receipt; allocating costs to the right ledger and budget; reviewing the monthly P&L and balance sheet together with our Financial quality steward.
- Payments processor — keeping the overview of what is due and what is paid, and preparing payments in Moneybird and bunq for approval.
Step by step, as you grow into the job:
- Payroll — monthly payroll in Europe via Remote, biweekly in the US via Gusto; parental leave through UWV, 30%-ruling requests, NS cards, and being the person colleagues ask when their payslip looks odd.
- Insurances & Pensions — our contact with the insurance and pension advisor, and keeping the policies documented.
- Operations budget maker and Secretary of the Finance team — keeping the Operations budget honest and our finance records in order.
- Onboarder & Offboarder — contracts, accounts and employer statements for new and departing colleagues.
- From Audit and Assurance — gathering the information the audits need, and hands-on audit readiness.
- From External financial reporting — gathering information, preparing draft reports out of the accounting system, and checking that the systems and the reports agree.
- From VAT submitter — preparing the journals for VAT adjustments in Moneybird.
What We’re looking for
You need all of these:
- Fluent English, spoken and written. You will work with international colleagues every week, and our internal working language is English.
- Detail-oriented to the max. You notice when a number is off by two cents, or when you’ve seen an invoice before.
- Tidy by nature. You keep files, folders and inboxes in order without being asked.
- Able to plough through repetitive work without it fraying your accuracy.
- The right to work in the Netherlands, and able to be at our Amsterdam office at least one day a week.
- Available for 32 hours a week, or 40 if you prefer, so payroll and payment deadlines can always be met.
We are expecting 0–4 years of relevant experience. We care about how you work, not which diploma you hold. If you are early in your career and this would be your first or second job, you are very welcome to apply.
Bonus, not required:
- Dutch. A good part of our administration is in Dutch: the Belastingdienst, UWV, Dutch suppliers… so it makes the job easier and it is a plus. It is not a requirement: this work is being done here today without it.
- Experience with bookkeeping software (Moneybird, Quickbooks) or Dutch payroll.
- You like tinkering with tools: spreadsheets, automations, AI, whatever makes the work lighter.
- Curiosity about working in a self-managing organisation with explicit roles and no managers (we use Holacracy and Getting Things Done).
We value talent and a can-do attitude above traditional credentials. Even if you don't meet every requirement, we welcome you to challenge us and apply.
NB: You should already have the right to work in the Netherlands, as we are not able to sponsor visas for this role.
What we offer
- €3,000–€3,500 gross per month based on 40 hrs/week (€2,400–€2,800 at 32 hrs), including 8% holiday allowance, depending on experience, plus a pension plan with an 8% employer contribution (growing to 12.9% in 2027 in line with CAO Sociaal Werk). We use a transparent salary model with no negotiation: same lane, same experience, same salary.
- A first job with real ownership: clear roles, real responsibility, and a short path from idea to action.
- A self-managing environment with clear roles, autonomy and structure. We care about documentation, scalability and automation.
- Hybrid work setup and an office in the centre of Amsterdam, including a daily vegan lunch.
- Full coverage of your public transportation costs between home and work, and 30 days of paid holiday per year (pro rata).
- A role that grows in scope rather than just in hours: you take on more of our finance and people administration as you go, and possibly some work for Moral Fabric.
- A lot of fun. As we tried to convey in our founding principles: "We're not driven by feelings of guilt, but by sheer enthusiasm."
Application process
We are running a tight process, so please only apply if these dates work for you.
- Application (until Sunday 5 October) — fill out the online form. No motivation letter and no CV required, just focused questions. About 15 minutes.
- First conversation (7–9 October) — 30 minutes online with our Operations Director.
- Second conversation (13–15 October) — 45 minutes with our Finance Lead and People Ops Lead, about the actual work.
- Paid trial (16–22 October) — a half day at our office on real tasks. We reimburse your time and travel.
- Decision and offer (by 24 October) — we call you first to walk through the offer, then send it in writing.
We assess applications on a rolling basis, so applying early is recommended.
