Whether you’re a first-time manager or you’re onboarding someone new, these are the tools Nina hands people when she wants to close the gap between “I got promoted” and “I actually know what I’m doing.”
From the Helia Library — based on the article The Missing Job Description, from our Coffee Chat with Nina Jacinto.
What’s Inside
Three resources, meant to be used together. Start with the Manager JD — the leveling matrix is most useful once you’re clear on what the job actually requires.
01 — The Manager JD
A step-by-step exercise for tracking everything you do, rating it 1-10, and taking your below-7 list to AI to figure out what it can help with. Use this first — before you chase any tools — to identify exactly where AI should fit into your work.
02 — Nina’s Leveling Matrix
A framework that shows how expectations shift across levels — useful for managers and team members alike. Use this once you’ve gotten clear on the management role itself and want to see how it maps to growth, performance, and clarity across your whole team.
03 — The Why Interview Guide
A structured interview template for finding people who’ll genuinely thrive at your organization — not just check the skills boxes. Use this when you’re hiring and want to evaluate motivation and mission alignment before investing more time in the process.
When Resources and Templates Aren’t Enough
These tools will help you name the management job, audit how you’re doing it, and hire for the team you actually want to build. What they can’t do is help you think through a struggling manager in real time, navigate a restructure or layoff with integrity, or build out a management culture from the top down. If you’re looking at a harder problem — performance, org change, or a team that just isn’t clicking — that’s usually where having a thought partner makes a real difference.
If You Want Help With Your Fundraising System
Nina Jacinto is a people operations strategist with a decade of experience in nonprofits and startups. She works with organizations on manager development, performance management, reorgs, and the kind of change that actually sticks.
She’s a good fit if:
- You have a manager (or are a manager) who’s struggling and needs real support, not just more feedback
- You’re planning a restructure, layoff, or significant org change and want to do it in a not-terrible way
- You want to build management culture from the top down, not hope it trickles up
- You’ve promoted someone into a management role and realized they need more than a new job title
Connect with Nina!
Not sure Nina‘s the right fit? Talk to Helia directly!
About Nina
Nina Jacinto has spent a decade leading people operations in nonprofits and startups, and now provides strategic consulting to organizations and teams. After managing five layoffs in five years, she figured out how to help organizations and their leaders make changes without losing their humanity — and now helps others do hard things with integrity.
Nina started the Long Beach Crochet Club for “introverts who like hobbies” when she moved to the city, has attended members’ weddings, and earned 117 five-star reviews for creating a community where people actually want to show up. She still uses “cheers” as her email sign-off.
