The Fund for our Economic Future (“Fund”) seeks a full-time Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives to join its small leadership team. The Fund is primarily an in-office environment, with some remote work and schedule flexibility possible. ​This position is intended for an established leader and reports to the President of the Fund. ​$150,000- $175,000 per year, dependent on a candidate’s demonstrated abilities and experience relevant to the position, and the Fund offers competitive benefits.

About the Fund

Founded in 2004, the Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing equitable economic growth in Northeast Ohio. It is based in a unique membership model that brings together leaders from across sectors and throughout the region to collectively invest in, test, and amplify strategies for equitable growth. Ultimately, it unites understanding and actions to drive lasting change for Northeast Ohio’s economy and get to a better tomorrow, for all. For more about the Fund for Our Economic Future, please visit www.thefundneo.org.

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives is responsible for performance management across a portfolio of initiatives and emerging initiative ideation.

The person most likely to succeed in this role is an excellent listener, takes a “yes, and…” approach to ideation, enjoys presenting to a variety of audiences, has a strong grasp of the principles of equitable economic growth, can understand and interpret economic data, can develop and manage to performance milestones across a varied initiative portfolio and can connect between pilot initiatives and systemic change. They are execution-oriented and thrive on seeing the possible, developing implementation plans, bringing structure to unstructured ideas and building partnership. They are motivated by the potential to drive more equitable economic outcomes for the people of Northeast Ohio.

This is one of several full-time positions currently open at the Fund. Interested candidates who believe they are a good fit for the vision of the job, but don’t yet have the experience or capability to cover the full scope described are encouraged to review other position postings. Candidates for this role should note the Fund expects to meet this capacity need with either a senior director, as advertised in this posting, or one or more director positions, as advertised in companion position descriptions. I.e., this position is not managing a team of directors for the same scope.

Core Responsibilities:

Portfolio Performance Management. Senior Director will create, update and maintain a performance management system that connects between big picture equitable growth objectives and the Fund’s initiative portfolio and supports continued progress against the body of work in the 2022-2024 strategic direction. Responsibilities include:

  • Developing and maintaining a performance management template, connecting between the objectives of individual initiatives, the Fund’s three-year strategic objectives and the long-term vision of a growing Northeast Ohio with good jobs and rising incomes for all;
  • Regularly reviewing progress against goals with staff and supporting continued progress; and
  • Summarizing progress for President, Board and, as appropriate, the public.

Existing Initiative Oversight. Director is the lead staff for the Fund’s overall initiative portfolio. Responsibilities include overseeing existing significant job creation, job access and racial inclusion efforts. In addition, Director will have primary accountability for one or more Fund existing job creation, job access and racial inclusion efforts, e.g., developing a community investment fund, expansion of the ESGP tool or the next steps for The Paradox Prize.

Emerging Initiative Ideation. Director is charged with staying abreast of issues that matter to equitable economic growth and listening for and ideating around opportunities for the Fund to drive stronger outcomes. Responsibilities include:

  • Moving one or more current issues from idea to action plan
  • Bridging between problem observation and potential solutions;
  • Maintaining a strong cross-sector (private, public, philanthropic and community-based) partnership network, especially listening for opportunities for the Fund to support problem solving or new initiative development; and
  • Keeping up with the field of equitable economic growth.
  • Managing contracted data analysis firms for annual updates to headline equitable growth metrics and sourcing responsive data requests;

Education and Experience Specific to the Position:

  • A wide variety of past experiences could be applied to this position. Within those, prior experience influencing leaders without positional authority, structuring ideas, building new and/or bringing existing networks, serving in a consulting capacity and leading teams will be important for this position. Past experience as an accountable leader for the performance of a team or teams is required.
  • Evidence of exceptional listening skills, critical thinking ability, oral communication and presentation skills, economic analysis and an understanding of what matters for equitable economic growth and the communities the Fund seeks to serve are all extremely important.
  • Other important qualities include a working knowledge of economic data, service orientation, ability to self-manage, ability to manage and facilitate others, and written communication skills.
  • No specific level of education is required.

Good to Know:

  • The Fund is a mission-driven organization. Candidates best suited to this work are those excited about and ready to engage on tough issues related to advancing a growing, more equitable economy for all residents of Northeast Ohio, regardless of race or place.
  • The Fund values its staff and offers (and encourages use of!) competitive paid time off. Full time staff are covered by medical, dental, and short and long-term disability policies.
  • We seek to build a caring, high-performance culture. We also strive to be an environment where achieving excellence at work doesn’t prevent team members from living full outside-of-work lives.
  • The Fund is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, veteran status, disability status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law. We embrace and celebrate diversity and strive to create genuine belonging for all.

Applicants should send a cover letter and resume to Carolyn Cleveland (ccleveland@thefundneo.org.) Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.

 

Published
February 14, 2023