Director of Strategic Partnerships – Forward Together – Oakland, CA

Job Announcement: Director of Strategic Partnerships

Forward Together is looking for a dynamic senior level leader to play a key role in building and deepening high level relationships and partnerships with funders and allies across the country. We are seeking an ambitious, organized and high-performing leader who can communicate the vision, values and impact of Forward Together’s work to build out the financial resources and relationships with key leaders in our movement building work. This is a unique opportunity to be a strategic partner to the Executive Director and the senior management team at one of the leading reproductive justice organizations in the country. Application deadline is March 28, 2015.

Position: Director of Strategic Partnerships

Employment Type: Full time staff position, Exempt

Compensation: Competitive salary DOE, plus full benefits and generous PTO

Reports to: Executive Director

Who We Are

Forward Together is a multi-racial organization whose mission is to ensure that women, youth and families have the power and resources they need to reach their full potential and have self determination over the bodies, their sexuality and family formation. Our bold and innovative campaigns move policy and change conditions so that all families can thrive. Forward Together leads Strong Families, the largest national network of over 150 groups working to secure rights, win recognition and uplift the voices of families most impacted by injustice. While working to create a better future for all families, we are also committed to building an organization that values relationships, recognizes the strengths of each staff member and nurtures a new generation of leaders. You would be working with a team of committed, enthusiastic and smart people who work hard, laugh easily and are eager to attract, develop and support leaders like yourself in advancing social justice. Find out more about us at forwardtogether.org.

The Opportunity

This is a unique leadership position that bridges our institutional fundraising and our movement building work. The Director of Strategic Partnerships (DSP) will manage the development team and work in partnership with the Executive Director to develop and advance Forward Together’s institutional fundraising strategy, including cultivating relationships with funders. The DSP will also work with Forward Together’s dynamic team of senior program directors to build and manage high-level partnerships for the Strong Families Initiative. This position will provide input into the overall movement building strategy for Strong Families and be responsible for building key partnerships that move our programmatic work forward. This is not a grant-writing job. While the DSP will write a few proposals when necessary, they will mostly be supervising a team who will do the majority of the proposal and report writing and managing grants and the grant tracking system.

You’re perfect for this position if…

You love building relationships with leaders and find ways for them to contribute to achieving organizational work and vision
You thrive on change, innovation and risk-taking
You are a great storyteller, and writing and public speaking come naturally to you
You are a strategic thinker who can take complex ideas, connect the dots and formulate an institutional fundraising strategy based on organizational vision and priorities
You can manage teams very effectively
You are organized, good with systems, detail oriented and have impeccable follow-through
You are comfortable dealing with numbers including creating budgets, tracking revenue and expense reporting
You are drawn towards an organizational culture that emphasizes direct communication, problem solving, teamwork and shared leadership
You are looking to build long-term organizational home among a team of high-functioning, effective leaders who share your values of social justice

Responsibilities

Institutional Fundraising

Works with the Executive Director to develop the overall strategy for institutional fundraising
Leads the development and implementation of an annual work plan for institutional fundraising
Builds relationships and communicates with current and prospective funders through email, phone calls and in-person meetings locally and across the country
Represents Forward Together by networking, participating in, and giving presentations at professional meetings and funder events locally and across the country
Works with the Finance Director to manage an effective system of tracking institutional funding income, maintaining income projections and creating expense reports
Does minimal grantwriting and manages a team to ensure that all grant deadlines are met and submitted on time, including budget proposals and financial reports
Communicates regularly with senior level program staff to stay abreast of all of Forward Together’s programmatic work
Supervises one or more members of the Development Team, including contract grantwriters

Movement Building

Works with the Executive Director and Senior Program Directors to identify and prioritize opportunities for building strategic collaborations
Cultivates and builds relationships with high level strategic partners for the purpose of developing and implementing collaborative work that advances the mission of Forward Together
Works collaboratively with Senior Program Directors to leverage cross-program strengths toward advancing strategic collaborations
Represents Forward Together by networking, participating in and giving presentations at priority conferences and coalition tables
Leads evaluation and documentation of strategic collaborations for both internal organization and external movement audiences
Potential for this position to supervise one or more Senior Program Directors

Qualifications

Minimum 8 years’ experience in a leadership role at a nonprofit organization, especially in institutional fundraising and movement building
Good people skills and oral communication skills, and an infectious, positive attitude when talking about Forward Together’s work
Excellent written communication skills including precise copy editing
Demonstrated track record of management-level responsibilities including budget development and supervision
Demonstrated strategic thinking and leadership skills, including an awareness of organizational goals and priorities
Highly organized and systematic with superb time and project management skills and ability to juggle competing priorities and deadlines
Flexible and comfortable working under pressure in a fast-paced environment with shifting priorities
Demonstrated clear and effective judgment/decision-making on funding-related matters
Comfortable handling and being exposed to sensitive and confidential information
Comfort and experience dealing with numbers
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, web browsers, Gmail, Google Calendar and the basics of spreadsheet, database and video conferencing software
Experience with database development preferred, such as Salesforce and other Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) platforms
Ability to travel nationally and locally multiple times per year.
Background check required.
Commitment to Forward Together’s mission and social justice
Can lead effective teams that are detailed oriented and results driven
Experience working on behalf of diverse and underserved populations preferred
Ability to work well in teams and use direct communication to express needs

People of color, queer and gender non-conforming people and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply. EOE.

To Apply:

Please send cover letter, resume, writing sample and 3 references to: jobs@forwardtogether.org with the subject line “Director of Strategic Partnerships Search”.

Note that e-mail submissions are preferred, but you may mail to: ATTN Director of Strategic Partnerships Search, Forward Together, 1440 Broadway, Suite 301, Oakland, CA 94612.

No phone calls, please. Due to the high volume of applications, only those selected for further discussion will be contacted.

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