Executive Director

• Business Planning and Execution – Develop and drive the organization within the context of the nationwide strategic direction; drive a collaborative process with the Board and staff. Use performance metrics and quality indicators to guide operational decision-making.
• Board Development – Cultivate a strong Board of Directors willing to lead and contribute to the fund development success of the organization. Work to assure independent governance oversight and performance accountability of the board and the ED.
• Talent Management – Attract, retain, develop and leverage staff talent. Create an environment where staff is engaged and performing at high levels. Institute and utilize an effective performance management system for all employees that includes annual objective setting and evaluation.
• Financial Management – Develop plans that maximize the financial strength of the agency without adversely affecting other criteria of success (e.g., customer satisfaction, quality of service). Communicate the key performance indicators and manage to those measures.
• Fund Development – Pro-actively ensure that the organization develops strong long-term relationships with large-scale individual, foundation and corporate donors/funders. Personally build and maintains key relationships to ensure fund development strategy is achieved.
• Program Impact – Ensure that comprehensive marketing strategies are developed to attract, engage and mobilize significant numbers of volunteer mentors. Ensure programmatic excellence and maximum program impact is achieved by establishing operational benchmarks, setting timelines and making child safety a priority.
• Ambassador and Spokesperson – Represent Big Brothers Big Sisters at external partnership events and with the media. Positively influence partners, the media and public policies to generate volunteers, donors and other resources.

LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES:

Strategic and Visionary Leadership

• Think big picture, separating the critical from the routine. Develop vision and strategies that position the organization for growth. Provide focus for organization.
• Gain commitment from others to achieve the vision.
• Allocate and align resources to achieve strategy; forecast and prepare for contingencies.

Trusted Influencer and Relationship Builder

• Invest in internal and external relationships that are sustainable over time and build strong teams.
• Actively network with potential strategic partners and individuals, and coach his/her team to form partnerships and collaborations.
• Model and require collaboration with others, taking time to build trust and explore mutual interests. Build commitment vs. compliance.
• Pass on to staff and board insights about potentially challenging dynamics in the organization; coach them on how to navigate difficult relationships and form effective relationships with others.

Ethics and Values

• Translate & operationalize vision in a way that is grounded in the agency’s shared values.
• Act in an ethical manner reflecting core values of integrity, transparency, accountability, respect and responsibility. Act above reproach in all that is done on behalf of BBBS.
• Model openness, honesty, respect and accountability to colleagues, volunteers, donors and all others involved with BBBS.
• Provide a work environment that values diversity and inclusion among volunteers and employees regardless of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status or disability.

Enterprise and Systems Thinking

• Employ a broad perspective to balance priorities in a way that accomplishes the overall goals of the agency.
• Demonstrate understanding of the financial and other drivers that influence agency success; use this business acumen to influence others, create shared goals and drive initiatives.
• Reconcile tension between growth and stability; allocate resources in order to build and leverage multiple capabilities to capture funding opportunities.
• Thoughtfully reach decisions and evaluate the impact of decisions on agency systems, processes and people.

Drive for Results and Performance

• Set and execute high-performance targets through focus, and drive toward a measurable standard of excellence.
• Establish systems and processes that hold managers/employees accountable for their actions and results; motivate Board and staff to create a high performance culture.
• Show resilience when targets are not met; develop action plans to address shortfalls; incorporate performance feedback from others and make adjustments; can be counted on to ‘come back strong’ rather than lose drive.
• Focus on migrating authority and decision making to the lowest possible levels to lead an efficient, action-oriented and learning culture; accept the associated risks and mistakes in the spirit of continuous learning.

Change Leadership

• Champion change initiatives undertaken by the agency by leading and energizing others around such strategies.
• Align all aspects of the organization (structure, process, culture, rewards, employees, volunteers) to achieve change goals.
• Introduce change at a pace that is grounded in the need to achieve strategic objectives.
• Identify significant obstacles or resistance to change and work to resolve issues by pulling (influencing), rather than pushing others to change.
• Solicit input from employees about changes and address them.

Customer Focus

• Make extra efforts to meet customer needs, surface underlying customer concerns and interests and build customer loyalty.
• Create and maintains an organizational culture that defines “customers” broadly including employees and volunteers. Treat all customers with respect and integrity.
• Utilize the feedback from customer satisfaction surveys to inform planning and drive improvements.
• Align systems and processes to ensure responsiveness and to anticipate customer needs.