The Alliance for Youth Action (along with our sister 501(c)(3) organization the Alliance for Youth Organizing) is searching for a Chief of Staff (CoS) to work on a mixture of administrative, operational, and organizational-wide projects to make time, information, and decision-making more effective. The CoS is a doer, with experience and comfort interacting with and managing senior executives. The CoS is nimble, transparent, and thrives in a participatory leadership environment.
This is a full-time position based in our Washington, DC office, reporting to the Executive Director.
About the Alliance for Youth Action
The Alliance convenes, supports, and scales a national network of youth-led, locally rooted organizations growing civic engagement and social justice coast to coast. We truly are a multiracial network “of young people, by young people, for all people.” Our Network runs massive voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives, trains new young leaders, and runs powerful campaigns to win on the progressive issues our generation cares about most. Our national team empowers this work by tracking down national resources for the network, building capacity for local groups, seeding new efforts, and coordinating national issue campaigns.
Executive or Internal Management
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Oversee large, often cross-functional organization-wide projects or initiatives.
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Organize the ideas, projects, people, time, and resources necessary to keep all departments moving forward.
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Assign tasks to the appropriate people, support them, and hold them accountable for the results.
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Improve current processes and coordinate organizational procedures for optimized efficiency and productivity.
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Lead the coordination and development of departmental goal setting to ensure programmatic and operational work is efficiently and accurately reflected in the organization's annual planning.
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Collaborate with senior leaders and staff to develop systems and integration of other software used by the organization for effective monitoring, analyzing, forecasting, and reporting of projects across the organization.
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Manage annual performance review process, including improving evaluation instruments, providing support for staff, and ensuring accountability for staff performance.
Internal Communications
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Communicate the vision, ideas, projects, or the process to the necessary stakeholders. This includes creating content, providing context, and helping connect the dots across all departments to create opportunities and growth
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Refine and maintain internal communications systems to ensure staff have the information needed to successfully perform their responsibilities
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Improve internal meeting culture, by refining meeting structures, frequency, communications, and decision-making processes, and holding staff accountable for meeting norms
Hiring and People Operations Management
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Lead initiatives in organizational management, performance management, and leadership development
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Help develop existing managers, ensuring they are operating at their best and continuing to improve their management skills.
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Build, improve, and implement core internal parts of the organization, including but not limited to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, human resources, people and culture, cross departmental collaboration, performance evaluations, and governance
Executive Leadership
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Partner with the Executive Director and relevant staff to manage the relationship with the Board of Directors, including working with Senior Leadership/Department Heads to manage board committees, and working within the Executive Team to support Board recruitment, onboarding, engagement, and meeting planning.
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In partnership with consultants and key staff, navigate and lead on implementation of the organization's new strategic plan.
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Coordinate with appropriate stakeholders in all aspects of project planning, monitoring, and implementation for all capacity building activities;
Candidate Profile
We are searching for a candidate that
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Has a core philosophy and belief in young people as change makers within their communities
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Has a well-developed skill set in project management: organized and disciplined, deep attention to detail, and active follow up to ensure the right results.
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Has a sophisticated mix of emotional intelligence, judgment, discretion, diplomacy, and political acumen
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Can anticipate and avert problems
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Has excellent and versatile writing skills including the ability to summarize detailed information
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Can demonstrate knowledge and application of strategic planning and project management principles.
Key Qualifications & Experience
- Nonprofit Organizational Leadership
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Significant management experience (5+ years), particularly supervising professional staff in a fast-paced environment, in areas including but not limited to Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, operations, human resources, strategic planning, nonprofit financial management, and/or nonprofit governance.
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Proven ability and a vision for building an equitable, diverse, and inclusive workplace, where all staff feel a sense of belonging in both a remote and in-person environment
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Experience implementing management best practices, including caring for and getting the best out of people in both a remote and in-person environment
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Tact, diplomacy, and a collaborative spirit in interacting with staff, Boards, and external partners
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Experience improving organizational systems and preparing departments to utilize them with rapidly shifting organizational demands
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- Critical Thinking and Strategy
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A self-starter with a strong initiative who - beyond directing current systems - has the willingness to identify additional processes that could be streamlined and the skills to realize that vision
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Willingness and excitement to think outside the box to ensure organizational values - especially those related to diversity, equity, and inclusion - are reflected in operations work
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Know when to answer the question someone meant to ask rather than the one they did
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- Baseline Skills
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Proficiency in excel and/or google sheets
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Proficiency in Google Suite, Project Management Software and Slack
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Excellent interpersonal skills and patience
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Excellent written and verbal communication
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Technological proficiency with virtual communication systems that include Zoom, Google Hangouts, etc
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- Compensation: $116,500 - $142,750 per year commensurate with experience.
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Benefits: The Alliance offers a competitive benefits package covering 100% of employee medical, dental, & vision insurance premiums, 75% of premiums for employee dependents, employer retirement contributions (SEP IRA), life insurance, short and long term disability income protection insurance, cell phone stipend, home internet stipend, WMATA transportation SmartBenefits, professional development opportunities, a generous paid time off policy, and up to 16 weeks of paid family and medical leave.
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Location: This is a full time position based out of the Alliance’s Washington, DC office. All positions are remote until further notice due to COVID-19. Remote work out of state is an option until employees are expected to return to the office. Moving reimbursements will be offered to the candidate when expected to move to Washington, DC.
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Travel: Under non pandemic circumstances, domestic travel for this role may be up to 10-15% of this position. Must be willing to work periodically long, irregular hours and to travel as needed.
Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions.
PRIORITY DEADLINE TO APPLY IS JULY 24, 2022
Equal Opportunity
The Alliance for Youth Action is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse work environment. People of color, people with disabilities, people of diverse sexual orientations, gender expressions, and identities are encouraged to apply.
To Apply
Please fill out https://allianceforyouthorganizing.recruitee.com/o/chief-of-staff, and submit a single pdf document including the following:
- A cover letter introducing yourself, why the Alliance, why this role, and how you see young people as change makers in local communities.
- Resume