The Swedenborg Foundation seeks a nonprofit business leader skilled in driving organizational success and empowering high performing staff. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the CEO will have overall management responsibility for a growing, impactful organization with a current investment portfolio of $20 million, annual expense budget of $3.0 million, and 34 staff and 16 directors across North America.
Combining inspirational leadership and sophisticated management abilities, they will advance the organization in terms of culture, capability, processes, and impact. While working closely with the organization’s executive team, the CEO will inspire innovation, and ensure that the organization is continually well-equipped to advance its mission “to foster an affirmative, informed, and increasingly broad engagement with the theological message disclosed by Emanuel Swedenborg.”
This position is offered now for hiring in May or June 2022 with start date in July 2022. There are currently two physical office locations: a building owned in West Chester, PA, and a facility leased on the Bryn Athyn College campus in Bryn Athyn, PA. The latter also houses the studios for its offTheLeftEye YouTube Channel.
The Foundations expects that the CEO can work from home with occasional travel to the Philadelphia-area.
Executive Leadership and Organizational Management
- Provide thoughtful and forward-looking executive leadership that is inclusive, transparent, and empowering in a manner that supports and guides the organization’s mission as defined by the Board of Directors
- Foster a collaborative, inclusive environment among Staff, Board, and Stakeholders.
- Present strategic options and plans for organization impact and gain Board approval as needed to carry out the work of the mission of the organization
- Continue and amplify the strategies put in place in late 2021 for 2022
- Oversee the day-to-day operations of the organization and ensure its overall successful long-term operations
- Deftly manage the two categories of print and new media content creation to maximize synergies between them in support of the Foundation’s mission.
- Organize, motivate, and mentor internal team leaders to strategically grow the organization’s impact, programs, and fundraising
- Apply innovative thinking and performance measurements to analyze and support strategic decision-making
- Contribute to the strategic plan and drive its implementation
- Manage and motivate staff, overseeing processes such as hiring, termination, ongoing staff development, performance management, and compensation and benefits in accordance with the Employee Handbook
- Inspire a business-oriented, professional, results-driven environment Perform general management duties overseeing the day-to-day operations
- Establish goals, objectives, and operational plans in collaboration with the Board of Directors, staff, and other leaders
- Maintain up-to-date fluency in legal and tax-related requirements affecting non-profit educational corporations
Board Governance
- Maintain strong relationships with the entire Board to help board and staff leadership gracefully build consensus, when appropriate
- Work closely and openly with the Board and its committees, communicating risks, issues, and successes
- Provide the Board with the information required to function properly and make informed, sound, and timely decisions
- Implement and educate the staff about Board policies and procedures and build support for Board decisions amongst staff
- Attend all Board meetings and provide reports and updates on staff, finances, and current work as needed
Development and Fundraising
- Drive development and fundraising in collaboration with the VP of Development, leveraging the Board as needed
- Initiate, cultivate, and extend relationships with the organization’s portfolio of individual, foundation, and corporate supporters
- Ensure the organization’s financial stability and sustainability by maintaining healthy cash flow and adequate reserves
Financial Management and Administration
- Provide strategic leadership and hands-on management for all of the administrative and operational functions of the organization in accordance with the mission, objectives, and policies
- Prudently direct resources and manage all financials within budget guidelines and according to current laws and regulations
- Oversee care of the foundation’s tangible assets, including buildings, physical spaces, equipment and staff
- Advise the Board of any threats to the financial viability of the foundation
- Monitor board-approved budget and manage daily financial operations to help ensure maximum utilization of resources and optimum financial positioning for the organization
- Build and administer the annual budget, with Board approval
- Institute multi-year budget planning to anticipate inclusion of new projects, changing staff levels, and projections of earnings and donations
External Relations and Communications
- The Swedenborg Foundation is a highly visible organization with a global presence whose reputation is shaped and projected through its websites, publications, and video productions
- Primary responsibility for this is a collaboration between the CEO and the senior leadership responsible for the cultivation of this presence
- Present and promote this highly visible, global organization and its mission, programs, partners, and members in a consistently positive manner
- Maintain high visibility to prospects and the public to help build interest in engaged philanthropy
- Monitor all aspects of marketing and community relations to ensure the organization promotes a consistent, appropriate and positive image
- Candidates may emerge from nonprofit, foundation, government, or industry backgrounds and should possess the following:
- Five years of prior experience as a CEO, Executive Director, or in a related position at a nonprofit, foundation, government, or industry
- Strong business acumen and a history of providing forward-looking executive leadership
- A bachelor’s or advanced degree or equivalent demonstration of felicity with scholarship
- Proven experience executing organization growth and leading a similar or larger size successful nonprofit or related entity
- Proven experience working with a nonprofit Board and diverse groups of people
- Familiarity with diverse business functions such as Finance, Marketing, Public Relations, Human Resources, etc.
- Experience and success in motivating, recruiting, developing, retaining, and mentoring high performance, mission-driven, and results-oriented teams
- Excellent written, oral, and public speaking skills
The ideal candidate will possess:
- Substantial experience working in the nonprofit sector
- Significant experience interacting with diverse Boards and volunteers
- Passion for, and ability to further an organization’s mission
- Extensive strategic leadership experience in the management of organizations of comparable mission and size
- Ability to build collaboration with the community at large
- Capacity to command respect and confidence from stakeholders
- Between 7 and 10 years experience in a senior strategic leadership role
- A high level of curiosity and intellectual intelligence , including the use of new media and new technology to maximize the Foundation’s success
- Desire to explore innovative approaches and new ideas to solving problems
- Experience increasing philanthropic support and building revenue
- Experience in conflict management
- Expertise building teams and developing partnerships
Compensation: $150,000-200,000 (Full time: negotiable, estimated at three-quarters or full-time)
The Foundation provides this to full-time employees:
- Group Medical and Prescription Insurance (75% paid by The Foundation)
- Dental Insurance (75% paid by The Foundation)
- Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance (100% paid by the Foundation)
- group life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment insurance for regular full-time employees (appears to be 'offered' but not paid for by the Foundation)
- 10 holidays a year (9 defined + 1 floater)
- 3 weeks of vacation (grows to 4 years after five years employment and to 5 weeks after ten years employment)
CEO can work from home with occasional travel to the Philadelphia-area.