Managing Director, Winning on Equity in Places

Position Announcement

POSITION TITLE: Managing Director, Winning on Equity in Places

LOCATION: Remote

STATUS: Exempt

APPLY BY: Open Until Filled

About PolicyLink

This position, available immediately, is an exciting opportunity to join the staff at PolicyLink. PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity by Lifting Up What Works®. We are dedicated to improving the lives of the 100 million people in America who live in or near poverty, particularly those facing the barriers of structural racism. We are currently working remotely. Please visit our website at: www.policylink.org.

Position Overview

Winning on Equity in Places is PolicyLink signature cross-programmatic, place-based program. Our strategy centers the dignity, voice, and power of the 100 million people living in or near poverty in key regions of the country—including California, the US South, Midwest, and Puerto Rico—to advance the kinds of structural changes necessary to bend the arc of development towards justice. Winning on Equity in Places leverages two decades of place-based partnerships and corresponding communities that are part of our Water Equity and Climate Resilience, Housing, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Workforce Development networks of community leaders and local government actors to create racially just, economically inclusive, and ecologically sustainable cities, regions, and states.

The strategy is driven by three goals.

• Grow Equitable Local Economies: Cities and states leverage federal funding to create high-quality jobs and ensure equitable access to capital for Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities and businesses.
• Build Inclusive Governance: Engaged and empowered community-based organizations, coalitions, and networks proactively shape local and state land use policies, and infrastructure and development agendas through the creation of majoritarian coalitions capable of advancing structural change.
• Advance Climate Resilience: Accelerate investments in inclusive housing and land use policies; clean and renewable energy; transit that advances mobility; resilience; and economic opportunity.

The Managing Director for our Winning on Equity in Places strategy will play a lead role in shaping the development of our new Sustainable Cities for All (“SC4A”) initiative that invests in transformational local solutions at the intersection of climate change and racial wealth equity by strengthening the capacity of relationships between cities and communities to co-create and implement solutions. The initiative will prioritize deep investment over four years in up to 25 cities with significant Black populations and high levels of climate vulnerability and racial wealth inequity. PolicyLink serves as the lead partner for SC4A and will coordinate the efforts of national, regional, and local partners to implement a portfolio of community engagements.

With a passion for developing collaborative relationships to execute innovative strategic initiatives at the local level, the Managing Director will coordinate a team of partner organizations working to refine processes where historic systems have opportunities for greater success, and support ground-level innovation at scale by centering relationships with one another and the work.

The Managing Director will oversee PolicyLink statewide California program; our emerging Puerto Rico portfolio; and our SC4A program. As such, they will be a high-level orchestrator of a networked organization management structure that requires collaboration across a core group of internal and external partners. The Managing Director will also be responsible for executive management duties including progress reports to the program funder(s), and ensuring overall success of the program and partnership.

The Managing Director will focus on these key areas of responsibility:

Strategic Leadership

• Providing strategic support in the development of our Winning on Equity in Places portfolios in California and Puerto Rico.
• Executing on our SC4A program and its adopted strategy while also iterating nimbly through structured learning processes to respond to opportunities and increase impact.
• Striking a balanced approach to leading the team of core partners and being a part of the team of core partners by cultivating participatory structures for decision-making and direction.
• Interfacing with program funder for regular updates.

Program Communications

• Managing day-to-day communications with core partners and program leadership to support shared understanding, effective program delivery, and internal trust.
• Managing regular communications with the program funder to share information about progress.
• Managing regular communications with PolicyLink internal leadership team.
• Interfacing with other external stakeholders to advance Sustainable Cities for All goals.

Program Operations

• Translating program strategy into traction on the ground; bringing strategy to life by providing customized support for actionable local initiatives through cooperative partner engagement.
• Managing consultant relationships and performance related to program communications, evaluation, facilitation, and other executive focus areas.
• Supervising the program’s Deputy Director and ensuring high quality delivery of PolicyLink management and operations of the SC4A initiative.
• Interfacing with city mayors, leaders from community-based organizations, and other key stakeholders.

Learning Culture

• Support implementation of a learning and evaluation framework rooted in the principles of data use for the Sustainable Cities for All program (adapted from Anti-Racist Results-Based Accountability principles).
• Share program outputs and learning to external audiences to inform the wider field of practice.

Skills, Abilities & Knowledge Required

• Skilled at executing multi-partner, developed strategies.
• A politically astute leader with the ability to set clear priorities, delegate, and guide partnerships and systems.
• Keen analytic, organization, and problem-solving skills, which support and enable sound decision-
• Excellent coalition-building skills with an ability to communicate and work effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
• Prior nonprofit and/or local government experience preferred with executive experience managing complex organizations.

Experience and Qualifications

• Proven experience in strategic leadership roles (having worked in a leadership role that required complex program execution, relationship management, and communications).
• Experience with diversity, equity, and inclusion policies and practices—both at the programmatic and administrative levels—that work to eliminate systemic institutional marginalization and promote inclusion and anti-racist practices.
• Experience working with community-based organizations and/or other frontline organizations that serve communities.
• Experience implementing public policy programs at a local level.

Additional Candidate Characteristics

• Resourceful, willing to self-start and work with little direction.
• Able to manage a constantly evolving landscape, and shift priorities accordingly.
• Passionate about work at the intersection of racial wealth equity and climate change, advancing approaches to community co-creation, and developing strategies to mitigate extraction and harm.
• Sense of humor and a passion for prioritizing joy.
• Ability to travel approximately 20 percent of the time.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $175,000 - $225,000 dependent upon experience.

Additionally, PolicyLink provides a generous and comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, vision, 401k match, ancillary benefits, access to Flexible Spending Accounts and generous leave benefits.

How To Apply:

We accept online applications only.

Please note: No phone calls please. Only those selected to participate in our hiring process will be contacted.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

PolicyLink strongly values equity and believes in a just and fair society where all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. We work towards a more inclusive world and as such we are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood. PolicyLink is committed to maintaining a diverse and multicultural working environment.

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