Position Title: Director of Operations, Encore Campaign for Children and Youth (E4Y)

Reports to: Vice President and Campaign Director, E4Y

Full Time / Exempt

Location: New York City

About Encore.org

Encore.org is a national nonprofit building a movement to tap the skills and experience of those in midlife and beyond to improve communities and the world. Originally called Civic Ventures, Encore.org was founded in 1997 by social entrepreneur Marc Freedman and grew out of a desire to transform the aging of America—one of the most significant demographic shifts of the 21st century—into a powerful, positive source of individual and social renewal. Our ultimate goal is to create a better future for young people and future generations.

About the Encore Campaign for Children and Youth (E4Y)

Encore.org is launching a five-year campaign to mobilize a million adults 50+ to dedicate their time, talent and experience to help children thrive.

While the United States is among the world’s richest countries, millions of children in this country live in poverty and lack the resources and support they need to live fulfilling, successful lives. Reversing this trend must become a national priority—and a key resource for this effort is hidden in plain sight: The millions of Americans moving into their 50s and beyond who want to leave a positive legacy for future generations. Encore’s latest research indicates that 29 percent of adults 50+ are very/extremely interested in participating in the E4Y campaign, translating to a receptive target audience in excess of 30 million people.

These two groups—children in need of supportive adult relationships and adults with the time and inclination to fill those roles—fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. The Encore Campaign for Children and Youth will bring them together through three complementary strategies:

1. We’ll mobilize the million.
2. We’ll build a cross-sector network of organizations, to help us mobilize the million, and to serve as thought partners in identifying and solving the big obstacles that stand in our way.
3. We’ll change the narrative around aging in this country, so that service to children and youth is embraced as a compelling—and highly accessible—pathway for adults 50+.

About the Position

World-class operations are vital to the success of the E4Y campaign. The Director of Operations will be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the campaign, reporting to the VP/Campaign Director, and working closely with the rest of the E4Y team and staff across Encore.org. Key responsibilities include proactively managing deliverables, coordinating across teams as needed, troubleshooting challenges and creating the infrastructure and conditions that sustain and continuously improve the operations of a high-functioning team. The Director of Operations will function similarly to a Chief of Staff, guiding and coordinating cross-team projects with the responsibility and authority to make decisions about allocations of staff time and financial resources as necessary, balancing at all times the overall perspective of the entire campaign with the needs of each Team Leader and the resources at our disposal. The Director of Operations will supervise the Data Manager and Operations Coordinator.

Key Responsibilities

• In partnership with the Campaign Director, plan and refine strategy and work plans with Team Leaders.
• Ensure key objectives are met by providing task alignment, continuous quality improvement, priority adjustment, team coordination, re-allocation of resources as needed and deliverable- and deadline-tracking using project-management software (e.g., Asana, Basecamp, etc.).
• Manage all recurring calls and webinars, internal and external.
• Advise Campaign Director on all substantial decisions related to the campaign.
• Integrate campaign activities with other Encore.org programs as needed.
• Supervise Operations Coordinator to manage logistics for internal and external meetings, trainings and conferences, and to provide administrative support to Campaign Director and Director of Operations. 
• Manage on-boarding process for new team members and contractors; manage business relationships with contractors.
• Manage skilled volunteers in support of the campaign.
• Manage and oversee spending within the board-approved budget; reconcile budget on a monthly basis with Encore.org finance team.
• Review, approve and submit to finance all reimbursement requests and invoices.
• Track grant deliverable and reporting requirements and, in partnership with the VP/Campaign Director, oversee fulfillment of grants.
• Brief VP/Campaign Director weekly on team progress toward high-level deliverables.
• Proactively identify and remove barriers on behalf of the entire campaign team.

About You

You’re passionate about the aims of the E4Y campaign. You’re fanatical about systems and processes, and you just itch to make things work better (a plus if your sock drawer is impeccably organized). You hold the big vision and the day-to-day details in mind simultaneously. You’re deeply attuned to different people’s work styles and strive to design systems that are elegant and efficient, and also extremely user-friendly. You can juggle (literally or metaphorically). You love data, not for its own sake, but for how it can help you and the team work faster, smarter and more effectively. You are decisive and have an intuitive sense about when you need to seek counsel and when you should just make the call. You’re intensely curious, eager both to learn new things and to regularly question your own assumptions. You find enormous satisfaction creating the conditions for work to happen seamlessly and in which your contribution may be most notable for being indispensable-yet-invisible.

Key Qualifications

• Proven success with lateral and supervisory management, including strong negotiation, mediation and listening skills, and the ability to inspire and motivate colleagues and supervisees.
• Track record of demonstrating sound judgment (e.g., by making appropriate decisions, anticipating problems and innovating creative solutions), managing complex situations with discretion and tact and prioritizing and completing tasks in a skillful and timely fashion.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills.
• Strong project-management skills, including being detail-oriented and managing toward aggressive timelines.
• Skill in process-level thinking (i.e., ability to optimize systems and resources and anticipate critical next steps).
• Experience developing and managing budgets.
• Comfort/familiarity with continuous quality improvement, statistical analysis and/or other quantitative skills, a plus.
• Event-planning experience, a plus.
• Experience managing contractors, a plus.
• A good sense of humor.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Webex, Salesforce and familiarity with online collaboration tools (e.g., Google docs, Google Hangout, Box, etc.).
• Willingness to travel domestically up to once per month.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent and minimum five years of professional experience.
• Content knowledge and familiarity with relevant subject matter (e.g., vulnerable children and youth, topics related to aging, etc.) a plus.

How To Apply

Please submit your resume in Word or PDF format, along with a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, by June 17, 2016. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Please respond to these two questions in your cover letter:

• What excites you about the E4Y campaign?
• What excites you about the role of Director of Operations, and what specific expertise and experiences will you draw on to do the job?

Please note: Cover letters will be judged as writing samples; no application will be considered without a cover letter. Please send your resume and letter as one document to [email protected]. Name your attachment with the format: “LastName E4Y DOO 2016 Application” (e.g., “Hamilton E4Y DOO 2016 Application”). Applications that do not follow this format may not be reviewed. 

It is Encore.org’s policy to employ, compensate and advance personnel without regard to race, creed, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, height and weight, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, partnership status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, military status, arrest record and any other characteristic protected by law. We are an Employer of National Service: AmeriCorps, Peace Corps and other national service alumni are encouraged to apply and to tell us how your service experience has shaped your career.

We are seeking to develop a multigenerational and diverse team. Qualified people of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Open until filled.

A Note on Encore.org’s Culture

Our staff members are part of a social movement that challenges old norms and seeks to establish a new definition of success in later life. We are a small, geographically distributed team, committed to making a significant impact. We attract people who think about how small investments can yield big results in the service of Encore.org’s mission.

We work hard, and we value our colleagues and the causes we dedicate time to outside of working hours. We understand the importance of commitments—family and otherwise—beyond Encore.org. Vacation time is meant to be used.

As an organization focused on deploying human talent in innovative ways, we try to walk the talk. We strive to have an intergenerational team. We also encourage and sometimes require flexible work; results matter more than face time. Many Encore.org positions require some or a great deal of travel; all require the use and mastery of a growing array of virtual tools.

Perhaps most important, Encore.org is in a period of transition and growth. We work in a dynamic environment that values mutual respect, rapid response to changing conditions or new opportunities, flexibility and intelligence, as well as a sense of humor and humility. Those who thrive tend to be creative, entrepreneurial types who are dedicated to our mission and who know how to execute ambitious plans in a lean environment.