Director of National Initiatives

Reporting to FCF’s Chief Program Officer, the Director of National Initiatives leads a dynamic team delivering programming in partnership with federal, state, tribe, and territory system partners and participates on the FCF Leadership Team to support organization-wide activities. The Director of National Initiatives also manages the day-to-day operations of FCF’s National Team under policies determined by FCF. The primary responsibilities are:

• Strategic Financial Development: Plan and implement and annual department fundraising strategy; seek and maintain relationships with institutional funders; secure earned revenue and philanthropic funding; develop funding proposals and evaluation reports; own and manage annual budget.
• Program Planning and Management: Develop, manage, and promote a portfolio of programs and services that advance systemic investments in the business and finance side of child care
• Human Resources Planning and Management: Support, develop, and retain qualified and excellent staff, consultants, and volunteers; ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the organization by selecting and developing effective people; foster a culture of cooperation and mutual respect, focusing on outstanding performance.
• Relationship Management: Maintain strong and effective relationships with national ECE system leaders and advocates; build and maintain strong relationships with private and public sector leaders, revenue sources, industry leaders, and allied organizations.

Key Performance Responsibilities

Leadership and Management

• Develops and maintains a diverse effective organization through the selection, training, compensation, review, and motivation of team members
• Develops and maintains a program for high performance standards and sound employee relations
• Provides input into the organizational strategic planning process and manages the National Team’s work toward FCF’s strategic goals
• Provides positive guidance and direction to employees, assists them in their professional development
• Secures resources to meet the department’s fundraising goals and manages to the department’s annual budget

Program Development and Management

• Manages a portfolio of systems-facing programs, services, and products, including:
  • ECE Business Collaboratory,
  • First Children First Nations Child Care Collaborative,
  • customized consultation to states, tribes, and federal systems partners,
  • Cost of Care studies, and
  • Cost modeling and analysis
• Manages delivery of demonstration projects, pilots, and the integration of learnings to sustainable program offerings
• Responds to requests from systems partners and creates proposals for earned revenue contracts
• Oversees the coordination, integration, delivery, and evaluation of the National Team’s programs and services
• Works closely with the finance department to budget and monitor division operations to ensure sound fiscal and system management
• Coordinate and analyze appropriate data to inform programmatic and operational decision-making processes
• Fosters partnerships and collaboration with other national partners and serves as a liaison to key government agencies and funders
• Represents FCF on relevant committees and task forces, as well as at speaking engagements, conference panels, and trainings
• Promote sharing of innovative programmatic advances across FCF

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, organizational development, planning, communication, finance, or nonprofit administration, or public administration is required; Master’s degree preferred.

• Three or more years executive or advanced level professional supervisory experience in a nonprofit organization, with knowledge of early care and education issues preferred.
• Successful track record of securing approximately $1 million annually through a mix of philanthropy, government, corporate, and individual donors.
• Experience in program planning, development, facilitation, and evaluation.
• Demonstrated knowledge of state, tribe, territory, or federal child care systems.
• Knowledge of current service trends and emerging models of early care and education.
• Proven administrative competence in areas such as financial management, budgeting, planning, and goal setting.
• Familiarity with FCF’s Theory of Change, or a positive orientation to change and new ways of doing business, including the ability to innovate and implement continuous improvements.

• Open to learning, accepting positive and constructive feedback.
• Private sector engagement and partnership is a plus.
• Energetic, enthusiastic, with a can-do attitude.
• Proven track record of monitoring, managing, and analyzing program data and outcomes.
• A systems thinker that is able to maintain a big-picture focus while attending to detail.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to recruit, retain, and develop both staff leaders.
• Highly organized, self-motivated, and able to work independently.
• Ability to provide business and financial consultation.
• Ability to read, interpret, and analyze financial statements and develop and manage budgets.
• Ability to think strategically, plan regionally, and implement plans on the ground.
• Ability to promote a positive image of FCF and position FCF as a key resource in the field of early care and education.
• Ability to be flexible and work collaboratively with a diversity of FCF staff, customers, partners and stakeholders.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills; public speaking experience.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision, yet be a part of a team.
• Experience in supervising collaborative work with multiple team members.
• The ability and commitment to be an engaging ambassador and advocate for FCF with key business, community, and government leaders.

Work Conditions

• Must be able to work on the computer for extended periods of time.
• Ability to travel when needed.

Additional Notes

This job description represents the major functions of the position but is not intended to be all-inclusive. The Director of National Initiatives interacts with members of the executive team in performing duties deemed necessary for FCF success.

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $121,000. Benefits include medical, dental, life, disability insurance, holidays, and paid time off. Allowable travel costs are reimbursed.

First Children’s Finance honors candidates’ time and effort in job-seeking by providing transparency regarding compensation. Creating transparency regarding salary information reduces the gender pay gap, and eliminates salary negotiation, which rarely benefits people of color or women. It is a value of our organization to support equitable hiring practices.

To Apply

Please send a cover letter and a résumé by email to fcfjobs@FirstChildrensFinance.org with “Director of National Initiatives” in the subject line. Questions may be emailed to JudithA@FirstChildrensFinance.org.