Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at Santa Barbara Foundation in Santa Barbara, California

Job Description:

SBF attracts folks who care about our mission of building empathetic, resilient communities. We value transparency as the foundation to building trust, accountability, inclusivity, innovation and being a learning organization. We are a consecutive winner of PCBT's Best Places to Work in the Central Coast.

We're also delighted to offer one of the most competitive benefit packages for similar and similarly sized organizations.

We're seeking a Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships to join our Programs department. This position reports directly to our Vice President, Programs and is based in Santa Barbara County. This is a leadership role within our organization, and commensurate experience requirements are outlined below. This is a hybrid position which will require at least three days of in office work, plus regular site visits and offsite meetings.

All applicants must submit a professional resume, cover letter and completed copy of our employment application, to hr@sbfoundation.org, in order to be considered.

Position Summary:

The Director of Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships oversees the Foundation's Strategic Focus Areas to advance solutions for the complex issues in our community that require long-term investments across different disciplines, including 1) Expanding Access to Quality and Affordable Child Care, 2) Ensuring Equitable Digital Access, 3) Advancing Health Equity, 4) Advancing Workforce Development and 5) Housing Affordability. The Director works in collaboration across the Foundation and with local communities to convene partners, co-create strategic direction, advocate for SBF priority areas, and build strong relationships with leaders in other organizations to implement countywide and regional projects.

The Director also oversees Focus Area grant cycles, strategic communication and new funding opportunities that support the strategic focus areas.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Oversee the Foundation's Focus Areas. Develop and direct strategies and tactics to achieve key outcomes, including developing relationships and convening partners.
• Identify opportunities for additional funding to support reaching strategic Focus Area goals, such as securing grants and philanthropic partnerships in partnership with Philanthropic Services (PS) department.
• Identify opportunities for new Foundation priorities, projects, and initiatives.
• Develop strategic communication plans that will strengthen awareness of the Foundation's Focus Areas in partnership with the Foundation's Marketing and
• Communications team.
• Build relationships with leaders in other organizations (public, nonprofit, and private) to implement current projects and/or develop opportunities into executable projects and/or pilot programs.
• Assess opportunities comprehensively through research, interviews, and data analysis to determine their potential for impact, alignment with the Foundation's strategy, approach, and existing efforts, among other criteria. Synthesize information and develop written summaries of new concepts and plans. Determine possible outcomes with VP, Programs and President & CEO.
• Access and deploy various Foundation "tools" to achieve outcomes, including grantmaking, policy, and evaluation to advance goals and objectives for priority areas.
• Develop and manage scope of work, contract agreements, and partnership with consultants serving the Focus Areas, reviewing budget, deliverables and progress in partnership with SBF's compliance staff.
• Oversee the Focus Area budget and share annual budget updates with the Sr. Director of Grantmaking and VP of Programs.
• Partner with the VP, Programs, other senior staff (including the CEO), and the Strategy Committee, to determine whether, and how, to pursue opportunities. Develop implementation plans, in collaboration with the VP, Programs and other SBF staff as needed.
• Engage Program Directors and grantmaking staff to determine opportunities for cross department collaboration to integrate new opportunities into the overall grantmaking portfolio.
• Conduct due diligence of potential grantee partners, including analysis of financial information, site visits, and interviews with other funders and relevant stakeholders.
• Manage the Focus Areas grant cycles, including grant announcements, application review, awards, monitoring, and reporting, including the review of progress reports, maintenance of regular communication with grantees, and site visits.
• Maintain expertise in areas relevant to the Focus Areas and policy reform efforts that impact these issues nationwide.
• Collaborate with the Directors to review and initiate disaster relief grantmaking during times of crisis.
• Work with Evaluation and Learning team and the larger Programs department to identify and refine metrics to measure success.
• Support other SBF staff and work as a member of cross-functional teams to ensure effective and efficient internal collaboration.
• Serve as a liaison to community organizations, community initiatives and collaborations, as appropriate.
• Attend nonprofit sector and community events/ functions to build relationships and expand awareness of SBF.
• Manage direct reports, or a team, including, coaching, training, timecard and annual review oversight and completion.
• Manage projects across teams including supervision of work from staff outside of direct team.
  Keep Outlook calendar updated as per SBF standard.
• Other duties as assigned.
  

Essential Requirements:

• Over seven years of relevant experience in similar roles.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Emotionally intelligent with the ability to communicate and collaborate with a diverse range of populations.
• A good listener and team-player.
• Demonstrated people management experience. Specifically, experience in administering performance reviews, referencing organizational policies and supporting direct reports by acting as a resource and maintaining the position of the organization while continuing to bring team along during organizational changes, is highly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience navigating an organization similar to SBF, in a leadership role, is highly preferred.
• Gain the trust of others in the organization and community.
• Quickly shift gears when organizational priorities shift.
• Respond constructively to problems, challenges and difficult situations.
• Evaluate programs and use data to support organizational decision making.
• Manage multiple projects and competing priorities, remaining agile and delegating when appropriate.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite, especially Outlook.
• Proficiency in various computer applications and the ability to learn new programs quickly.
• MPA or graduate degree or commensurate experience.
  

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