Senior Director of capacity building

Remote (U.S.)

The future of social justice work is multi-entity. Over the last four years, New Left Accelerator (NLA), our 501(c)(4) and The Capacity Shop (TCS), our separate but affiliated 501(c)(3), have grown to be leading capacity-building providers serving the complex needs of multi-entity organizations.

Today, any of the most effective power-building organizations are multi-entity. They are using more than 501(c)3’s - often 501(C)(4)s, PACs, for-profit corporate structures, or other entities - to build power, increase their impact, and win. Progressive movements and state ecosystems are experimenting with innovative ways to make multi-entity power-building work possible at scale. As a result, the complex needs of the multi-entity field continue to grow.

Staff at these organizations seek access to multi-entity informed technical assistance to do bold work safely. We have met this growing need by working with leading multi-entity experts and innovative leaders in the field to build the financial, operational, and compliance infrastructure that power-building organizations need to maximize impact and do bold work in compliance with the law.

We prioritize partnering and collaborating with organizations that center the experiences and voices of marginalized groups at the intersection of race, gender, and class. To guide our internal practices and partnerships, NLA and TCS developed a set of core values including a commitment to create systemic change; deep collaboration with stakeholders and leaders to build power; sustainability within the progressive ecosystem; and a commitment to equity and work that address systemic oppression. You can read more about NLA and TCS vision and work in our Theory of Change.

The Role

The Senior Director of Capacity Building plays a critical role across the organization to build the multi-entity capacity and knowledge of our groups, partners and staff. This is a new position that will 1) Lead our technical assistance and capacity building work – serving as a coach, advisor, and trainer to the groups participating in NLA’s programs; 2) support TCS on the development of multi-entity curriculum, tools and resources that builds the operational capacity of the field; and 3) continue the build out of our learning and evaluation framework, aligning it to our data collection tools and reflection processes.

Our ideal candidate has experience building operational teams, managing financial and legal compliance across multiple legal entities, and has held a senior role in a multi-entity organization themselves (either as an executive director, co-director or a head of operations) that is led by and organizing in collaboration with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), women, and other historically and currently underserved communities.

Primary Job Functions

Technical Assistance and Capacity Building

• Build a trusted and confidential relationship with partners and serve as a coach, advisor and trainer for NLA and TCS.

• Provide customized support for grantees that aligns with their stage of organizational development by scoping projects and matching with resources (e.g., financial support/compliance consultants).

• Research available resources, including consultants or vendors; vet appropriate prospective providers for new projects.

• Develop and refine internal tools to measure the impact of our capacity building work

• Identify opportunities to improve the delivery of our programs and approaches to meet our outcomes based on data

Develop Multi-Entity Tools, Resources and Curriculum

• Work with subject matter leads, a curriculum designer and staff to develop learning goals, objectives and key indicators for building the adaptive, operational and strategic capacity of organizations in each of the content areas

• Work with subject matter leads and a curriculum designer to create customized training, resource materials, and learning activities that support the application of skills and knowledge towards meeting the needs of the organizations

• Work with program staff to integrate training into our program design and have pilot models for peer learning in our programs

• Develop data collection tools and reflection processes and align them to our learning framework

Qualifications

• 10 years of experience in nonprofit management and/or program implementation, including a minimum of 2 years of experience leading in a multi-entity organization or capacity building intermediary

• 5 years of experience managing people, including multiple teams with their own direct reports

• Strong understanding of operationalizing multi-entity organizations, including an understanding of resource sharing agreements, time tracking across entities, and developing finance and compliance systems across legal entities

• Significant experience working with historically and currently underrepresented communities that work at the intersection of race, gender and class communities and the ability to connect that to programs

• Experience working in the progressive ecosystem with power-building organizations working to win elections, hold elected officials accountable, and shape how policy is created and implemented

• Share our values, principles of collaboration, and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), as well as experience implementing liberatory practices, disrupting the expert stance of traditional capacity-building programs, and centering organizational leaders in the work they do

• Experience with program oversight, evaluation, and process-improvement

• Ability to listen, process, and act on information and feedback received from a wide range of stakeholders and staff

• Motivated by complex problems and challenges and able to thrive in a growing and quickly changing environment of power building and election cycle work

• Exceptional leadership and management skills, providing effective feedback, supervision, and support to program staff and consultants while fostering a collaborative and empowered team

• Strong writing and public speaking skills with the ability to adapt messaging and communications to fit audiences of varying technical levels

• Strong project management and process design skills, preferably with direct experience using collaborative tools such as Asana, Airtable and Google Suite

• Commitment to facilitating conversations in a manner that embraces equity, justice, liberation, and transformative collaboration.

• Experience engaging partners in programmatic evaluation and improvements

Additional Desired Qualifications

• Additional leadership experience overseeing staff distributions, legal compliance, and budget across multi-entity organizations

• Experience with data management and analysis

• Experience in supporting fundraising and helping to maintain donor relationships.

• Experience facilitating conversations in a manner that embraces equity, justice, liberation, and transformative collaboration.

• Experience engaging partners in programmatic evaluation and improvements

Details

Title: Senior Director of Capacity Building

Reports to: Co-Director/Chief Operating Officer

Direct Reports: None

Hours: Full Time

Location: Remote (must live in the US)

Compensation: $110,000-$140,000

Benefits: NLA offers a competitive benefits package available to all full-time employees including:

• Health: Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short-term Disability, and Health FSA

• Flexible paid time off including vacation and sick time, 11 paid holidays, 1-week Summer Break, and 1-week Winter Break

• Parental Leave

• Professional Development Opportunities

• Working from home stipend

How to Apply

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. To apply, please submit your application here.

In lieu of a traditional cover letter, please submit a document that answers the following:

1. Tell us your experience providing technical assistance and capacity building to in organization(s) with multiple legal entities.

2. What is your management style? What is your approach to giving, soliciting, and implementing feedback?

3. What does it mean to you to bring a social justice or equity lens to your work?

4. Tell us about a time you designed or redesigned a program that required the involvement, work, and support of other people to succeed. What did you learn from that experience? How did you implement liberatory and equity practices into the program?