Service Employees International Union

Job Title: Director, BOLD Center

Grade: MGT I

Annual Salary: $162,520

Location: Washington, DC, Headquarters

About SEIU: We are the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a union of about 2 million diverse members in healthcare, the public sector, and property services. We believe in and fight for our Vision for a Just Society: where all workers are valued and all people respected—no matter where we come from or what color we are; where all families and communities can thrive; and where we leave a better and more equitable world for generations to come. We are an anti-racist union determined to check corporate power and uproot structural racism through unions—worker power and collective action—and government—legislative and political action. We fight for Unions for All and a Government that Works for All so that all of us, across race and place, can have power together in unions and participate fully in our democracy.

About the BOLD Center:
The purpose of the BOLD Center is to support SEIU’s vision, mission and strategic direction, as we partner with SEIU leaders and members to build capacity, navigate transitions, resolve conflicts, and create environments where collective power is actualized.

BOLD’s team is made up of a team set of internal staff and a broad slate of external coaches and OD consultants. We are multicultural and our expertise diverse, with decades of experience across a number of practice areas including but not limited to organizational development, education, labor relations, professional coaching, grassroots organizing, somatic practices, human behavior, healing modalities, communications skill building, and academic scholarship. We work throughout all levels of the SEIU system—international, locals, and state councils—to lead meaningful learning experiences that support change efforts. What distinguishes our approach is our union’s commitment to incorporating an anti-racist lens in all that we do. Internally, we refer to this as our anti-racist organization work (ARO) and BOLD plays a crucial role in equipping our leaders and staff alike with an ARO lens they can apply to their day to day work.

BOLD is evolving. Since its inception, it has operated as an internal resource hub providing on-demand consulting, coaching support, and cohort-based leadership programming to upskill and support SEIU leaders. In the future, BOLD is poised to continue providing those supports in addition to strengthening the center’s profile across the union as a strategic thought partner and training hub on ARO skills and practices to support SEIU in systematically becoming an Anti-Racist Organization. BOLD’s next chapter is full of potential and the incoming Director will take the reins at a critical time in the center’s evolution. To lead BOLD into the next chapter, SEIU is seeking a highly strategic, people-centered, and values-driven leader.

Position Summary: The right candidate will be ready to embrace the challenge of stabilizing and optimizing BOLD's current operations while also positioning the center for the future. The Director will be responsible for driving several critical initiatives in their first year, including optimizing the center's consultant model, evaluating and evolving the flagship leadership development programs, and potentially leading a strategic planning process to position BOLD for the future.

Critical to BOLD’s success is its close partnership with SEIU’s Racial Justice Center (RJC). Both centers play important and distinct roles in amplifying SEIU’s anti-racist commitments and translating them into tangible leadership practice and action. As such, one non-negotiable qualification is possessing a deep understanding of race, power, and equity, and experience translating that understanding into practical application in the workplace.

The next BOLD Director will be a seasoned and competent stakeholder manager, as you’ll be joining a talented internal team who are deeply committed to the transformative power of SEIU’s ARO commitments. Alongside the internal team, the Director will provide oversight to the center’s operations, budget, resource strategy, and national consultant network. As a bridge-builder and systems thinker, the Director will also partner closely with SEIU senior leadership, the Racial Justice Center, and union chapters to advance SEIU’s anti-racist organizational transformation.

Key Responsibilities: This position requires an agile leader who has experience working within longstanding legacy institutions, especially those with a public mission or quasipublic structure. The Director will be stepping into the role after a period of internal transition and instability, so it will be particularly important that the next BOLD Director have the listening and relationship-building skills to enter an institutional environment, navigate complexity, and foster alignment across diverse teams and union members. Success in this role requires the ability to build trust, lead through tension, drive effective programming and resource allocation, and model the kind of bold, relational leadership that is highly valued in labor contexts. A summary of key responsibilities includes but is not limited to:

Strategic Center Leadership

• Serve as a thought partner to SEIU leadership, providing insights and recommendations to support organizational transformation and change management efforts
• Ensure a smooth transition from the interim director while maintaining stability and momentum for BOLD's work
• Lead a visioning and planning process to chart the center's future direction and ensure it is well-aligned with SEIU's overall vision and priorities
• Cultivate trust-based relationships and a strong team culture within BOLD as well as with SEIU local leaders, affiliates, and national partners to support shared racial justice goals
• Manage partnerships with Rockwood Leadership Institute, Rutgers Leadership Program, and other institutional partners, ensuring for effective collaboration and sustainability
• Proactively build key relationships with other training and consulting organizations to amplify BOLD’s reach and visibility
• Represent BOLD externally and cultivate strategic partnerships to enhance the center's impact

Operational Oversight

• Manage the BOLD team and consultants, ensuring efficient and equitable deployment of resources
• Deploy a measurement, learning, and evaluation strategy to inform BOLD's programming and budget decisions
• Identify opportunities to optimize the consultant model, improve onboarding and integration processes, and foster more standardized practices
• Ensure program operations and activities adhere to SEIU’s internal policies and procedures
• Implement consistent feedback processes and practices to gather insights from staff, consultants, and program participants to continuously improve visibility and effectiveness of BOLD offerings
• Ensure BOLD can respond to emergent training needs and offerings are accessible to a greater number of participants
• ARO Integration & Alignment with Racial Justice Priorities
• Collaborate with SEIU Leadership to develop benchmarks and processes to demonstrate progress around SEIU’s ARO efforts
• Partner with incoming Racial Justice Director and current staff to foster ongoing alignment and integration of BOLD's work with the Racial Justice Center
• Serve as a key culture leader for SEIU, modeling the organization's values of anti-racism, equity, and collective power
  Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities
• 15+ years of experience with racial justice, progressive organizations, unions, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience working with senior leadership of a large organization (C-Suite), providing strategic counsel and aligning work with organizational priorities.
• Experience managing high-stakes change leadership, including guiding teams through complex transitions.
• Sees the big picture and aligns ARO strategy with SEIU’s organizational priorities and long-term transformation goals while still able to connect them to day to day operations.
• Demonstrated ability to use data-driven decision-making; familiarity with audits, data collection and analysis, and program evaluation.
• CRM experience and ability to leverage technology tools to strengthen organizational effectiveness.
• Builds consensus, cultivates trust, and mobilizes teams, other departments,partners, and stakeholders toward shared objectives.
• A proven track record providing strategic leadership and/or leading organizational transformation/change management initiatives in a union or social justice organization with clarity, strategy, and deep engagement of stakeholders..
• Demonstrates a deep commitment and expertise in SEIU’s values, racial justice, and inclusive organizational culture including practice, systems change, and intersectional analysis.
• Demonstrated commitment to racial and economic justice and the ability to work effectively across and in support of diverse cultural backgrounds.
• Knowledge and experience in managing the complexities and nuances of an internal team and external consultants.
  Experience supervising and developing diverse staff and fostering inclusive team cultures.
• Demonstrated ability to navigates internal and external power dynamics /political landscapes with tact, discretion, and foresight.
• Experience directing and managing organizational change that is in alignment with the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams, manage through complexity, and deliver on strategic goals.
  Leads with adaptability, clarity, and courage in complex, evolving, and high-stakes environments. with the ability to effectively present ideas to a range of audiences.
• Strong emotional intelligence and communication skills, particularly around sensitive topics.
• Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity and develop solutions in complex or undefined situations.
• Working knowledge and experience managing an annual budget in excess of $3M.
• Fluency in Microsoft Office Suite with ability to quickly learn internal systems, applications, and workflows.

Physical Requirements: Work is primarily performed in an office setting but may occur in other environments as needed to fulfill job responsibilities. This role requires long irregular hours and travel, including overnight stays.

Supervision & Accountability: This role currently supervises BOLD staff, reports to the Union Strength Hub Director, and collaborates closely with senior SEIU leadership

Benefits: SEIU staff enjoy top-notch benefits, including comprehensive health benefits, major medical, dental, and vision for employees and eligible dependents, domestic partner benefits, competitive salaries, generous holidays and vacation policies, and both a pension plan and a 401(K) Plan.