Director Job Announcement

Reports to:                  Steering Committee Chairperson

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director is responsible for managing and providing strategic direction to the overall work of the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance (the Alliance). In collaboration with the Steering Committee, the Director represents the Alliance with key stakeholders and members and provides leadership and strategic support to achieve the Alliance’s mission, strategy, goals and objectives. A combination of leadership, management, and business development skills is required. Download the full job description.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategically engage as a leader and global advocate on behalf of social service workforce strengthening

• Represent the Alliance at selected strategic forums including international, regional and local meetings and conferences in order to communicate the work of the Alliance and build and maintain contacts and relationships with key stakeholders, including donors, governments, multilaterals, bilaterals, academic institutions, professional associations and NGOs

• Promote the strengthening of the social service workforce

• Write and collaborate on appropriate policy and advocacy papers, technical briefs and reports

• Increase collaboration with other global partnerships and initiatives, regional platforms and networks and harness opportunities to further the Alliance mission

• Gather information on social service workforce initiatives that can be highlighted and disseminated to members via webinars and other Alliance formats (website, resource database, blogs, etc.)

• Travel both domestically and internationally as an organizer or participant in conferences and meetings
   

Oversee the strategic development and implementation of a costed and funded work plan

• Work with Steering Committee to shape and keep updated a strategy and work plan that reflects members’ interests and the identified niche for the Alliance to add value to members’ work

• Manage the Alliance team, presently comprised of remote staff and consultants, and ensure the day-to-day work of the Alliance is aligned with the work plan

• Recommend needed adjustments to the work plan to the Steering Committee for consideration and implement agreed upon adjustments

• Oversee the monitoring and evaluation of agreed targets/results and reporting to donors and partners
   

Facilitate strategic fundraising activities and manage the organization’s business plan 

• Develop and deliver the organization’s business plan

• Help to ensure sustainable income from a mix of funding sources, including contracts, grants, individual, corporate donations and other streams as defined by our business plan

• Together with the Steering Committee and staff, develop and implement a fundraising strategy, developing creative fundraising activities to strengthen program funding and deepen relationships with donors and supporters

• Identify and act as spokesperson with potential government, private and foundation sources, managing outreach to potential and current donors, including actively soliciting funds and organizing donor visits

• Coordinate the development of quality funding proposals and respond to calls for proposals

• Submit periodic and final reports to donors

• Manage preparation of budgets and manage Alliance funds in accordance with the guidance and direction of the Steering Committee and in compliance with fiscal sponsor and donor regulations, with oversight of the fiscal sponsor in keeping and maintaining proper accounts of the resources of the Alliance

• Track expenditures and manage the development of expenditure reports and ensure that funds are allocated appropriately across grants and the work plan
   

Manage strategies to support external communications and member recruitment and engagement

• Work with the Steering Committee on ongoing maintenance of member recruitment and engagement strategies

• Develop and deploy strategies to communicate with and engage Alliance members and external audiences in support of communications personnel

• Ensure the Alliance actively publicizes the various ways in which members can engage in Alliance activities

• Support the work of the Alliance Ambassadors and Interest Groups, ensuring that the work of these bodies complements and builds upon each other and is aligned with the Alliance work plan, vision and mission
   

Oversee the smooth internal functioning of the Alliance

• Support the maintenance of the Steering Committee as an effective representational governance and organizational structure for the Alliance, tracking term lengths, nominations of new members and appointments of Chair

• Enable effective information sharing on strategic and operational issues with Steering Committee members, such as through organizing Steering Committee updates, conference calls and meetings

• Make recommendations to the Steering Committee as needed for the addition of consultants, interns and staff

• Maintain smooth working relations with the fiscal sponsor and ensure compliance with fiscal sponsor policies and procedures

• Recruit, hire and supervise interns and staff with the approval of the Steering Committee and in accordance with fiscal sponsor policies and procedures

• Ensure project staff are trained to follow all fiscal sponsor processes and procedures;

• Provide project employees clear direction, set appropriate work standards, and ensure a fair and healthy work environment

• Oversee performance management and support ongoing professional development of the team

• Engage and direct the work of consultants as needed

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Engage in personal professional development activities

• Attend trainings, conferences, presentations and other events to learn more about social service workforce strengthening and child protection

• Join networks of non-profit professionals on behalf of the Alliance

• Facilitate and engage the GSSWA team in professional development and team-building initiatives

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• PhD or Master’s degree in social work or related field relevant to social services

• Minimum 15 years of experience in the field of social services

• Minimum 3 years of experience in at least four of the of the following:

  • working with international agencies and institutions in developing countries

  • designing programs for vulnerable children and families and background on core child protection and human rights principles, guidelines and standards

  • working with initiatives or programs aimed at strengthening the social service workforce at a local, national or international level

  • managing and supervising staff

  • managing and overseeing budgets in excess of $2 million from multiple donors, ensuring that income and expenditure is within business plan targets
     

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Demonstrated strategic leadership skills in developing and facilitating collaborative partnerships and networks

• Demonstrated ability to facilitate collective learning across organizational and geographical boundaries

• Proven track record in fundraising among diverse donors, proposal development, and financial management; ability to successfully negotiate with private, bi-lateral, and/or multi-lateral donors

• Highly developed strategic thinking skills, with proven ability to assess complex organizational and development challenges

• Demonstrated success in developing and maintaining a strong working relationship with a non-profit board that enables the board to effectively carry out its governance role

• Expertise in designing and implementing monitoring and evaluation approaches, logical frameworks and theories of change

• Passionate about social service workforce strengthening and ability to be creative, inspiring and innovative

• A high degree of diplomatic skills: personable, flexible, sense of humor, and good at persuasion and community mobilization

• Ability to manage difficult situations and to use available resources to problem solve

• Adaptable and able to effectively manage change

• Excellent time management

• Demonstrated high degree of cultural sensitivity

• Ability to occasionally travel domestically or internationally (up to 5 trips per year)

• Fluency in one of the working languages of the UN is required; knowledge of another UN official language is an advantage

• Strong writing skills in English

• Knowledge of social media and experience using Twitter, Facebook, etc.

• Strong skills in the use of Microsoft Office suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Must be able to sit at a desk most of the day, typing, using a computer and speaking on the phone

• Requires lifting of 0-20 lbs. occasionally or as needed

• Ability to travel locally and internationally as needed, with varying physical demands associated with travel by car, train or air. Travel includes site visits to rural areas with little public infrastructure and may require extended car rides on unpaved roads. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• Up to five work-related trips per year are anticipated with travel at times in rural locations in middle- and low- income countries

• Evening and weekend work is required, particularly if located outside of the United States

To Apply:

Please send your cover letter and resume to: contact@socialserviceworkforce.org Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.  Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. The Alliance is currently recruiting for this position. Hiring and start date will be based on confirmation of funding. The organization will compensate the successful candidate at a level that is consistent with the area’s leading non-profit organizations and commensurate with the candidate’s experience and skills.

Organizational Overview:

The Global Social Service Workforce Alliance is a non-profit network of 2500 members in 141 countries and works toward a world where a well-planned, well-trained and well-supported social service workforce effectively delivers promising practices that improve the lives of vulnerable populations. The mission of the Alliance is to promote the knowledge and evidence, resources and tools and political will and action needed to address key social service workforce challenges, especially within low to middle income countries. The Alliance pursues this by:

• Serving as a convener for an inclusive, representative network of stakeholders including government organizations, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions, donor groups, professional associations and community practitioners to create a forum for discourse and collective learning

• Generating knowledge and building the evidence base for effective SSWS by deriving, organizing and disseminating critical evidence-based research, resources, tools, models and best practices

• Building capacity of humanitarian and development actors to implement strategies to strengthen the social service workforce

• Promoting effective advocacy and stimulating an active network of workforce strengthening advocates through information sharing, collaboration, and networking

Tides Center acts as the fiscal sponsor of the Alliance and therefore oversees staff contracts or secondments of staff to the Alliance. A 13-member Steering Committee oversees and guides the direction and development of the Alliance and provides support to the Alliance Secretariat. For more information, please visit: www.socialserviceworkforce.org

Tides is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from women, people of color, and bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. Applicants shall not be discriminated against because of race, religion, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, color, marital status, or medical condition including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related conditions. Also pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we encourage and will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.  

Reasonable accommodation will be made so that qualified disabled applicants may participate in the application process. Please advise in writing of special needs at the time of application.