Vice President for Member Relations & Programs, National Council for Research on Women, New York, NY

Vice President for Member Relations

Posted on: February 8, 2013
Posted by: National Council for Research on Women

OVERVIEW

NCRW is a network of leading university and community based research, policy, and advocacy centers with a growing global reach dedicated to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls. We also have a Corporate Circle comprised of senior diversity professionals from leading U.S. and global member companies and a Presidents Circle of college and university leaders who share our commitment. NCRW harnesses the collective power of its network to provide knowledge, analysis, and thought leadership on issues ranging from reducing women's poverty to building a critical mass of women's leadership across sectors.

A key member of the NCRW senior management team (reporting to the President), the VP for Member Relations & Programs leads the Council's member relations initiatives and manages relationships with key constituents (Member Centers, Corporate Circle, and Presidents Circle members) to enhance the mission of NCRW and its programs. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker who can independently translate organizational vision into an effective member engagement strategy and conceptualize, develop, implement, and evaluate all NCRW programmatic events and projects in order to ensure that strategic goals are met.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish and maintain relationships with NCRW Member Centers, Corporate Circle, and Presidents Circle members to support the advancement of the organization's mission and strategic objectives and build networks across sectors and develop access to a broad range of relevant voices in order to effect change on a larger scale (this will require travel, in-person meetings, phone calls and attendance at off-site events and convenings).
• Create policies and procedures for the Member Relations & Programs department, including feedback mechanisms to maintain excellence in service delivery to NCRW members, and processes to ensure that member issues are quickly identified, rectified and utilized for improved policies for the future.
• Lead and direct all recruitment plans and strategies related to new members ensuring a comprehensive orientation strategy, sound justification and allocation of resources and the development of new services and activities that add value for members.
• Develop, implement and evaluate all aspects of a large national annual conference (content, outreach, recruitment, and logistics) and smaller regional and monthly events and webinars.
• Collaborate with the development team to secure foundation and government grants, including the development of program narratives and budgets.
• Serve as a principal representative of and spokesperson for NCRW with diverse stakeholders, including members, government officials, corporate partners, community organizations, media and the public.
• Maintain ongoing awareness of relevant trends, developments and issues relating to the advancement of women and girls, including the work and publications of NCRW's constituents, to ensure that all written work is authoritative and contemporary.
• Direct the development of content for print materials and electronic communications, translating the work of NCRW's members for public education purposes, and ensure all written work is timely, accurate, relevant and tailored to target audiences. Create and monitor production schedules to ensure timely production of print and digital publications. Work with External Relations to ensure effective and timely dissemination plan.
• Collaborate with External Relations to create a Speaker's Bureau.
• Oversee and manage the annual Member Center Awards process (outreach, application management, correspondence).
• Supervise staff and interns, oversee their professional development.
• Manage outside consultants and contractors.
• Provide support for relevant committees of the Board of Directors.
• Serve as an active part of NCRW's senior management team, and work to ensure the effective flow of communication within the NCRW's broad network.

QUALIFICATIONS

The VP for Member Relations & Programs will be a self-directed, proactive individual with superlative written and verbal communication skills. An effective listener with strong personal integrity, the incumbent will have superior strategic and tactical planning and organizational skills.

• A Masters degree in a relevant field (e.g. public policy, gender studies, sociology, nonprofit management)
• 8-12 years program management experience in roles of increasing responsibility and proven ability to develop and manage work plans and budgets.
• Large conference and event management experience and expertise in project management and development and implementation of production schedules.
• Excellent written and oral communication and coalition building skills with an ability to balance, negotiate, and work with a variety of internal and external stakeholders; high level of knowledge and understanding, especially as it relates to program replication, connecting programs to funding, creatively generating other resources, and building strategic partnerships.
• A determination to solve complex problems with an eye on the details of those solutions.
• Ability and willingness to work in a diverse environment.
• Exceptional interpersonal communication skills and ability to network comfortably and effectively in both public and private sectors.
• Flexibility, patience, a willingness to take on multiple tasks, efficiency, a friendly disposition, sense of humor, and problem-solving skills.
• Interest and commitment to women's rights and feminist issues .
• Experience in a member organization preferred.
• Strong computer skills and proficiency in (or ability/willingness to learn) software as needed e.g. Constant Contact, Donorperfect and various survey software tools.
• This position requires willingness to travel locally and nationally (33%); available for late evening and weekend work as necessary

The National Council for Research on Women is committed to women's full and equal participation in a just and inclusive world. The Council works to advance women's leadership across professional sectors and encourage the development of young women leaders, both in the US and globally. The Council reaches out assertively to diverse constituencies to promote human rights and international cooperation and understanding among women across differences of generation, race, ethnicity, nation, sexual orientation and perspective. The Council embraces the principle of women's rights as human rights and works with diverse organizations to project that understanding on the national and global landscape. The Council works affirmatively to maintain a diverse staff and Board. The National Council for Research on Womenconsiders all applicants on the basis of merit without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status or disability. NCRW is an equal opportunity employer.

HOW TO APPLY

Please visit our job listings page a twww.ncrw.hiringthing.com to apply for this position. Applications will be reviewed only if they include a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word or pdf format), two writing samples, and a list of 3-4 references. Given the anticipated interest in this position, it will be possible to respond only to those candidates who best match our needs. No phone calls please.