Director, Community Initiatives

United Way of Greater Charlotte; Charlotte (NC); On-site; USD 87,000 - 92,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401k Defined Contribution Plan

Paid Holidays

Paid Time-Off

Job summary

United Way of Greater Charlotte is seeking a Director of Community Initiatives to lead our United Neighborhood and Unite Charlotte efforts. You will steward program integrity, partner with community groups, and ensure accountability for dollars invested and programs delivered.

As a member of the Community Impact team, you will collaborate with stakeholders to align strategies, provide strategic leadership, and foster external relationships to advance poverty-ending outcomes across Greater

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years professional experience, 3+ leadership or management experience.
• Executive communication, strategic vision, organizational leadership, budgeting responsibility, people leadership.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite and related collaboration tools.

Responsibilities

• Community Engagement & Capacity Building: convene community-based agencies, facilitate cross-sector forums, onboard with inclusive practices training.
• Strategic Grant-Making: manage grant process, educate applicants on collective impact models, coordinate partner agreements.
• Evaluation & Research Leadership: implement evaluation frameworks with Unite Charlotte and United Neighborhoods initiatives; ensure data-driven assessment.
• Partnership Development & Conflict Resolution: manage stakeholder relationships and facilitate conflict resolution.
• Funding Strategy & Growth: identify and secure new funding streams with senior leadership.
• External Representation: serve as spokesperson at events, promoting mission and impact strategies.
• Strategic Team Leadership: drive professional development and contribute to organizational objectives.
• Perform additional responsibilities as needed to support objectives.

Skills

Executive communication

Strategic vision

Organizational leadership

Budgeting

People leadership

MS Office

Cross-functional collaboration

Public speaking

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Andar

e-CImpact

Airtable

FormStack

Smartsheet

Outlook

Teams

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

POSITION TITLE: Director of Community Initiatives

DEPARTMENT: Community Impact

REPORTS TO: Chief of Community Impact

TYPE: Full Time, Exempt

Salary: $87,240-$92,240

United Way of Greater Charlotte is boldly investing in what if. When Charlotte ranked last in the nation for economic mobility, United Way challenged ourselves and others to say what if every neighborhood has the resources it needs to break the cycle of poverty? And what if every person has equal access to opportunities? In response, United Way is going directly to where the needs are the greatest and is bringing new voices to the table to promote racial equity and ensure every neighborhood thrives. We believe that by challenging the what ifs and by moving together in hope, we can build thriving communities.

Job Summary

Join United Way of Greater Charlotte as a The Director of Community Initiatives and play a vital role in ensuring our community programs create meaningful, lasting change. In this position, you'll serve as a key steward of program integrity and work directly with community partners to ensure that every dollar invested, and every program delivered meets the highest standards of accountability while advancing United Way's mission to improve lives and strengthen communities throughout Greater Charlotte.

The Director of Community Initiatives is an outwardly facing role accountable for establishing and leading our United Neighborhood and Unite Charlotte efforts, ensuring stewardship of organizational resources, and supporting the United Way of Greater Charlotte mission to end poverty and advance equitable outcomes. As a member of the Community Impact team, this individual will work closely and collaboratively with other members of the organizational team and external stakeholders to create seamless organizational alignment with defined community impact strategies and programs. Key responsibilities include facilitating cross-sector partnerships, guiding collaborative planning processes, and convening diverse stakeholders around shared community goals. An ideal candidate would be a highly organized strategic thinker, experienced public speaker, skilled facilitator, and committed learner dedicated to ensuring a high level of leadership, accountability and proven effectiveness in establishing excellent external and internal collaborative relationships through expert facilitation of multi-stakeholder initiatives and community engagement.

Responsibilities

• Community Engagement & Capacity Building: Leads team efforts to convene community-based agencies and local service providers, facilitate cross-sector learning forums, and coordinate comprehensive onboarding that includes inclusive practices training, cultural humility, and place-based work fundamentals.
• Strategic Grant-Making: Oversees the community grant-making process from relationship building through award management, directing grant panels, educating applicants on collective impact models, and coordinating partner agreements with funded agencies
• Evaluation & Research Leadership: Directs implementation of evaluation frameworks for Unite Charlotte and United Neighborhoods initiatives in partnership with Research and Evaluation team, ensuring data-driven program assessment and continuous improvement
• Partnership Development & Conflict Resolution: Manages complex stakeholder relationships among Community Quarterbacks and service providers, facilitating conflict resolution and strengthening commitment to shared neighborhood revitalization goals
• Funding Strategy & Growth: Collaborates with senior leadership to identify and secure new funding streams
• External Representation: Serves as organizational spokesperson at community events, symposiums, and conferences, representing United Way's mission and impact strategies to diverse audiences
• Strategic Team Leadership: Drives professional development initiatives and serves as a key contributor to organizational objectives beyond core functional responsibilities for a core team of staff (5).
• Perform additional responsibilities as needed to support organizational objectives and departmental goals

What You’ll Need: Education, Experience, and Skills

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. Advanced degree preferred
• 8+ years professional experience, 3+ leadership or management experience
• Executive communication, strategic vision, organizational leadership, budgeting responsibility, ability to people lead.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ability to quickly learn and utilize additional systems such as Andar, e-CImpact, Airtable, FormStack, and Smartsheet.

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to effectively plan, execute, and oversee multiple initiatives.
• Ability to present information and ideas clearly and persuasively to executive teams, volunteers, community stakeholders, and the board of directors.
• Demonstrated success in collaborative work environments, group facilitation, and engaging leadership volunteers.
• Excellent organizational, time management, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Adaptability to change, with the ability to work independently and apply strong problem‑solving skills.

Workplace values

• Take action and go! Be bold and not afraid of a little competition or thinking outside the box even when opportunities seem unimaginable. Create a new path one-step at a time, you got this!
• Openly collaborate in the pursuit of truth and doing what is right. Welcome tough conversations don't make assumptions, and rely on others, together we are stronger!
• Sometimes things just need a shake-up. Whether internally or out in the community, we aren't afraid to be disruptive. Understanding that we may leave a few feathers ruffled along the way, if it is the right thing to do and benefits our community, we will take the chance!
• Inaction is the enemy of innovation. We are a perpetual work in progress, striving to be better, constantly learning and taking risks to be the best we can be. Learning from our mistakes and paving the way for continual betterment.
• Teamwork makes the dream work. Bottom line, we need each other. Working together makes us all better individually and makes us awesome as a group. Understanding what other strengths and weaknesses may be and using that knowledge to guide, support, and model our work makes for a successful and high performing team.
• Recognizing and appreciating our differences only make us better. We all share in the responsibility to create a positive culture and to safeguard equity, inclusion, dignity, and respect for all. Each member of our team will be a role model for others.

United Way of Greater Charlotte is committed to having a workforce that reflects our entire community. United Way opposes racism and oppression in all its forms and believes the nonprofit work environment is enhanced when diverse groups of people with ideas come together to achieve common goals. United Way understands that diverse representation and perspectives are vital to our success. We are Dedicated to continuous learning and active participation in diversity initiatives while advocating for equitable opportunities across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Committed to deepening understanding of historically marginalized communities' experiences, particularly Black, Indigenous, and Latinx groups, to create more inclusive environments.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits include Health, Dental, Vision, 401k Defined Contribution Plan, Paid Holidays and Paid Time-Off.