Director of Leadership (BF)

Bladin Foundation; Grand Rapids (MI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Blandin Foundation seeks a Director of Leadership with a mandate to design, oversee, and advance leadership programs aimed at strengthening rural communities in Minnesota. The role sits on the Senior Leadership Team and requires collaboration across Public Policy and Grant Making to maximize impact.

The position emphasizes conceptualization, program management, budgeting, and data-driven assessment, with the goal of sustained excellence aligned to the Foundation’s mission.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree equivalent to a master’s level, Ph.D. preferred
• Minimum of eight years senior level management experience
• Leadership and management experience in the nonprofit sector
• Extensive background in leadership development theory and practice including designing and conducting leadership programs for adults
• Knowledge of, experience with and passion for rural issues
• Program management and conceptualization experience
• Organizational assessment theory and design experience
• Excellent professional abilities, such as personnel management, verbal and written communication, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, conflict management skills, cultural competence and emotional intelligence
• Ability and willingness to learn and adapt to changing needs of the organization
• Ability to thrive in an adaptive culture that relies on teamwork and shared leadership
• Demonstrated abilities in decision making and organizational and Board-level communications
• Ability to support and model organization values and operating principles
• General understanding of organization and non-profit financial issues and statements

Responsibilities

• Serve as a member of the senior leadership team contributing to cultural stewardship, strategic leadership, and decision making
• Leadership Programs—Conceptualization and Design: develop and present new program ideas to the Vice President and provide conceptual direction and implementation planning
• Ensure leadership programs have defensible theoretical frameworks and are integrated with other Foundation programs
• Recommend which leadership programs should be added, dropped, or moved for further development
• Oversee budgeting, staffing, and consultant recruitment for leadership programs
• Oversee rural community program recruitment for leadership programs
• Oversee organizational assessment system and design structures for gathering and documenting data
• Participate in other organizational teams and projects as assigned

Skills

Leadership

Management

Verbal & Written Communication

Interpersonal Skills

Conflict Management

Cultural Competence

Emotional Intelligence

Teamwork & Collaboration

Decision Making

Organizational Awareness

Education

Advanced degree (Master's or PhD preferred)

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

The Director of Leadership has conceptual design, oversight and management responsibilities for the operation, direction and future planning of Blandin Foundation leadership programs. This position is responsible for ensuring that these programs achieve the Foundation’s standards of excellence and operate in a manner which supports the Foundation’s mission to strengthen rural communities in Minnesota while integrating with and maximizing other programs of the Foundation. This position is also a member of the Senior Leadership Team and is expected to work collaboratively with other members of the Senior Leadership Team.

Essential Accountabilities:

• Serves as a member of the senior leadership team. This team contributes to the cultural stewardship, strategic leadership, and decision making of the organization.
• Leadership Programs-- Conceptualization and Design
• Develop and present new program ideas to the Vice President.
• Provide conceptual direction and implementation planning for all leadership programs to accomplish the Foundation’s mission and strategic direction.
• Ensure that all leadership programs have a defensible and supportable theoretical framework.
• Responsible for recommending which leadership programs should be added, dropped or moved to another organization for further development and implementation as part of the organizational planning process.
• Ensure the Foundation leadership programs are integrated and build on each other in ways that achieve the Foundation’s mission and strategic direction.
• Leadership Program-- Management and Oversight
• Ensure that the standards of excellence for Foundation programs are achieved.
• Oversee the continuous improvement of all leadership programs.
• Ensure that all leadership programs are well integrated with other programs of the Foundation including Public Policy, and Grant Making.
• Establish partnerships with other organizations in the development and delivery of these programs to maximize the Foundation’s impact. This includes working partnerships where efforts are co-funded and partnerships where organizations work together to achieve common goals.
• Ensure that programs are operated within the budget approved by the Board.
• Provide recommendations regarding staffing needs of the programs.
• Recruit and monitor the performance of consultants.
• Oversee rural community program recruitment for all leadership programs.
• Oversight of Organizational Assessment System.
  • Design structures for gathering and documenting assessment data for the entire organization.
• Participate in other organizational teams and projects as assigned.

Supervisory responsibilities include managing, coaching, mentoring, assessing work performance/providing feedback and, when necessary, dealing with disciplinary issues.

Supervises the following positions:

• Leadership Senior Program Officer
• Leadership Recruitment Manager
• Leadership Program Recruitment Assistant
• Leadership Program Assistant--Business
• Temporary Leadership workers

Education and/or Experience:

• Advanced degree equivalent to a master’s level, Ph.D. preferred
• Minimum of eight years senior level management experience
• Leadership and management experience in the nonprofit sector
• Extensive background in leadership development theory and practice including designing and conducting leadership programs for adults.
• Knowledge of, experience with and passion for rural issues
• Program management and conceptualization experience
• Organizational assessment theory and design experience.
• Must have excellent professional abilities, such as personnel management, verbal and written communication, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, conflict management skills, cultural competence and emotional intelligence.
• Ability and willingness to learn and adapt to changing needs of the organization.
• Ability to thrive in an adaptive culture that relies on teamwork and shared leadership.
• Demonstrated abilities in decision making and organizational and Board-level communications
• Ability to support and model organization values and operating principles
• General understanding of organization and non-profit financial issues and statements
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite of programs

Typical Physical Requirements for the Position:

• Keyboarding
• Sitting for several hours per day