Executive Director

HR-4U INC.; North Carolina; On-site; USD 36,000 - 52,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Wellness stipend

Health stipend

PTO: 15 days/year

Equipment for HR-4U use

Job summary

HR-4U, Inc. is seeking its Founding Executive Director to lead day‑to‑day operations, strategy, and external presence, reporting to the Board. The role includes launching transformation programs, shaping the funding pipeline, and building donor relationships to ensure long‑term financial stability.

This is HR-4U's first executive hire, with latitude and responsibility as the organization scales. The Foundation will oversee Transformation Kitchen and related initiatives, working with the Board

Qualifications

• Experience growing nonprofit organizations from startup to larger scale.
• Proven ability to convert relationships into funded programs and revenue.
• Strong budgeting, financial planning, and reporting to a board.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations and execute an annual plan aligned with HR-4U's mission.
• Report to the Board of Directors and support governance activities.
• Develop and manage grant proposals and the funding pipeline.
• Build and sustain funder relationships and sponsorships to ensure financial stability.
• Oversee program launches and organizational policy in collaboration with program leads.

Skills

Fundraising

Grant writing

Budgeting

Strategic leadership

Nonprofit governance

External relations

Financial planning

Tools

Grant management software

Job description

HR-4U, Inc. is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity built on one conviction: a person's past should not determine their paycheck. We run three programs, Transformation Kitchen™..., ...

HR-4U is young and lean: an operating budget under $250,000, a five-person Board of Directors, and an advisory board of a dozen-plus volunteers running eight working committees. There is no paid staff today beyond this role. This is HR-4U's first-ever Executive Director position, so this hire is inheriting real latitude and real responsibility at the same time.

Our grant and development capacity is currently limited, ...

HR-4U's first physical Transformation Kitchen location in the U.S., is still being finalized, most likely somewhere in New York, so part of this role's first months is real program-launch work, not just overseeing something already running.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Founding Executive Director leads HR-4U's day-to-day operations, strategy, and external presence, reporting to the full Board of Directors (quarterly board meetings, biannual full board meetings in April and September).

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Organizational Leadership & Strategy

• Own day-to-day operations and turn HR-4U's mission into an executable annual plan, in an organizationthat is still building its basic infrastructure.


• Take real ownership of results: this role is judged on outcomes, programs launched, relationships built,dollars raised, not on activity.

Board Engagement & Governance Support

• Report regularly to the full Board of Directors, which holds final decision-making authority on majororganizational decisions.


• Flag risks and opportunities honestly and early. Radical Transparency is a working value here, not a slogan.


• Research, write, and manage grant proposals and lead HR-4U's funding pipeline, following HR-4U's own grant-copy standard: lead with the problem as a statistic, explain the program model in clear, accessible language, and include placement rates, wage data, and completion data


• Build and maintain funder relationships until HR-4U's Development Chair Executive Board role is filled, then work in conjunction in partnership with that person.


• Build the kind of relationships that turn into real revenue: sponsors, recurring donors, and in‑kind partners (pro bono professional services, wellness or space partnerships, and similar). Connections and follow-through matter more than follower counts.

Program Oversight & Quality

• Help finalize and launch HR-4U's first Transformation Kitchen physical location, and oversee qualityacross Transformation Kitchen™, Mentor for Good, and Advocacy going forward, working with programleads and committee chairs rather than running programs personally.


• Keep outcomes data (placements, wages, completion rates) current and usable, since HR-4U's credibilitywith funders depends on it.


• Own budget tracking and financial planning in partnership with the Board and HR-4U's payroll provider


• Detailed day‑to‑day bookkeeping ownership is still being finalized.

External Representation & Public Voice

• Represent HR-4U to funders, partners, and media as needed, in coordination with Chason, who remainsthe default point of contact for press inquiries per HR-4U's media protocol.


• Support HR-4U's public communications in the organization's established voice: direct, human, earned,warm without soft, and accountable.

Operations & Compliance

• Keep HR-4U current on nonprofit compliance requirements across its 30 states of operation.


• Work with the Board and HR-4U's compliance lead, Tiffany (on board as of October 1), on organizationalpolicy and ongoing compliance.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

HR-4U's brand voice runs on five attributes: direct, human, earned, warm without soft, accountable. The person in this role should embody the same five, not just write copy that sounds like them.

A Builder, Start to Finish

• Someone who can be handed an org and build it end to end: assembling the right people around them, standing up real programs, and turning relationships into financial stability for the organization. The measure isn't activity, it's whether HR-4U is demonstrably stronger, and more financially secure, because they were here.

A Track Record of Growth, Not a Specific Cause

• Direct experience with homelessness, living-wage, or workforce-specific missions is not required. What matters is a real pattern of taking a nonprofit from small to meaningfully larger. That pattern of growth is the signal, not the sector.

Relationship-Driven, Not Just Budget-Literate

• Deep, in‑the‑weeds budgeting experience is less important than the ability to convert relationships into resources, grant funding, sponsorships, donor commitments, and in‑kind partnerships (professional services, space, wellness, and similar) that build real financial security over time.

Someone You'd Want in the Room

• Comfortable being looked in the eye and asked tough questions, and giving direct answers back. This is a values and chemistry fit as much as a resume fit, and it will be evaluated that way in the interview process.

Genuinely Aligned, Not Just Interested

• Real alignment with HR-4U's mission, not just interest in the title or the flexibility of a part-time role. This shows up in conversation, and it's what we're listening for.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS PLAN

Structure:

This role is structured as a W2 employee. Commonwealth Payroll & HR is engaged to administer payroll. Pay is structured as a fixed monthly salary rather than hourly.

Base Pay

$36,000–$52,000 per year ($3,000–$4,333/month), based on a 25 hour/week role. Final figure within this range to be set by the Board based on the selected candidate's experience.

Benefits & Stipends

• Wellness stipend: $100/month, plus enrollment in the Fit4Life wellness service ($199/year).


• PTO: 15 days per year, not available to take during the first 90 days (the probationary period).


• Health stipend: $150/month toward the employee's own health coverage.


• Equipment: We will send necessary equipment and a sign off acceptance for the equipment to be used for HR‑4U, INC. business purposes only. A one‑time gap‑fill budget of$150–$250 will be negotiated for anything not already covered


• Phone: Google Voice business extension over a dedicated device will be created.


• Ongoing 1:1s between the Executive Director and Chason Forehand


• 30-60-90-day reviews from the full Board, with day 90 marking the end of the probationary period.


• Full Board reviews at 6 months and 1 year, with potential salary adjustments at each of those milestones.