Executive Director

Economic Hardship Reporting Project; United States; Remote; USD 135,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Vision insurance

Dental insurance

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Job summary

Economic Hardship Reporting Project seeks an Executive Director to serve as the organization’s chief executive and steward. You will lead strategy, fundraising, operations, and financial management while partnering with editorial leadership to uphold independence and mission.

You will oversee governance, external relations, and partnerships, ensuring diverse revenue streams and robust organizational systems. A track record in nonprofit newsroom leadership and a commitment to values are essential.

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of progressively senior leadership in a nonprofit or mission-driven organization.
• Proven success in fundraising across foundations, major donors, and institutional grants.
• Strong financial management, budgeting, forecasting, and audit oversight.
• Ability to partner with editorial leadership while upholding editorial independence.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategy, annual planning, and organizational learning to drive mission and impact.
• Oversee fundraising strategy, donor cultivation, and external relations.
• Manage budgeting, forecasting, internal controls, and audit coordination.
• Oversee operations, HR, IT, and vendor partnerships to ensure reliability and scalability.
• Serve as primary liaison to the Board of Directors and support governance practices.
• Collaborate with editorial leadership to align resources with editorial independence.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Fundraising

Financial management

Board governance

Editorial independence

Partnership development

Nonprofit operations

Job description

The Executive Director (ED) is EHRP’s chief executive and organizational steward, responsible for ensuring the longterm health, sustainability, and effectiveness of the organization. The ED leads strategy, fundraising, operations, financial management, and external relations, while partnering closely with editorial leadership to uphold EHRP’s editorial independence and mission. This role ensures that EHRP’s systems, resources, and partnerships enable highimpact journalism and advance the organization’s values.

Key Areas of Responsibility

1. Organizational Leadership & Strategy
   The ED leads EHRP’s strategic direction, annual planning, and organizational learning and growth. This includes owning the mission, values, and culture and translating these into operational priorities; ensuring alignment across editorial, development, and operations; and fostering a healthy, equitable, and collaborative organization.
2. Fundraising & External Relations
   The ED develops and executes a comprehensive fundraising strategy across institutional philanthropy, major donors, individual donors, and earned revenue partnerships. This includes cultivating funder relationships, stewarding grants, representing EHRP publicly, and strengthening partnerships that advance mission and impact.
3. Financial Management & Compliance
   The ED oversees budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and compliance. This includes maintaining strong internal controls, managing (or delegating management of) finance vendors, ensuring audit readiness, and partnering with the Board Treasurer to uphold transparency and accountability appropriate for a ~$1M nonprofit newsroom.
4. Operations, Systems & Organizational Infrastructure
   The ED ensures that EHRP’s operational systems — HR, finance, compliance, IT, data security/privacy, vendor management, and administrative workflows — are robust, efficient, and aligned with organizational needs. This includes overseeing (or delegating oversight of) external vendors and, as the organization evolves, managing or hiring internal operations staff as appropriate. The board will determine the appropriate operational staffing model in consultation with the incoming ED.
5. Governance & Board Relations
   The ED is the sole EHRP employee that reports to the Board of Directors, and the ED serves as the primary liaison to the Board, providing timely reporting on organizational health, finances, risks, and opportunities. The ED supports board development, governance best practices, and strategic decisionmaking, ensuring the board has the information needed to fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities.
6. Cross-Functional Leadership with Editorial Team
   The ED partners with the editorial team to ensure organizational strategy, resources, and systems support editorial excellence. The ED upholds editorial independence while enabling cross-functional planning around commissioning, partnerships, and impact.

Authority

Independent:

• Organizational strategy and annual planning
• Budget oversight, financial management, and final key vendor selection
• Fundraising strategy
• Hiring, supervision, and performance management of direct reports
• Operational systems, policies, and workflows
• External representation of EHRP

Shared / Consultative:

• Crossfunctional planning with editorial leadership
• Strategic partnerships involving editorial collaboration
• Organizational culture and internal communications
• Donor cultivation
• Major grant proposals and narrative framing
• Implementation of decisions and priorities impacted by budgetary plans
• Oversight of the annual financial audit process, including coordination with accounting vendors and auditors and collaboration with the Board Treasurer and/or Audit Committee.

Approval Required:

• Boardlevel decisions (e.g., annual budget, major financial commitments, governance changes)
• Significant shifts in organizational structure
• Longterm strategic plans or transformational initiatives
• Annual audited financial statements and acceptance of the audit (Board approval required).

Outcomes and Goals

• A financially stable and sustainable organization with diversified revenue streams
• Strong, missionaligned relationships with funders and partners
• Reliable, efficient operational systems delivered through a combination of vendors and internal capacity
• Clear, transparent governance practices and strong board engagement
• A healthy, equitable organizational culture grounded in EHRP’s values
• Editorial leadership empowered with the resources and conditions needed for excellence.

Internal Collaboration & Coordination

All employees report either directly or indirectly to the ED. The ED works closely with the editorial and operational teams to ensure alignment between editorial priorities and organizational strategy. The ED collaborates with operations, finance, and development vendors or staff to maintain organizational stability. Coordination with the Board occurs through regular reporting, quarterly meetings, and ongoing communication with the Board Chair and Treasurer.

• Key collaborators: Editorial Director, Executive Editor, Associate Editor, operations/finance vendors, development staff/contractors
• Areas of shared responsibility: Partnerships, grant narratives, organizational culture, crossfunctional planning
• Coordination cadence: Weekly or biweekly leadership checkins; monthly financial reviews; quarterly board meetings

Key Priorities

• Strengthen organizational infrastructure and operational reliability
• Ensure financial sustainability and revenue diversification
• Support editorial leadership and uphold editorial independence
• Advance missionaligned partnerships and external visibility
• Ensure the work complies with the mission and advances the brand of EHRP
• Maintain a healthy, equitable, and transparent organizational culture

Metrics of Success

• Outcomes: Fundraising performance; financial stability; operational reliability; partnership growth; organizational resilience
• Collaboration: Effective crossfunctional leadership; strong board relations; clear communication with editorial leadership
• Culture: Staff retention; equitable practices; strong morale; alignment with mission, values, ethics, and worldview
• Impact: Strengthened public understanding of economic hardship; increased visibility and reach of EHRP’s journalism.

Qualifications, Skills & Strengths Required

• 5-7 years of progressively senior leadership
• Experience in nonprofit,or adjacent missiondriven sectors
• Demonstrated success in fundraising, including foundation relations and major donor cultivation
• Strong financial management skills, including budgeting, forecasting, compliance, and audit oversight
• Experience leading teams, managing staff, and building healthy organizational culture
• Ability to partner effectively with editorial leadership and uphold editorial independence
• Experience with organizational systems, HR, operations, and risk management
• Excellent communication, relationshipbuilding, and publicfacing skills
• Deep commitment to EHRP’s mission, values, ethics, and worldview
• Preferred qualifications, skills & strengths
• Prior Executive Director or Csuite experience
• Experience leading a nonprofit newsroom or at a media organization
• Familiarity with commissioning models, editorial partnerships, or narrativechange ecosystems
• Experience guiding organizations through transition or growth phases
• Knowledge of nonprofit governance and board relations
• Experience with philanthropic landscapes related to journalism, inequality, or economic justice

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $135,000-$170,000 per year, depending on experience.
• Benefits: EHRP covers 100% of our employees’ health, vision, and dental insurance coverage, as well as life insurance and disability.

Notes on Role Boundaries

EHRP currently relies on external vendors for development, accounting, HR, and legal. The ED is responsible for ensuring operational excellence but is not expected to personally execute all operational tasks. The board will determine, in collaboration with the incoming ED, whether additional internal operational capacity (e.g., Operations Manager, COO, or coordinatorlevel support) is appropriate. The ED is the organization’s chief executive and operational leader, not an editorial decisionmaker; editorial independence is upheld by the Editorial Director and Executive Editor.