Executive Director (SJI)

Seattle Jobs Initiative; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Seattle Jobs Initiative seeks an Executive Director to provide visionary leadership and strategic direction for a growing workforce initiative. You will guide 25 staff, manage a $4.5M budget, and partner with the Board of Directors to advance equity through innovative funding and program strategies.

The role requires seven+ years of senior leadership experience, deep community engagement, and a strong commitment to addressing poverty through living-wage careers.

Qualifications

• Seven+ years of progressively responsible senior management experience in leadership and strategy.
• Experience with diverse, high-need communities and poverty challenges in workforce development.
• Ability to develop, inspire, mentor, and lead committed teams and nonprofit boards.
• Strong partnerships with a nonprofit Board of Directors and stakeholder groups.
• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is required.

Responsibilities

• Provide visionary leadership, direction, and energy for Seattle Jobs Initiative.
• Report to the Board of Directors and guide a 25-person team and a $4.5M budget.
• Develop funding strategies and cultivate partnerships to expand living-wage opportunities.
• Lead organizational change initiatives to promote equity in workforce development.

Skills

Visionary leadership

Strategic direction

Fund development

Change management

Community engagement

Diversity equity understanding

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

As the U.S. economy experiences nearly a decade of prosperity expansion and wealth creation, the reality remains that working individuals and their families in the Seattle region and across the country are being left behind in a thriving economy. Today, three out of 10 working families in the United States do not have enough money to meet basic needs such as housing, food, and medical services. Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI) creates opportunities for people to support themselves and their families through living wage careers by eliminating barriers to well‑paid, meaningful, long‑term work. With over 17,000 participants since 1997, SJI helps people get access to education and training to put them on the right career pathways for a living wage. SJI creatively aligns support services, such as housing, childcare, transportation, counseling, and job placement assistance. SJI collaborates with their employer‑partners using evidence‑based research, shared education, and commitment to data‑driven practice to create more innovative and human‑centered jobs training programs and better lives for working families. More information can be found here: www.seattlejobsinitiative.com .

About the Position

The Executive Director of Seattle Jobs Initiative will join an organization that has a strong financial base, solid reputation, and is poised for continued growth. SJI’s next Executive Director will be a highly successful innovator and champion in leading vital systems change and disruption. This creative, mission‑driven leader will provide visionary leadership, focus, direction, and energy for Seattle Jobs Initiative. Reporting to a committed Board of Directors, this leader will utilize their vision and operational skills to take SJI to the next stage of organizational success, impacting race and social equity through innovative workforce initiatives. A confident, energetic, and forward‑thinking leader, the successful candidate will lead a dynamic organization of 25 staff and a $4.5 million budget including $2.5 million in cash reserves to continue developing creative and innovative strategies and ideas for cultivating new business and funding and promoting opportunities for increasing living‑wage careers.

About You

The ideal candidate must bring at least seven years of progressively responsible senior management experience in visionary leadership, strategic direction, fund development, and effecting change. Experience with and connection to diverse, high‑needs communities and deep understanding of poverty and the challenges in workforce development. Individual must also have an ability to develop, inspire, mentor, and lead highly committed teams and experience in empowering, building, and maintaining productive relationships with a nonprofit Board of Directors. A bachelor’s degree is required.