Senior Associate, Community Planning

Jewish Federation of Cleveland; Beachwood (NJ); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland seeks a Senior Associate for Community Planning & Allocations to turn research into practical community impact. You will support priorities by identifying needs, building relationships, and strengthening agencies that sustain Jewish life.

You'll synthesize data across health, social services, and engagement, preparing materials for committees and guiding next steps while collaborating with diverse lay and professional stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Capacity to plan and execute projects with milestones and defined success metrics.
• Ability to build trust and work effectively with a broad range of community members and leaders.
• Knowledge of Jewish communal structures, culture, and practices.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading for speeches, memos, presentations, and reports.

Responsibilities

• Support the Community Planning Committee and Allocations Committee on priority areas.
• Identify unmet needs with agency professionals and lay committees.
• Coordinate strategy and operations of the Mental Health Crisis Response Team with partner agencies.
• Analyze Federation-commissioned research and produce white papers for stakeholders.
• Oversee the grant distribution review process and support agency oversight.

Skills

Project planning

Stakeholder engagement

Nonprofit knowledge

Writing/editing

Logic models/theory of change

Education

Master’s or advanced degree in nonprofit management or related field

5+ years of experience in research and planning

Job description

POSITION SUMMARY

As Senior Associate, Community Planning & Allocations (CP&A), you will help shape the future of Jewish Cleveland by turning research into real community impact. You’ll support Federation’s priorities by identifying unmet needs, building relationships, and strengthening the organizations that sustain Jewish life - work that keeps our community vibrant, connected, and resilient.

In CP&A, you’ll advance high-impact initiatives. You will gather and synthesize information across social services, health, and Jewish engagement, and help translate those insights into practical strategies and recommendations. You’ll support the Community Planning Committee and task forces by preparing materials, facilitating conversations, and tracking next steps, while developing collaborative relationships with beneficiary agencies and lay leaders.

We’re looking for someone who is curious, mission-driven, and comfortable moving between details and big-picture thinking. You’ll thrive in our lay/professional partnership model by listening well, asking good questions, and building trust with diverse stakeholders.

This position is full-time and reports to the Vice President of Community Planning & Allocations.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Community Planning and Allocations

• Support the work of the Community Planning Committee and Allocations Committee on specific areas of focus within the department to ensure effective engagement of all stakeholders.
• Work with appropriate lay committees, agency professionals, and other experts to identify unmet needs and initiatives that would address these needs.
• Coordinate the strategy and operations of the Mental Health Crisis Response Team in collaboration with JFC Security, Jewish Family Service Association, Bellefaire JCB, and Naaleh, ensuring proactive planning through regular convenings, timely updates to the crisis management plan, and effective partner engagement.
• Conduct analysis of Federation-commissioned and other research to provide important information for planning, priority setting, and program development and produce “white papers” to share information with stakeholders.
• Support the oversight and management of annual allocations committee process and ongoing agency oversight.

Department Support

• Develop, implement, and administer a standardized process for reviewing, documenting, approving, and submitting grant distribution payments under the purview of the Community Planning department.
• Draft relevant and substantive speaker notes for Federation representatives that highlight each agency’s accomplishments and challenges, ensuring that timelines allow for stakeholder input and leadership review ahead of annual meetings and events.

Select projects currently undertaken by the CP&A Department include:

• Research including the 2022 Cleveland Jewish Community Population study and 2024 Older Adult Task Force.
• Addressing challenges of families in financial distress (ex. Cleveland Chesed Center, Forward Focus).
• Promoting Jewish engagement through Jewish camping (ex. One Happy Camper) and other informal Jewish engagement opportunities (ex. PJ Library and JHub).
• Developing opportunities to support college students through professional development, cohort building, and college scholarships for Jewish camp counselors and middle-income families.
• Bringing new engagement opportunities to Jewish Cleveland: Jewish Fertility Foundation, Moishe House.

Additional Duties/Responsibilities

• 10% of the position is allocated to an annual campaign assignment. This may include, but is not limited to, providing staff support to a group of campaign volunteers, and participating in regular campaign meetings and events, as determined by the Campaign Director.
• Additional development assignments as appropriate. This may include writing grant and impact reports, relationship building with lay and agency leadership, producing ongoing written communication regarding community needs, or writing grant proposals.

QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Personal Characteristics

• Capacity to plan and execute projects in collaboration with lay and professional colleagues, proactively setting milestones, identifying stakeholders, and defining success metrics.
• Ability to build trust and work effectively with a wide constituency of community members, including lay and professional leadership.
• Working knowledge of Jewish communal structures/organizations, culture, and traditions.
• Exceptional writing, editing, and proofreading for speeches, memos, presentations, and reports.
• Experience using planning frameworks and models, such as logic models and theory of change, to structure projects and define outcomes.

Education, Training and/or Experience

• Master’s or advanced degree in nonprofit management, social service, research, or a related field.
• 5+ years of experience in research and planning, and outcome measures.
• Work experience in a nonprofit organization is desirable; experience with nonprofit financials is preferred.

ABOUT THE FEDERATION

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland is the only organization in Cleveland that focuses on the health and vitality of the entire Jewish community. For more than 120 years, the Federation has created the critical scale necessary to drive meaningful social change and provide relief in times of crisis in ways no one person or organization could do alone. As Jewish Cleveland’s hub for innovative solutions and collaborative services, the Federation is able to change and improve lives in Cleveland, Israel, and around the world.