Senior Associate Vice President, Community Planning Initiatives

The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 150,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work policy

401(k) with match

Paid time off (PTO)

Job summary

The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago is seeking a Senior Associate VP, Community Planning Initiatives to lead the implementation of a 10-year community plan. Reporting to the Chief Impact Officer, you will direct a cross-functional team, coordinate with fundraising, and partner with external community stakeholders to roll out major initiatives over a 2-year term.

The role requires strong project management, budgeting, and executive communication skills, with collaboration across

Qualifications

• Minimum 7 years’ experience in project management, management consulting, and/or strategic initiative implementation.
• Experience leading large-scale, multi-year initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience developing and managing project budgets and tracking expenditures.
• Proven ability to prepare and facilitate executive-level presentations and progress reports.

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day project management for the initiative, including timelines and milestones.
• Direct cross-departmental teams to develop 10-year work plans and implementation resources.
• Track progress and outcomes with Evaluation colleagues and align with funding timelines.
• Collaborate with senior leaders to develop and implement project timelines for funding availability.
• Maintain a central project repository for content, data, and meeting notes.
• Manage contracts with outside contractors or contributors.
• Lead internal stakeholder management across departments to ensure alignment and deadlines.
• Prepare regular progress updates for senior leaders and support discussions on progress toward goals.
• Support development and dissemination of project impact reports with leadership.
• Track funding and budgeting against projections and communicate status to stakeholders.
• Develop and execute internal/external communication plans and stakeholder updates.

Skills

Project management

Stakeholder management

Budget tracking

Executive communication

Cross-functional leadership

Job description

Are you looking for a mission-driven non-profit where your skills can help people in need around the world? At the Jewish United Fund (JUF), we take pride in our mission and in having a work culture that fosters a sense of belonging and feels rewarding, supportive, and inclusive. We have a hybrid schedule and offer generous benefits including a 401(k) match, 22 days of paid time off, 11 sick days, and up to 21 paid holidays. The salary range for this role is $150,000-$165,000.

About the Role

Over the past year, JUF, in partnership with a leading Chicago family foundation, led a comprehensive planning effort focused on the future of the Chicago Jewish community. Through engagement with local and national stakeholders and subject matter experts, this work resulted in a 10-year plan that includes recommendations across five core areas to drive long-term impact.

Reporting to the Chief Impact Officer, the Senior Associate VP, Community Planning Initiatives will play a key role in bringing this vision to life by serving as a project manager and directing the implementation and rollout of this community initiative. In close partnership with the Senior Associate VP, Strategic Philanthropy, this role will align execution with fundraising efforts and collaborate across internal JUF teams as well as external community partners. This is a 2-year term position, with the possibility of extension contingent on future available funding.

What you’ll be doing

• Overall Project Management
  • Oversee day-to-day project management for the initiative, including overall project execution, timeline management, and delivery of key milestones and goals.
  • Direct cross-departmental/organizational working teams in development of 10-year work plans for new initiatives. This work will include refining recommendations, defining goals, and identifying resources and additional research needed for implementation.
  • In partnership with Evaluation colleagues, track progress and outcomes against implementation plans.
  • Work in close partnership with Senior Associate VP, Strategic Philanthropy to develop and implement overall project timeline for when and how much funding needs to be available for each initiative.
  • Maintain a central project information repository to ensure new content, data/research, and meeting documentation are appropriately incorporated into planning.
  • Manage contracts with any outside contractors or contributors.
• Internal stakeholder management (JUF)
  • Lead overall internal project management including working with senior leaders from internal departments (including marketing and communications, evaluation, grants, programming, operations, and campaign) to identify department-specific workplans, ensure alignment, manage communications, and meet deadlines.
  • Prepare regular progress updates to JUF senior professional and volunteer leaders, and support discussions on progress toward goals.
  • In collaboration with the Senior Associate VP, Strategic Philanthropy, partner with the Chief Impact Officer and Chief Development Officer on the development and dissemination of project impact reports.
  • In collaboration with the Senior Associate VP, Strategic Philanthropy and senior accounting and CRM colleagues, support the tracking of funding and budgeting for each initiative against projections. Communicate status to appropriate stakeholders.
  • Support in the development and execution of internal and external communication plans to ensure consistent sharing on progress, outcomes, and upcoming decisions; partner with Marketing and Communications and the Senior Associate VP, Strategic Philanthropy to create and distribute stakeholder updates, talking points, and marketing content for both internal and external audiences.
• External stakeholders (funders, community partners, committees)
  • Co-lead integrated working teams with members of JUF and external partners, as they develop and begin implementing 10-year work plans for new
  • Serve as a point of contact for community-based organizations and external collaborators.
  • Prepare and provide project status updates during weekly in person Working Team and quarterly Steering Committee meetings with external stakeholders, occasionally at offsite locations.
  • Track and manage next steps across all JUF-led initiatives in conjunction with external partners to keep work moving forward.
  • Partner with the Project Steering Committee to develop a rollout plan for external audiences.

What you need to succeed

• Minimum 7 years’ experience in project management, management consulting, and/or strategic initiative implementation; minimum 15 years’ professional experience with increasing responsibilities
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale, multi-year strategic initiatives involving multiple organizational stakeholders
• Proven experience developing and implementing complex workplans with measurable milestones, deliverables, and accountability structure,
• Experience developing and managing project budgets and tracking expenditures
• Previous work experience in the Jewish community preferred
• Knowledge of Jewish community, culture, heritage, traditions, and Jewish Communal Services preferred
• Experience preparing and facilitating executive-level presentations and progress reports
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, written, and oral communication skills with spectacular relationship building/maintaining skills
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively with multiple stakeholders (colleagues, donors, community organizations)
• Ability to prioritize tasks, balance multiple assignments, and meet deadlines
• Proficient in all Microsoft Office Suite of Products
• Use discretion and independent judgement in performing all aspects of the position
• PMP certification preferred

What you’ll love about us

At JUF, you can be part of one of the largest non-profit social welfare institutions in Illinois. We provide food, refuge, healthcare, education, emergency assistance, and essential services to 500,000 Chicagoans of all faiths and millions of Jews around the world. We offer medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) with base contribution and match, additional health and wellness benefits, financial benefits, professional training, tuition reimbursement, paid family leave, and much more.

Our Hybrid Schedule

We have a hybrid work policy to allow staff the flexibility to work from home / remotely on Mondays and Fridays. Tuesdays-Thursdays, the standard work location is 30 South Wells Street in Chicago, and staff are expected to work in person. We have a 36.5 hour work week, not a 40 hour work week. Our work hours are 8:30am-5pm Monday-Thursday and 8:30am-4pm Friday with a daily 1 hour lunch break.