Senior Managing Director

Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation; New Jersey; On-site; USD 95,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

The Managing Director at Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation will serve as the primary operational and strategic leader, reporting to the co-founders, responsible for daily operations, fundraising initiatives, managing grant programs, and building strategic partnerships.

The role requires an organized, proactive, execution-focused leader who thrives in a high-trust, fast-moving environment and can bring structure and calm leadership to a growing organization.

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of experience in nonprofit operations, advancement operations, chief of staff support, program operations, executive support, or a similar role in a growing organization
• Demonstrated success building order, systems, and follow-through in a fast-moving environment
• Experience supporting senior leaders, founders, or boards where priorities shift and context matters
• Strong project management and organizational skills with close attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with CRM systems, donor platforms, project management tools, and operational workflows
• Ability to manage ambiguity, prioritize effectively, and keep momentum across multiple workstreams
• Commitment to the mission and values of MSHE Foundation

Responsibilities

• Translate founder priorities into clear action plans, timelines, and follow-through
• Oversee recurring workflows and help ensure critical projects, meetings, and deliverables stay on track
• Build and maintain strong internal operating rhythms across planning, execution, and accountability
• Identify bottlenecks, gaps, and loose ends before they become urgent
• Bring work to near-completion before review whenever possible
• Strengthen and manage the systems that support fundraising, grants, communications, events, and board operations
• Organize files, templates, calendars, trackers, and internal processes so work is easier to manage and repeat
• Improve visibility around priorities, deadlines, follow-up, and organizational progress
• Help create more sustainable workflows that reduce reactive, last-minute coordination
• Support use and optimization of tools such as CRM platforms, planning systems, databases, and workflow trackers
• Serve as a trusted thought partner and execution partner to the founders
• Help prepare materials, updates, talking points, and planning support for leadership conversations and meetings
• Reduce the founders’ administrative and coordination burden by taking ownership of routine follow-up, reminders, and process management
• Learn founder voice, judgment, and pacing in order to support communications and decision‑making effectively
• Support and eventually help lead follow-through with donors, partners, ambassadors, speakers, board members, and other strategic contacts
• Draft and coordinate thoughtful outreach, follow-up, and stewardship communications
• Track important touchpoints and ensure key relationships remain warm, organized, and moving forward
• Help prepare for donor, partner, and board meetings with strong briefing, coordination, and follow-up systems
• Coordinate board agenda preparation, meeting logistics, and leadership follow-up
• Support newsletters, communications drafts, and other organizational materials for founder review
• Help manage preparation for campaigns, webinars, events, and strategic initiatives
• Support timeline management and cross-functional coordination for major initiatives and recurring annual workstreams
• Stronger systems for fundraising, grants, communications, and board support
• More structured and visible donor, partner, and ambassador follow-through
• Less time spent by the founders on reminders, coordination, editing, and workflow management
• Increased trust in the Managing Director to independently lead selected initiatives and recurring priorities
• Stronger internal capacity that positions the organization for healthier long‑term growth

Skills

Nonprofit operations

Project management

Executive support

Donor stewardship

Communication

Tools

CRM systems

Donor platforms

Project management tools

Workflow tools

Job description

The Managing Director will serve as the primary operational and strategic leader of MSHEF. Reporting to the co-Founders of the organization, this individual will be responsible for overseeing the foundation’s daily operations, driving fundraising initiatives, managing grant programs, and building strategic partnerships to amplify our mission.

The ideal candidate is organized, proactive, and execution-focused.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a high-trust, fast-moving environment and knows how to bring structure, follow-through, and calm leadership to a growing organization. The Managing Director will help turn priorities into action, keep important relationships moving, improve internal workflows, and build the systems that make fundraising, communications, board support, and day-to-day operations more consistent and effective.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who is equally comfortable managing details, coordinating across many moving parts, and steadily growing into broader organizational ownership over time.

The Role

The Managing Director will serve as the primary operational and strategic leader of MSHEF. Reporting to the co-Founders of the organization, this individual will be responsible for overseeing the foundation’s daily operations, driving fundraising initiatives, managing grant programs, and building strategic partnerships to amplify our mission.

The ideal candidate is organized, proactive, and execution-focused.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a high-trust, fast-moving environment and knows how to bring structure, follow-through, and calm leadership to a growing organization. The Managing Director will help turn priorities into action, keep important relationships moving, improve internal workflows, and build the systems that make fundraising, communications, board support, and day-to-day operations more consistent and effective.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who is equally comfortable managing details, coordinating across many moving parts, and steadily growing into broader organizational ownership over time.

Key ResponsibilitiesOperational Leadership and Execution

• Translate founder priorities and organizational goals into clear action plans, timelines, and follow-through
• Oversee recurring workflows and help ensure critical projects, meetings, and deliverables stay on track
• Build and maintain strong internal operating rhythms across planning, execution, and accountability
• Identify bottlenecks, gaps, and loose ends before they become urgent
• Bring work to near-completion before review whenever possible

Systems and Workflow Management

• Strengthen and manage the systems that support fundraising, grants, communications, events, and board operations
• Organize files, templates, calendars, trackers, and internal processes so work is easier to manage and repeat
• Improve visibility around priorities, deadlines, follow-up, and organizational progress
• Help create more sustainable workflows that reduce reactive, last-minute coordination
• Support use and optimization of tools such as CRM platforms, planning systems, databases, and workflow trackers

Founder and Leadership Support

• Serve as a trusted thought partner and execution partner to the founders
• Help prepare materials, updates, talking points, and planning support for leadership conversations and meetings
• Reduce the founders’ administrative and coordination burden by taking ownership of routine follow-up, reminders, and process management
• Learn founder voice, judgment, and pacing in order to support communications and decision‑making effectively

Relationship Management and Follow-Through

• Support and eventually help lead follow-through with donors, partners, ambassadors, speakers, board members, and other strategic contacts
• Draft and coordinate thoughtful outreach, follow-up, and stewardship communications
• Track important touchpoints and ensure key relationships remain warm, organized, and moving forward
• Help prepare for donor, partner, and board meetings with strong briefing, coordination, and follow-up systems

Board, Communications, and Initiative Support

• Coordinate board agenda preparation, meeting logistics, and leadership follow-up
• Support newsletters, communications drafts, and other organizational materials for founder review
• Help manage preparation for campaigns, webinars, events, and strategic initiatives
• Support timeline management and cross-functional coordination for major initiatives and recurring annual workstreams

What We’re Looking For

The strongest candidate will be:

• Highly organized and deeply execution-oriented
• Excellent at follow-through and moving work to completion
• Comfortable managing multiple priorities and shifting contexts at once
• Proactive, resourceful, and able to anticipate what needs attention
• Strong in written communication and sound judgment around tone, discretion, and audience
• Comfortable working closely with founders in a high-context, entrepreneurial environment
• Confident enough to take initiative and humble enough to learn the organization’s voice, rhythm, and nuance
• Mature, trustworthy, and capable of handling sensitive information with discretion

Qualifications

• 3–5+ years of experience in nonprofit operations, advancement operations, chief of staff support, program operations, executive support, or a similar role in a growing organization
• Demonstrated success building order, systems, and follow-through in a fast-moving environment
• Experience supporting senior leaders, founders, or boards where priorities shift and context matters
• Strong project management and organizational skills with close attention to detail
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience with CRM systems, donor platforms, project management tools, and operational workflows
• Ability to manage ambiguity, prioritize effectively, and keep momentum across multiple workstreams
• Commitment to the mission and values of MSHE Foundation

Preferred Experience

Candidates with experience in one or more of the following areas are especially encouraged to apply:

• Education nonprofits
• Jewish nonprofit organizations
• Holocaust education or museum‑adjacent work
• Donor stewardship and advancement support
• Board support and governance preparation
• Event, campaign, or grant‑cycle management

What Success Looks Like in the First Year

In this role, success would look like:

• Stronger systems for fundraising, grants, communications, and board support
• More structured and visible donor, partner, and ambassador follow-through
• Less time spent by the founders on reminders, coordination, editing, and workflow management
• Increased trust in the Managing Director to independently lead selected initiatives and recurring priorities
• Stronger internal capacity that positions the organization for healthier long‑term growth

Growth Opportunity

This role is designed for someone who can make an immediate impact through execution, systems leadership, and relationship follow-through, while also growing into broader organizational responsibility over time.

As trust and context build, this person may expand into deeper donor ownership, stronger board leadership support, broader management of staff and contractors, and increased ownership of planning and strategic initiative execution.

Compensation

Expected compensation for this role is in the range of $95,000–$105,000 , with the potential for performance‑based bonus consideration tied to execution, stewardship, and organizational goals. Compensation will ultimately depend on experience and readiness for the scope of the role.