Director of Strategic Development

Summary/Purpose

The Director of Strategic Development is responsible for managing, designing and implementing strategic initiatives with internal and external stakeholders in order to maximize the impact of Summit Academy OIC’s mission and programs. This position leads the strategic planning process; researches and develops new programming; monitors the implementation of strategic priorities; and manages relationships with external stakeholders.

Essential Functions

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Lead the strategic planning process interfacing with leadership, organization staff, the Planning and Strategic Development (PSD) Committee, and the Summit Board of Directors.
  • Conduct environmental scans interpreting relevant data (US Census, DEED, etc.), lead/develop SWOT analysis, and present findings with simplicity and impact.
  • Manage the communication of the strategic plan, manage the timeline of planning and delivery, and provide needed input to make decisions on direction.
  • Develop implementation plans to support onboarding of strategic priorities and collaborate with internal leadership team and staff to manage time and deliverables.
• Research, design and develop new programming to support internal and external initiative
  • Generate new ideas/concepts that meet internal program criteria and present to the leadership team and President for action.
  • Develop implementation plans to lead the successful adoption of new programming from analysis, stakeholder engagement/investment, to adoption by the operations division.
  • Deliver presentations to key stakeholders to garner investment: financial support, programmatic support, and/or employer support.
• Monitor the implementation of the strategic priorities of the organization providing ongoing communication to internal and external stakeholders.
  • Monitor operational activities and outcomes that support the strategic priorities of the organization, deliver status updates to key stakeholders, and provide direction to support desired outcomes.
  • Position the organization to make programmatic adjustments based on performance.
  • Scan the external environment for potential opportunities and/or threats on an ongoing basis
• Onboard and monitor the performance of external initiatives and partnerships.
  • Lead the onboarding of external initiatives through concept design and development and establishing stakeholder commitment and investment.
  • Monitor the performance of the initiative upon transition to the operations team delivering feedback as needed.
  • Communicate with external partners on program delivery and performance and ensure performance meets the expectations as agreed upon by the stakeholders.
• Represent the organization in strategic partnerships and champion the organization and its initiatives with key stakeholders including government, philanthropy and corporate.
  • Serve as an active member on workforce and philanthropic-supported councils advocating training initiatives for low-income communities of color.
  • Provide consulting services to external agencies and Community Based Organizations (CBOs)
  • Advance the strategic priorities of the organization identifying opportunities for partnership, collaboration and/or integration.
• Assist the President on organization wide initiatives.
• Other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

1. Proven cross-functional business project/program and process management experience.
2. Ability to distill insights from a great variety of data points, identify priorities and craft and deliver strategic narratives.
3. Excellent communications, collaboration, influencing and presentation skills – interpersonal, written and verbal.
4. Ability to cultivate and maintain positive relationships with internal and external high-level stakeholders and work cross functionally at all levels of the organization or with multiple external partners.
5. Must be able to perform under pressure, manage and prioritize multiple tasks on very tight deadlines and in high visibility settings.
6. Advanced Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel skills required.

Supervisory Responsibility

This person has no direct reports.

Work Environment

This job normally operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical Demands

This is largely a sedentary role. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, etc.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time exempt position under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It is not eligible for overtime pay. Hours are Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Occasional nights and weekends may be required to meet the expectations of the position.

Travel

Frequent local travel required. Occasional regional or national travel may be required for professional development, or strategic partnerships or initiatives.

Required Education & Experience

1. Bachelor’s degree required.
2. At least 7 years of professional experience in strategy, operations, program development, management consulting, business planning and development, and project management.

Preferred Education & Experience

1. Master’s degree.
2. Professional experience in a nonprofit organization and/or in a higher education institution.

Other Duties

Please note that this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

AAP/EEO

It is the policy of Summit Academy OIC to provide equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. In addition, Summit Academy OIC will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.