The Organization
Listen4Good (L4G) is a Fund for Shared Insight initiative dedicated to building nonprofit organizations’ and funders’ practice of listening to the people they seek to help. L4G leverages a semi-standard survey instrument and a set of capacity-building tools and resources for nonprofits to build their competencies for systematically listening and responding to feedback from their clients. To support organizations, L4G provides a suite of resources including an interactive web app, one-on-one coaching support, group learning, and financial support in some cases. Grounding our work is a fundamental belief that high-quality feedback, when fully embraced by organizations, can catalyze consistently inclusive and equitable relationships with clients.
Since 2016, more than 450 nonprofits across the United States have participated in aspects of the Listen4Good program. Looking ahead, we are seeking to test and refine our suite of resources, with the aim of making them publicly available for nominal fees by the end of 2021.
About Fund for Shared Insight Fund for Shared Insight is a funder collaborative working to improve philanthropy by elevating the voices of those least heard. Our goal is for foundations and nonprofits to be meaningfully connected to each other and to the people and communities we seek to help – and more responsive to their input and feedback. We believe engaging with the people we serve in more respectful and inclusive ways and working with them as partners in making changes will lead to more equitable experiences and outcomes for everyone we serve.
Position Overview
The Listen4Good (L4G) Program Director is responsible for management, oversight, and ongoing development of Listen4Good programs. As a member of the L4G Central team, this role will manage and support a diverse, virtual coaching team that provides direct assistance to portfolios of nonprofits participating in Listen4Good’s premium coaching program; oversee the Program Manager for Listen4Good’s Online+ program; monitor progress of the portfolio and ensure nonprofits are having a high-quality experience; assess and develop resources to support program execution and impact; and communicate and present on aspects of the Listen4Good program to external stakeholders, prospective partners, and program participants.
The ideal candidate is a seasoned strategic leader who has experience managing diverse teams and overseeing scaled programs, especially those that have a coaching component. Successful candidates will have a strong understanding of the direct service nonprofit field within the United States and a demonstrated commitment to racial equity and social justice issues. Having a background in organizational development, strategy/program design, and change management is particularly desired. Other required skills include an analytical mindset, facility with technology, and effective communication skills. Successful candidates are collaborative and fast-learners and excited to join a rapidly growing start-up organization at its early stages in conversion to a fee-based revenue model.
This role is a near-full time contract position and has the potential for conversion to a full-time salaried role with benefits in future years. As Listen4Good operates as a virtual organization, the position can be based anywhere in the United States but we have a strong preference for someone based in the Pacific time zone. We encourage individuals who reflect the communities whose voices we seek to amplify, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color and LGBTQ individuals, to apply.
Key Responsibilities:
· Cultivate a deep understanding of and champion L4G’s premium coaching and Online+ program(s) – our philosophy and values, the coaching model, available online resources and platforms, and the five-step feedback loop process.
· Manage a growing team of feedback coaches: conduct regular individual check-ins and provide strategic guidance /support on challenging coaching cases, plan and lead monthly group learning meetings, recruit and train new coaches as needed. Currently, we have eight coaches on our team. Oversee ad-hoc project teams focused on issues such as program design or issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
· Ensure participating organizations have a high-quality program experience: identify areas for improvement whether in available resources or in the program model. Deeply understand the experience of participating organizations. Represent and share organizations’, coach, and program perspectives in cross-functional team conversations.
· Provide direct coaching to organizations, as needed.
· Provide strategic leadership towards development of a sustainable and high-impact program model, based on portfolio/cohort and product learnings. Partner with L4G Central team members to guide program evolution.
· Oversee ongoing development of resources or changes to program model in conjunction with other L4G Central team members, which may include written articles, webinars, developing coach guidelines, or other materials.
· Guide and draft portfolio-level communications to participating organizations in conjunction with L4G Central team.
· Serve as relationship manager for funders that are sponsoring organizational participation in Listen4Good. Serve as secondary business development resource in recruitment efforts of funder partners.
· Represent L4G in meetings with external stakeholders.
· Monitor portfolio performance using quantitative and qualitative methods: track progress and experience of organizations through Salesforce reports, periodic third party evaluations, conversations with coaches, and any direct organizational feedback.
Key Skills and Qualifications:
· Commitment to social justice, racial equity, and inclusion, and a deep interest in lifting up the voices of the people least heard in society and whom nonprofits and foundations seek to help
· Prior work experience in an organizational leadership or senior consulting role, either with nonprofits, foundations and/or in the areas of program management, strategy, organizational learning, or measurement/evaluation. Experience with coaching-based program models is a plus.
· Superior strategic thinking skills. Able to formulate long-terms goals and develop milestone-based plans that take into account “go, no-go” decision points.
· Analytical mindset and excellent judgment. Able to review data of all different kinds, identify themes, and suggest action items. Ability to prioritize competing tasks and make decisions based on available information. Experience with survey design and analysis a plus.
· Strong management skills. Highly collaborative and able to build strong relationships in a multi-functional, diverse, virtual team. Able to communicate clearly both verbally and in written format across multiple mediums/platforms. Experience mentoring junior staff a plus.
· Strong self-management and project management skills. Ability to track multiple workstreams, set and meet deadlines, and manage others’ work.
· Entrepreneurial learning mindset. Flexible and open to feedback; willingness to learn new approaches and systems; comfort with ambiguity associated with a growing start-up organization.
· Familiarity with U.S. based philanthropic field.
· Knowledge, experience, and demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion issues.
· Adept at technology; experience with Salesforce a plus.
How To Apply
Interested applicants should send a brief cover letter and resume to careers@fundforsharedinsight.org. Please submit cover letter and resume together and label with your full name. Given high volume, we will only respond to candidates who are moving forward in our process.