Posted on November 21, 2012

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Executive Director

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Snohomish County, an affiliate of the YMCA of Snohomish County is actively seeking a new Executive Director to lead the agency in achieving its vision "that all children achieve success in life". The Board of Directors and the staff of BBBS have spent a considerable amount of time over the last year to determine how best to achieve this vision. This effort has resulted in a bold new strategic plan for the agency that focuses on the children who are most in need of our services and for whom mentoring is an effective prevention and intervention strategy.

The Board and the staff are in the early stages of implementing the plan, and it is clear that there will be some exciting and challenging changes necessary throughout the organization. The Board is therefore looking for a candidate who will embrace the strategic plan and lead it to a successful implementation, all the while keeping an unwavering focus on our primary constituent, the "Little."

Big Brothers Big Sisters is an affiliate of the YMCA of Snohomish County; one of the largest human service organizations in Snohomish County impacting 1 in 7 residents or nearly 100,000 different individuals. This unique partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters and the YMCA is one of six partnership arrangements within the country. Through this collaboration, Big Brothers Big Sisters is able to expand its reach through the YMCA’s five full facility branches located in Everett, Marysville, Mill Creek, Monroe and Mukilteo as well as the seven different school districts we currently serve.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategic/Business Planning and Execution – Develops and implements the strategic/business plan of the organization within the context of the nationwide strategic direction; drives a collaborative process with the board and staff; uses performance metrics and quality indicators to guide operational decision making.

Fund Development – Instills a culture of philanthropic giving for the agency, supported by public messaging; pro-actively ensures that the organization develops strong, long-term relationships with large scale individual, foundation and corporate donors/funders; personally builds and maintains key relationships to ensure fund development goals are achieved.

External Relations – Represents Big Brothers Big Sisters of Snohomish County at external events and with the media; builds strong external relations that promote the Big Brothers Big Sisters' mission and enhances the brand; positively influences partners, the media and public policy to generate volunteers, donors, and other resources.

Program Impact – Ensures that comprehensive marketing and other engagement strategies are developed to attract, engage, and mobilize significant numbers of volunteer mentors that reflect the community the agency serves; ensures programmatic excellence and maximum program impact by establishing operational benchmarks, setting timelines, and making child safety the top priority.

Board Development and Support – Cultivates a strong Board of Directors willing to lead and contribute to the fund development success of the organization; participates in the identification and recruitment of new Board members, ensuring that the board reflects the diversity of the community the agency serves; works to assure independent governance oversight and performance accountability of the board and the Executive Director.

Talent Management – Ensures the agency attracts, retains, develops and leverages the staff talent necessary to support strategic/business plan; ensures mechanisms are in place to recruit and retain qualified, diverse talent; creates an inclusive environment where staff is engaged and performing at high levels; institutes and utilizes an effective performance management system for all employees that include annual objective setting and evaluation.

Financial Management – Oversees financial management; develops plans that maximize the financial strength of the agency without adversely affecting other criteria of success (e.g.: match satisfaction, quality/impact of service); ensures that appropriate fiscal controls and procedures are in place to ensure transparency and accountability; communicates the key performance metrics and manages to these measures.

PREFERRED LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES

Ethics and Values:

• Translates and operationalizes vision in a way that is grounded in the agency shared values.
• Acts in an ethical manner reflecting core values of integrity, transparency, accountability, respect and responsibility. Acts above reproach in all that is done on behalf of BBBS.
• Models openness, honesty and accountability to colleagues, volunteers, donors and all others involved with BBBS.
• Provides a work environment that values diversity and inclusion among volunteers and employees regardless of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status or disability.

Trusted Influencer and Relationship Builder:

• Invests in internal and external relationships that are sustainable over time and builds strong teams.
• Actively networks with potential strategic partners and individuals and coaches his/her team to form partnerships and collaborations.
• Models and requires collaboration with others, taking time to build trust and explore mutual interests. Builds commitment vs. compliance.
• Passes on to managers insights about potentially challenging dynamics in the organization; coaches managers around how to navigate difficult relationships and form effective relationships with others.

Change Leadership:

• Champions change initiatives undertaken by the agency by leading and energizing others around such strategies.
• Aligns all aspects of the organization (structure, process, culture, rewards, employees, volunteers) to achieve change goals.
• Introduces change at a pace that is grounded in the need to achieve strategic objectives.
• Identifies significant obstacles or resistance to change and works to resolve issues by pulling (influencing), rather than pushing others to change.
• Solicits input from employees about changes and addresses them.

Strategic and Visionary Leadership

• Thinks big picture, separating the critical from the routine. Develops vision and strategies that position the organization for growth. Provides focus for organization.
• Gains commitment from others to achieve the vision.
• Allocates and aligns resources to achieve strategy; forecasts and prepares for contingencies.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE:

Education Level: Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college or university in a related field required; graduate level degree preferred.

Years of Related Work Experience: We seek candidates with a minimum of six years of progressively responsible executive level leadership experience. Candidates must have a successful record of leading a youth organization, agency, or division of comparable size.

Application and Benefit information can be found on our website: www.ymca-snoco.org, click About Us, Careers at the Y, and Apply Now.

To Apply: The YMCA of Snohomish County and Big Brothers Big Sisters is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply.
Please address a cover letter and resume in pdf format to:

Ted Wenta
Vice President of Operations
YMCA of Snohomish County
2720 Rockefeller Avenue
Everett, WA 98201
P 425 374 5717
E TWenta@ymca-snoco.org

Posting Deadline: December 14, 2012