Fast Facts

The Senior Managing Director of External Affairs and Special Initiatives at City Year Milwaukee will oversee fundraising, corps recruitment, and strategic initiatives, reporting directly to the Executive Director.

Responsibilities: Lead the fundraising strategy, manage donor relationships, develop partnerships, oversee recruitment for AmeriCorps, and manage special initiatives alignment with the organization's goals.

Skills: Strong background in development and fundraising, project management, communication, relationship building, and team leadership is essential.

Qualifications: Experience in major giving campaigns and project development, preferably within an educational context, is required, along with a track record of advocating for under-resourced populations.

Location: This position is based in Milwaukee, WI and does not specify remote options.

Compensation: $90000 - $115000 / Annually

Application Instructions

Click Apply to submit your online application. Please attach a resume and thoughtful cover letter on the "My Experience" page in the "Resume/CV" field.

Active City Year Staff members must login to Workday to apply internally.

Number of Positions: 1

Position Overview

The Senior Managing Director of External Affairs and Special Initiatives will report directly to the Executive Director (ED) and serve as a key member of the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) at City Year Milwaukee. This senior leadership role is responsible for overseeing the fundraising department, corps recruitment as well as the development, implementation, and progress of strategic initiatives aligned with the organization's mission and priorities. This role will lead the fundraising strategy and team, lead the site recruitment team, build strategic partnerships and manage a variety of special initiatives. Additionally, this person will act as a representative of the ED in both internal and external capacities.

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

Fundraising Strategy and Execution (50%)

• Establish short and long-range goals for restricted and unrestricted funding sources, while leading the team in developing strategies to approach donors. Including the cultivation of new donors (i.e. donor outreach and engagement and helping to increase the pipeline of new private sector business).
• External Relations led the Communications and Marketing team in the overall execution of a communications and marketing strategy including planning and implementation of communications and public relations activities, the production of new and reviewing of existing promotional materials for marketing effectiveness and adherence to brand guidelines, and o overseeing web content management as well as e-news creation and distribution.
• Financial Reporting oversee the requirements and processes for reporting accurate revenue.
• Corporate and Foundation Management manage the identification and cultivation of new corporate and foundation partnerships, as well as the grant proposal and reporting processes for these supporters.

2.Charter School Partnership & AmeriCorps Recruitment Strategy (35%)

• Strategic Partnership Development: Collaborate with SVP/ED to develop partnerships with Milwaukee charter schools for possible expansion and establish a recruitment pipeline for City Year AmeriCorps members.
• Cultivation of Relationships: Develop and implement cultivation strategies to increase awareness of City Year among key champions in partner institutions.
• Community Engagement: Identify opportunities to promote City Year through events, community presentations, and introductions by champions within partner institutions.
• Develop and implement multiple recruitment strategies that can be leveraged to ensure the site reaches its AmeriCorps member recruitment goal for the year.

3.Site Strategy & Special Initiatives Management (10%)

• Strategic Initiative Development: Collaborate with the SVP/ED to identify, develop, and implement special initiatives based on site priorities.
• Progress Management: Oversee the execution and completion of special initiatives, ensuring alignment with the site's strategic plan.
• Cross-Departmental Coordination: Provide cross-departmental perspectives and ensure alignment with the SVP/ED's priorities across functional roles and executive leadership teams (ELT).
• Reporting & Communication: Regularly report progress to the SVP/ED highlighting successes, challenges, and next steps.

4.Executive Director Empowerment & Support (5%)

• Organizational Strategy Play a leadership role in implementing the site's local operating plan as a member of the executive leadership team.
• Representation: Serve as a representative of the SVP/ED in both internal and external meetings, ensuring alignment with SVP/ED priorities and organizational values.

Basic Qualifications

• Development/Fundraising: Experience leading major giving campaigns and success securing fundraising from multiple local donor markets with established relationships (corporate, foundation, and major gift solicitation and cultivation). Comparable experience will be considered. Ability to align City Year's mission and vision through a diverse, inclusive, and equitable lens.
• Project Leadership: Experience in planning, leading, and managing development projects. Attention to detail and ability to manage multiple deadlines.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Takes initiative and actively seeks to deepen current donor relationships and to forge new ones. Self-motivated, proactive, and able to work independently.
• Communications: Skilled in creating compelling written oral communications for fundraising ask. Ability to convey complex ideas through brief, simple materials. Experience and credibility when presenting materials to internal and external audiences of varying levels of seniority.
• Influencing:  Gets others to accept ideas by using convincing arguments, creates a win- win situation and responds appropriately to key stakeholders.
• Relationship  Building: Skilled at cultivating meaningful relationships that result in securing both monetary and in-kind multi-year support. Knowledge, understanding and relationships with the Milwaukee donor community, strongly preferred.
• People Management: Ability to build and lead a diverse team to meet individual, team and site goals. Experience managing and coaching staff through interpersonal and professional development
• Direct experience with Development/Fundraising; advanced degrees considered.
• Experience serving and advocating for under-resourced populations,

preferably in an educational setting.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Starting salary range: $90,000 - $115,000 commensurate with experience. Great benefits including health insurance with Flexible Spending Account, paid vacation, organizational and floating holidays, parental leave, matching 401K, annual merit­ based increases and more.

Target starting date: March 14th, 2025

To Apply

Qualified applicants should apply and submit a resume, cover letter, and references.

Benefits

Full-time employees will be eligible for all benefits including vacation, sick days and organization holidays. You may participate in all benefit programs that City Year establishes and makes available to eligible employees, under (and subject to all provisions of) the plan documents that govern those programs. Currently, City Year offers medical, dental, vision, life, accidental death and dismemberment and disability coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), and other benefits including 401(k) plan(s) pursuant to the terms and conditions of company policy and the 401(k) plan document. For more information, click here.

Employment at City Year is at-will. 

City Year does not sponsor work authorization visas.