Director of Network Capacity Building, Strengthen

The top candidate will have a background in capacity building and brings a thoughtful relationship management approach to creating sustainable, independent programs.  

Areas of Responsibility  

1. Build Capacity 

• In collaboration with the CEO and the Chief Programs Officer, develop, use and continuously improve an assessment tool to understand the capacity needs of coordinating programs in STRENGTHEN; regular reflection and evaluation with others in the Programs team 

• Write and deliver to the Chief Programs Officer an annual strategy for each program in STRENGTHEN (e.g., California, Illinois, Idaho, Nebraska, Delaware, etc) 

• Assess the capacity and success metrics against our documented shared understanding of coordinating program expectations and agreements 

• Provide direct advocacy, fundraising and communications / marketing support to the on the ground leadership of programs in STRENGTHEN 

2. Manage Staff 

• Be the supervisor for any programs temporarily housed inside Main Street America (Illinois, California) 

3. Manage Relationships 

• You will be the primarily relationship manager for possibly up to 25 coordinating programs 

• In collaboration with the others on the Coordinating Program team, the Chief Programs Officer and the Director of Field Services, design technical assistance programs that meet programs where they are at 

Requirements

Top Candidates MUST HAVE the following characteristics: 

• Experience in capacity development or overseeing a network of professionals 

• Proven track record in relationship management and/or customer delight 

• Experience writing business plans and / or multi year strategies 

• Ability to effectively manage across up, down and across 

• Ability to manage across lines of difference 

• Ability to build trust with a diversity of leader types who are operating under duress  

• Has a thoughtful approach to adding capacity to overwhelmed and underfunded leaders 

• Observant pattern recognition and identifying systemic causes 

• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility 

• Enjoys working on a distributed team 

Extraordinary Candidates may have the following Nice to Have characteristics:  

• Knowledge of urban planning, urban design, placekeeping / placemaking, economic development, asset-based community development, community finance, small business services, historic preservation, or Main Street Approach 

•  Experience working in diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in a previous job 

• CRM utilization 

• Experience in successfully rebuilding a weak coordinating program at Main Street America previously

TO APPLY: Please send cover letter and resume through workable platform by the deadline of September 2.

Timeline

• July 31 - Job Open
• August 7 - Internal Applications Due
• August 8-17 - Internal Interviews
• September 2 - External Applications Due
• September 10 - First Round Interviews Begin
• September 17 - Second Round Interviews Begin
• October - Ideal timing for onboarding

Benefits

The salary range for this position is $125,400 - $129,360.

Main Street America is a dynamic, diverse, remote-first team. We hire empathetic managers, create a fulfilling work environment, and provide excellent benefits. We strive to balance achievement, connection and rest through key structures:  

• We all organize our work annually around our six long-term objectives of our strategic plan;  

• We meet in person twice a year at team retreats, and many staff attend our annual conference; and 

• We have more than 25 paid holidays (including the last week of December and the week surrounding the fourth of July), and have meeting-free weeks (“Rejuvenation Weeks”) the last week of August and first week of January for deep focus and planning.  

We keep a 35-hour work week, and most of our team works Monday through Friday during regular business hours. Some positions require additional hours and time outside regular business hours.  

Full-time, regular employees are entitled to:   

• Health Insurance: Our group benefit plans include medical, EAP, dental and vision, life, and disability plans.  

• Paid Sick Leave: Full-time employees accrue sick leave at a rate of 3.23 hours per pay period (maximum accrual at 420 hours). 

• Vacation Accrual: In addition to the more than 25 paid holidays m.entioned above, full-time employees begin with two weeks vacation, and accrue vacation at a rate of 4.85 hours per pay period for the first 3 years. At years 3-10, the accrual rate increases to 6 hours, and employees with tenures of more than 10 years accrue at a rate of 6.92 hours per pay period (for a maximum accrual at 210 hours). 

• FMLA: We follow the DC Family and Medical Leave Act, which provides 16 weeks of unpaid leave in blocks or intermittently for family leave (the birth or adoption of a child, or caring for a sick relative) and 16 weeks of unpaid leave in blocks or intermittently for medical leave (recovering from a serious illness) in a 24 month period for any employee employed for at least a year. 

• 401(a) Defined Contribution Retirement Plan: At its discretion, Main Street America makes an employer contribution typically equal to 5% of earned compensation no later than April for the prior calendar year in which you worked at least 1,000 hours. Vesting begins at 20% after two years, and increases until it reaches 100% after five years. 

• 403(b) Individual Retirement Plan: Employee pre-tax contributions are permitted up to IRS limits. For 2024, those are $23,000, plus another $7,500 in catch-up contributions for employees age 50 years and over. 

• Professional Development: At its discretion, Main Street America provides $1,500 in professional development funds to each employee annually, as well as other team-wide professional development trainings.