Operations Director, Partners for Youth with Disabilities

Partners for Youth with Disabilities Seeks Operations Director

The mission of Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) is to empower youth with disabilities to reach their full potential by providing transformative mentoring programs, youth development opportunities, and inclusion expertise. PYD motivates youth to reach their personal, educational, and career goals, and guides organizations in becoming more inclusive to youth with disabilities.

PYD is a pioneer in its space. Founded in 1985 – a full five years before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act – PYD began as a one-to-one mentoring program for youth with disabilities, providing these youth with adult role models and, through these mentors, an extended support system. Over the past 35+ years, PYD has established itself as a national, highly sought-after leader in its field, with a reputation for delivering innovative and high-quality programs and services. PYD empowers more than 500 youth annually through direct service programs and has delivered inclusion best practices training to more than 10,000 individuals across 300+ organizations, spanning 13 states.  PYD delivers impact at both the local and national levels, including:

1)     Award-winning programs serving youth ages six to twenty-six experiencing a broad range of disabilities across Massachusetts, including Mentoring, Career Readiness, Access to Theater, Young Leader’s Rising, and the Youth Leadership Forum.

2)     The Career Readiness Academy, which provides PYD’s highly renowned Career Readiness curriculum, start-up training, evaluation, and technical assistance to partner organizations and schools across 13 states.

3)     The National Disability Mentoring Coalition, which leverages the networks and collective influence of 550+ membership organizations to raise awareness of the importance and impact of mentoring in the lives of people with disabilities, and to increase the number and quality of disability mentoring programs around the country.

4)     The Disability Mentoring Certification Program, the first training program of its kind for mentoring programs and professionals.

5)     Live trainings, audits, and learn.pyd.org, all focused on increasing the inclusivity of workplaces, organizations, and communities across the country.

6)     Online Mentoring, a national online mentoring network for youth and young adults with disabilities, focused on networking, skill development, and support.

Headquartered in Boston, MA, Partners for Youth with Disabilities has a staff of 32 and an annual budget of $2M+. A highly engaged, mission-driven, 14-member Board of Directors partners with the leadership team to ensure the continued growth and sustainability of the organization.   With an exceptionally strong reputation at the forefront of the field, an established set of programs delivered in Massachusetts, and a solid foundation of national work, PYD is poised to continue to significantly expand the organization’s leadership position, reach, and impact – at the individual, organizational, and societal level.

As an essential member of PYD’s leadership team, the Operations Director reports to the Executive Director while working in collaboration with the Board of Directors in steadfast pursuit of PYD’s mission to empower youth with disabilities to reach their full potential.  The OD will lead the transformation of PYD from its current stage to a more mature and impactful organization, capable of delivering on its long-term vision. Specifically, the OD will ensure that PYD’s financial, operational, fundraising, marketing, human resource, technology, and programmatic functions are effectively and efficiently implemented across all parts of the organization to fulfill and execute PYD’s strategic and operational vision.

Desired Credentials/Profile of the Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be thoroughly committed to the organization’s mission and have a proven track record of strong leadership, coaching and relationship management experience.  She/He/They will be driven to develop and execute innovative high-quality programs and to secure funding from many different – traditional and nontraditional – sources.  She/He/They will have a passion for serving PYD’s constituency and a desire to help create a world where young people with disabilities are able to lead self-determined lives filled with purpose. Qualifications include:

●        Significant board development, fundraising, marketing/branding, and fiscal management experience required.

●        Prior nonprofit experience required, preferably in disabilities and/or youth services.

●        10-15 years of senior management experience at similar-sized or larger organizations.

●        Advanced degree, ideally an MBA, MPA, or JD.

●        Experience developing and operationalizing strategies that have taken an organization, preferably a non-profit, to the next stage of growth.

●        Passionate and mission-driven, engaging, positive, high integrity, self-directed, with a healthy dose of idealism.

●        Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, with an innovative approach to business planning and fundraising.

●        Financially savvy and politically astute leader with the ability to set clear priorities and operate within a budget, delegate appropriately, and guide prudent investment in people and systems.

●        Demonstrated commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and experience shifting organizational policies and practices to foster a more diverse and inclusive environment

●        Proven ability to recruit, retain, coach, and manage staff. Develops high-performance teams to set and achieve strategic objectives. 

●        Keen analytical and problem-solving skills to support and enable sound decision making.

●        Persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal skills.

●        Outgoing and approachable, with ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people.

Strategic Vision and Leadership

·        Partner and collaborate with the ED and the Board to develop a long-term vision for the organization, including strategic planning, measurement, and evaluation of goals for the organization.

·        Be innovative, decisive, and bold in ensuring that the budget, staff, and priorities are aligned with PYD’s core long-term vision and mission.

·        In partnership with other senior directors, provide inspirational leadership and direction to managers and supervisors and ensure the continued management and development of a professional and efficient organization.

·        Supervise, define, and lead the strategic efforts and goals for development/fundraising, human resources, finance, facilities, and operations departments.

·        Support the ED in forging partnerships in new markets with philanthropic, political, and community leaders to ensure ongoing stability and growth of PYD.

·        Evaluate and recommend areas for growth, including grants, social enterprise, capacity building or other opportunities for new revenue.

Management and Operations

·        Partner with the ED to coach and mentor staff and to build on the strengths of the overall organization to drive successful outcomes.

·        Maintain open and regular communication regarding financial data with fellow executives and the Board of Directors.

·        Ensure the flow of funds permits PYD to make continuous progress towards the achievement of its mission and that those funds are allocated properly to reflect present and future potential needs.

·        Collaboratively develop organization and program budgets.

·        Develop and supervise staff in the creation and management of protocols and legal compliance related to employee relations, annual performance evaluations, and other human resources issues. 

·        Oversee the hiring and on-boarding of employees.

·        Ensure effective systems are in place to track and regularly evaluate program components and outcomes to assess program performance and to enable effective communications to the board, funders, and other constituents.

·        Facilitate cross-departmental collaboration and strengthen internal communications with staff throughout the organization.

·        Promote a diverse and positive work environment, including providing leadership on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Fundraising and Communications

·        With passion and creativity, build a comprehensive fundraising strategy with prioritized activities, including cultivating a strong network of potential HNWI (high net worth individual) donors.

·        Develop a longer-term self-funding financing strategy for the organization, including social enterprise and web learning platforms.

·        Formulate and execute comprehensive marketing, branding, and development strategies to ensure consistency across the organization and to drive greater funding levels from major donors, foundations, government agencies, and corporations.

·        Deepen and refine all aspects of communications—from web presence to external relations – to strengthen PYD’s brand.

·        Coordinate and lead fundraising and grant funding initiatives both from public and private sector, when applicable in cooperation with the Director of National Initiatives.

·        Use external presence and relationships to garner new opportunities to attract funders.

At Partners for Youth with Disabilities, we are committed to equal opportunity and the diversity of our workforce, and strongly encourage diverse applicants to apply. We strive for our staff to be representative of the full diversity of the youth and families we serve.

Candidates must include a resume and a cover letter that describes how their qualifications and experience match the needs and mission of PYD. If taking the job would require a candidate to move to Boston, s/he/they should mention why that is a good fit for them at this time. Applications will be accepted until the position has been filled. Upload required documents to: https://eostransitions.applicantpool.com/jobs/.

Eos Transition Partners consultant, Erin Cox, is managing this search. All submissions will be acknowledged and are confidential, and any questions can be submitted to Erin at: ecox@eostransitions.com.