ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND:
Founded in May of 2014, MORTAR exists to help entrepreneurs build businesses and transform their cities. MORTAR accomplishes this goal by offering a 15-week business training course designed to teach community entrepreneurs the nuances of starting or growing a business. Post-graduation, our alumni program offers additional months of ongoing support. MORTAR operates a network of BRICK Pop Up Shops that entrepreneurs can utilize for various periods of time to provide entrepreneurs with the opportunity to pressure-test their ideas in real-time. Lastly, through the Iron Chest Fund, we’ve had the ability to deliver over a half a million dollars in the form of grants, low-interest loans, and equity investments directly into the hands of MORTAR alumni who are in need of start-up/growth capital. Learn more about MORTAR here. MORTAR is an equal opportunity employer and is strongly committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment where a variety of backgrounds, cultures, orientations, and talents can flourish.

POSITION OVERVIEW:

MORTAR seeks a full-time co-manager to fill this brand new hybrid position designed to fuse our two revenue-generating departments: Fundraising & Development and Expansion. This role involves organizing our fundraising and expansion initiatives, working with board members, and building relationships with donors, local & national city partners, staff and volunteers. The ideal candidate will be a forward-thinking, strategic thinker who has the ability to work with a team and see projects through from conception to completion. Applications will be accepted through mid-October; early submissions are encouraged.
WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR: MORTAR is undergoing a significant time of transition, growth, and expansion. For this reason, we’re adding to our high-performing crew to meet these growing demands. In this hybrid role, the selected candidate will join our team of all-stars, the heads of Development and Expansion, in implementing MORTAR’s strategy in these areas, the organization’s two main income streams. If you have a passion for building relationships, a mind for fundraising & development, the chops for sales, and a heart for building equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems, this might be the perfect opportunity for you.

The person who fills this role will be carrying the baton of a high-performing team that has laid the foundation of MORTAR’s work over the course of the last 6 years.  They will join forces with our Fundraising & Development Manager and our Expansion Manager to grow our organizational revenue streams. This extremely collaborative role is responsible for meeting and/or exceeding the organization’s fundraising goals as forecasted in the annual fundraising plan and organizational budget as well as accomplishing goals for expansion efforts into new neighborhoods and cities across the nation. 

MORTAR currently delivers our programming in six neighborhoods throughout Cincinnati and also in four additional cities outside of Cincinnati - but this is just the beginning. The ideal candidate will become an important part of the MORTAR team, researching the needs of communities around the nation and assist them in asset mapping, and ultimately identifying the best communities to move forward with the MORTAR expansion processes.

We’re looking for someone with the ability to build valuable relationships and attract funding to scale our impact. This will enable us to convert our vision, strategy, and processes into action that establishes MORTAR as the go-to organization for helping communities build equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems. REPORTS TO: MORTAR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES: 

  • Strengthen current funding sources that empower MORTAR’s impact in the community and share MORTAR’s impact with new funding sources. Expand that impact to new cities based on feasibility and readiness including the buildout of local entrepreneurial ecosystems and identification of potential strategic partnerships

  • Enhance our replicable system for MORTAR’s partnering communities, organizations, and cities while developing/implementing a national expansion plan that incorporates sharing the system with new partners. This also includes updating the MORTAR toolkit, building & coaching local community advisory councils, and project management of MORTAR sites

  • Build strategic relationships for long-term program and operational support. 

RESPONSIBILITIES: 

FUNDRAISING & DEVELOPMENT

  • Create, implement, and track major giving campaigns

  • Stewardship of individual contributors and major gifts levels

  • Grants research, writing, management, and reporting

  • Work with MORTAR PR department to develop social media, newsletter, and communications  campaigns

  • Develop and execute strategies, objectives, and action plans to support MORTAR’s fundraising efforts

EXPANSION

  • Develop and execute strategies, objectives, and action plans to support MORTAR’s presence in various Cincinnati neighborhoods and across the nation

  • Project managing specific expansion site(s) and ensuring they have what they need to be successful

  • Set-up and attend routine meetings with community stakeholders and major donors to build relationships  to help further MORTAR’s mission

  • Working with targeted communities and organizations to further develop equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems

  • Lead advocacy and policy  work with the Executive Director and partners as needed


REQUIRED ATTRIBUTES & SKILLS: 

  • Integrity

  • Adaptive and proactive leadership that is results-focused

  • Flexible, optimistic, constructive, with a good sense of humor; must be comfortable in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines

  • Superb written, verbal, and interpersonal skills

  • Exceptional planning and time management skills

  • Demonstrated proactive approaches to problem-solving with strong decision-making capability  

  • Passionate about the missions of MORTAR and Brick Pop Up Shops

  • Comfortable spending up to 75% of your time in the community with partners and community members (may also include a large volume of travel to the markets that we work in)

  • Emotional maturity

  • Creative, self-starter attitude

  • Hard-working, highly resourceful team-player, with the ability to also be extremely effective independently  

  • Adhere to the utmost ethical standards, intuitive, considerate, and kind

  • Adaptable, versatile, forward-looking thinker, who actively seeks opportunities and proposes solutions

  • High level of organizational skills and ability to multitask 


PREFERRED EXPERIENCE: 

  • Three to five years of professional experience in community engagement and/or business development or entrepreneurship

  • One to two years of professional experience in nonprofit fundraising and development

  • Must show a basic understanding of the national entrepreneurial ecosystem, personal & business financial literacy, and advanced knowledge of the national fundraising landscape

  • Proficiency in Salesforce or other CRM 

  • Extra credit for being bilingual (English & Spanish) - as we think about the future of MORTAR, the ability to read, write, and speak both languages without limitation or assistance is a highly beneficial skill

  • Bonus points for candidates with experience in sales and/or franchising


SALARY & BENEFITS:

  • Salary Based On Experience

  • Work Schedule Flexibility

  • Health, Dental & Vision benefit plans available for FT employees

  • Parking and PTO after 90-day probation

  • Competitive PTO package including a paid day off for your birthday
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