LOCATION: Remote (with some travel to NYC and to partner meetings)
POSITION TYPE: Permanent, Full Time
REPORT TO: CEO
COMPENSATION: $100,000-$120,000 annual salary; comprehensive benefits package, including generous vacation policy, 401K plan, flexible work opportunities, professional development opportunities and stipend, and more.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Open until filled

ABOUT THE OpEd PROJECT

The OpEd Project is a social venture and leadership organization, founded to change who writes history. We are a community of journalists, thought leaders, and change agents who actively share knowledge, resources, and connections across color, creed, class, sexuality, gender, ability, and beyond. Through our nationally-recognized curriculum, our team of journalist mentors, and through a portfolio of programs in partnership with leading institutions across the nation and the globe, we accelerate the ideas and impact of underrepresented voices, including women of all backgrounds. We have been covered by most major media. We have stunning results.

 

WE BELIEVE:

  • The story we tell becomes the world we live in.
  • The world becomes more intelligent when it is more inclusive.
  • The best ideas, regardless of where they come from, should have a chance to be heard and to change the world.

 

ABOUT THE ROLE

The OpEd Project is seeking a visionary, can-do, experienced team leader with a track record of success. The ideal candidate will have an aptitude for client management and a demonstrated ability to oversee and grow a significant portfolio of programs valued at $2 million in 2023. The Director of Fellowships will work at the intersection of social justice, academia, the foundation community, and journalism. This is an extraordinary opportunity for the right person, offering the potential to make enormous historical impact and to change peoples’ lives.  


Reporting directly to the CEO, the Director of Fellowships will oversee and grow a portfolio of 15+ Public Voice Fellowships, which are year-long programs comprising 300 to 400 Fellows per year valued at $1.8 million. The Director will oversee a small and growing team of Program Managers to manage the portfolio, ensuring deep impact and success. They will design and/or improve existing systems to ensure full and meaningful processes, reporting, and learning, with a focus on driving successful outcomes. Timely, consistent, and meaningful communication with Fellowship clients is crucial to sustaining these cornerstone relationships.

 

RESPONSIBILITIES

VISION & STRATEGY

  • In collaboration with our CEO and senior team, chart a vision for the next chapter of The OpEd Project’s fellowship portfolio that will lead to dramatic and meaningful growth of the portfolio over the next two years.
  • Build partnerships at a wide range of institutions and organizations, to grow our fellowship work beyond its current portfolio.
  • Cultivate and inspire a culture of innovation and creativity that results in new ideas, new initiatives, and new and more powerful outcomes.
  • In collaboration with our CEO and senior team, strategize around myriad challenges and opportunities that arise at the intersection of our respective areas of leadership, beyond the fellowship portfolio (i.e., curriculum and facilitation, business development, public workshops, team building, etc).

 

PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT

  • Oversee and grow a portfolio of fellowships currently valued at 1.8 million dollars, spread over 15+ fellowship programs which are hosted by partner institutions such as Yale, Northwestern and the Ford Foundation. 
  • Drive the success (including social impact and financial growth) of the fellowship portfolio from top to bottom, guiding all people and processes to successful outcomes. 
  • Design (or improve) and implement systems, processes, and tools to support the success of the portfolio, and our team of program managers and journalist facilitators (typically long-term 1099 contractors, who lead our fellowships and mentor our fellows).
  • Cultivate high-level relationships with our partners, as the trusted “go-to” leader for all matters relating to the Public Voices Fellowship portfolio.
  • Onboard new fellowship partners, when our business development team brings in new fellowship contracts and hands relationships off to you.
  • Ensure the consistency and integrity of the OEP brand and curriculum across multiple fellowships, partners, and years.
  • Design meaningful and accountable tracking and reporting tools, and report weekly and monthly to the CEO and senior team with radical candor on the performance of the fellowship portfolio.
  • Design objective performance measurements across all sites, to ensure consistent, high-quality outcomes.
  • Become the de facto storyteller of the fellowship initiative, able to cite fellows’ concrete results, tell stories of public impact and personal transformation, and make a compelling case for our historical need and future expansion.
  • Travel to meet key partners at campuses and foundations across the nation (up to 15% of time traveling).

 

ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT & TEAM LEADERSHIP

  • Lead a team of 3-5 hard-working, motivated, quirky, brilliant, fun individuals to manage and grow a portfolio of programs that are changing the world.
  • Recruit, hire, and oversee training and orientation of new program managers who will eventually come under your direct management. 
  • Develop systems and tools to support, evaluate, and constantly improve our teams of journalist facilitators (1099 contractors who lead our fellowships). 
  • Design and update systems to evaluate and ensure excellence of all team members and processes under your management.
  • Instill a sense of accountability among team members by modeling effective oversight of individual and organization performance standards.

 

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Deep alignment with The OpEd Project’s mission and vision
  • 8-10 years of relevant work experience in a mission-driven leadership role, with a minimum of 3 years in a management role (building successful teams)
  • Demonstrated ability to oversee a significant portfolio that involves managing many moving parts, people, and processes, and driving them toward successful outcomes through your direct leadership
  • Experience working with a variety of stakeholders across an organization, and successfully managing team members across a wide range of professional and organizational experience (“managing up and down”)
  • Proven ability to manage high-profile relationships tied to revenue
  • A keen eye for spotting and implementing opportunities for improvement
  • Experience in (or desire to work in) a lean, fast, inventive, entrepreneurial environment that follows the apprenticeship model in which you learn by doing, often with no training manual
  • Superb communication skills (written, verbal, and more) – the person in this role will be a compelling storyteller of social impact
  • Familiarity with OpEd Project programs and curriculum, ideally having participated in one of the organization’s core programs
  • A commitment to run programs from the bottom up, taking ownership of all aspects of the program and willing to do all kinds of tasks
  • Given that many of our partnerships are with universities, inside knowledge of or experience working in academic leadership is a plus
  • Demonstrated aptitude (or desire to learn/use) Twitter and other social media, Note: we do not expect the Program Manager to play a main role in our social media; however, the Program Managers are expected to use social media, especially Twitter, on a regular (at least weekly) basis to track impact, strengthen our network of fellows, and demonstrate thought leadership around key ideas and events as they relate to our mission and the fellowship portfolio.


TO APPLY

We invite you to submit a resume and a short letter telling us why our work resonates with you and why you think you would rock this job.

 

People of color, people with disabilities, veterans and LGBTQ candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. The OpEd Project is committed to a diverse workplace, and to supporting our staff with ongoing career development opportunities. The OpEd Project is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its employment decisions, in accordance with state and federal law.

This position has been filled.