Director, Strategic Engagements, Horizons Summit (Apply By: Monday, December 2, 2024)

About JFF 

Jobs for the Future (JFF) drives transformation of the U.S. education and workforce systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. Seeing that millions of people are unfairly shut out of quality jobs and the chance for a better life, our goal is to align education, workforce, and employment changemakers toward a shared North Star: By 2033, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs.  

To achieve that goal, we design solutions, scale best practices, influence policy and action, and invest in innovation. With a staff of more than 300 people across the country working remotely and in offices in Boston (headquarters), Washington, DC, and Oakland, California, we operate at the national, state, and local levels, forging deep partnerships with employers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and education and workforce development providers to break down barriers and reimagine what’s possible.   

We’re on a path of ongoing growth and expanding impact. We have an operating budget of $105 million, and we’re funded by dozens of leading government agencies, foundations, and corporations. Learn more about JFF and join us as we build a future that works—for everyone.   

DEIBW at JFF  

Diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, and well-being (DEIBW) are core to JFF’s North Star and mission. We employ and build diverse teams across race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity and expression, age, and lived experiences and are constantly working toward ensuring these differences are celebrated and included. We aim to cultivate a culture that centers the overall care, well-being, and success of the employee through flexible work hours, balanced workloads, professional development, and equitable career advancement opportunities. Learn more about what DEIBW looks like in practice at JFF. 

We seek to invest in and learn from those who represent the communities we serve, particularly individuals from populations who have been explicitly or implicitly excluded from the workforce. Knowing its importance to the success of our work and the engagement of our staff members, we aspire to attract and retain a diverse team and welcome people of all backgrounds to apply to our open roles. JFF is a fair chance employer and in alignment to our North Star, we strongly encourage individuals whose highest level of education attained is less than a 4-year degree; People of Color; and people with records to apply. 

About the Position 

JFF hosts an annual summit, Horizons, which has continued to expand in scale and opportunity for JFF and its partners – this year, hosting more than 2,000 people in Washington, DC. Horizons has become the “go-to” event for educators, philanthropy, employers, policymakers, workforce professionals, entrepreneurs, and beyond. Reporting to the Director of Strategic Engagements, the Director, Horizons Summit will join our growing Strategic Engagements team to ensure we continue to improve and enhance the experience for our attendees and partners through our ongoing growth. The Director will be a part of the in-person events vertical on the Strategic Engagements team and will be the key point of contact and manager for the Horizons Summit and associated workstreams. 

The Director will oversee a team of 3-4 people supporting the Horizons summit and will manage complex internal and external work streams including summit logistics, sponsor management, vendor relations, content and marketing. 

This position is a great opportunity for a creative project manager who is detail-oriented and has experience managing and supporting the operationalizing of large-scale events and conferences. The ideal candidate has experience helping an organization refine and grow existing events and conferences and will bring these skills to help expand the reach of Horizons Summit.  The ideal candidate will also have experience with building relationships and engaging in thought partnership with key internal and external stakeholders to help build out a strategy around a yearlong engagement experience for other events. 

What You'll Do  

 Design and implement strategies to help and operationalize, fund, and analyze best practices for the Horizons Summit  

• Develop event goals, themes, and an engagement strategy in partnership with the Director of Strategic Engagement for the Horizons summit. 

• Leverage data to help identify and analyze best practices and learnings from projects to share across JFF and to implement best practices with the Horizons Summit. 

• Identify new ways to streamline and improve work across summit work streams, including incorporating new technologies and systems.

Develop content strategy to help expand and enhance the Horizons experience for participants  

• Build out a content governance strategy, content themes, conference topics, innovative and inclusive formats, and channels to curate premium content across the Horizons summit. 

• Develop actionable, top-tier content across breakouts, special content and main stage. Support the recruitment and management of speakers from audiences across the learn and work ecosystem. 
• Manage and build out the content development processes, including the development and management of an external RFP and main stage content production .

Create a strategy to cultivate diverse and inclusive relationships and leverage stakeholder expertise to support the Horizon’s summit  

• Oversee and help manage a team supporting logistics, content, and VIP experiences across the Horizons event.  

• Directly manage the work of staff supporting the Horizons summit and indirectly manage cross-functional work teams across the organization (IT, contracts, events, marketing, and production). 

• Support internal JFF updates and collaboration across teams. 

• Build out relationships with JFF’s centers and practices to help build strategy and implement best practices for internal updates and communication  

• Develop and manage communications and messaging in partnership with the Director of Marketing to instill a communication strategy for participants attending the Horizons Summit.

• Manage and support fundraising to help sponsor and the implementation of the annual Horizons conference.

• Oversee and manage external partner and sponsor communications in partnership with JFF’s development team. 

Who You Are  

The qualifications listed within the job description are intended as a guide and we do not expect candidates to bring all experiences and skills listed. Research supports that self-selecting out of potential professional opportunities is particularly common among individuals with identities that are marginalized in professional spaces. So, if you believe that you can meet the overall expectations of the position, we encourage you to apply so that we have an opportunity to learn more about you and the unique strengths you would bring to the work. 

• You bring experience developing, building, supporting, operationalizing strategies to manage complex large-scale events or conferences. New hires at the Director I level at JFF typically bring 10+ years of prior professional experience through a combination of full-time, part-time, internship, and/or freelance positions 

• You bring a background in helping support and manage the technical and logistical needs for large-scale conferences including stage production, F&B, vendor and exhibitor management and hotel operations. 

• You have experience directly managing people who have provided support for events and indirectly managing contractors and cross-functional teams. 

• You bring experience leveraging data to help inform best practices to support the growth and development of a conference or event 

• You have experience supporting fundraising or development efforts to engage with the continued implementation of events/conferences  

• You have experience managing vendors, sponsors, and external partners. 

• You possess the ability to think strategically about the big picture and long-term goals, while also focusing on the tactical event needs. 

• You are energized by problem solving complex challenges and providing top-tier customer service to internal and external stakeholders 

• You bring creative ideas on how to build and elevate national brands and experiences to a new level. 

• You have experience creating and managing year-round budgets. 

• You possess high energy and passion for JFF’s mission and North Star, and the ability to apply JFF’s core values to all areas of your work   
• You are energized by stewarding JFF’s DEIBW values and practices within your day-to-day work, including embracing the differences and celebrating the diversity that each individual brings to JFF 
• You value building positive and collaborative relationships with others, including people whose identities and backgrounds differ from your own
• You are able and willing to travel up to 30%. This includes traveling to the Boston office up to 3 times per year to participate in both Strategic Engagement team and organizational retreats, as needed. This also includes traveling to JFF’s Horizons annual summit every summer along with travel to other events as needed 

What We Offer  

At JFF, we’re fueled by the desire to create a world where everyone has equal opportunity for economic advancement. Our team works hard to push the boundaries of what is possible, and in return, we provide a gratifying work experience, competitive salaries, and a comprehensive benefits program that includes flexibility and choice as core values in order to support people wherever they are in their lives and careers.  

JFF has offices in Boston, Oakland, and Washington, DC; employees are welcome to use JFF office space to work in-person or hybrid, or completely remote. To improve the employee experience and promote productivity while working remotely, JFF offers an annual home office stipend to all regular full-time and part-time employees. In addition, new employees receive office equipment as needed.   

 The hiring range for this role is $100,000 - $125,000 annually, in alignment to JFF’s Director I salary band and our compensation philosophy. Starting salaries for new hires will be determined based on a combination of the new hire’s relevant experience and market demands.  

To Apply  

As part of your application, please include your resume and a thoughtful cover letter, addressed to Justine Zawatski, Director of Strategic Engagements outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position. 

We are accepting applications through December 2nd at 9 am EST. Applications submitted by that date will be reviewed and candidates will receive updates on their candidacy by the week of December 2nd.  

At JFF, we’re also committed to accessibility and want to ensure that everyone, including people with disabilities, can fully access and engage with our application and hiring process. If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability and/or have specific access/accommodation needs in order to fully participate in our hiring process, please contact us at hiringaccommodations@jff.org. 

Positions at JFF are not eligible for employer-visa sponsorship or open to F-1 student visa holders.