Director of Communities

Job Description:

Director of Communities

Description

Key Responsibilities

1. Strategic Direction and Integration

• The Director of Communities is supervised by the Vice President of Community Engagement and Policy (VPCEP) and is expected to work under the guidance of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) to ensure alignment and coherence across the organization.
• Serves as a thought partner to the VPCEP, identifying and supporting points of integration between the various components of the Department to other strategic priorities outlined in the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan.
• Works with other members of the Leadership Team to inform the vision, cohesive direction and alignment, and collaboration across areas to maximize impact and organizational effectiveness.
• Ensures the Communities Team is centering community voice, specifically of families with young children to inform and advance First 5 LA’s policy agenda, and systems change goals and priorities. Partners with the Impact & Accountability Department (I&A) to develop and implement population level and performance measures, evaluation frameworks, and data plans grounded in Results Based Accountability (RBA). This includes using the Equity Index and data to inform decision making, track progress, and assess the impact across initiatives.
• Provides deep content knowledge in the Communities Department, applies critical and creative thinking, effectively articulates and advances a strategic vision and theory of change in alignment with the Strategic Plan.
• Leads workforce planning by recommending strategic assignments and approaches to effectively execute work plans. Ensures the department is structured and resourced to meet organizational goals while fostering accountability and performance.
• Works to align the budget priorities across the Center of Community Engagement & Policy (CCEP) to foster integration, realize cost savings, and maximize impact.
• Ensures sound financial management of programs and grants portfolio consistent with First 5 LA fiscal and contract monitoring policies.

1. Initiative Design and Contract Procurement

• Oversees the sunsetting and/or evolution of select current work and investments and guides the evolution of the Communities Initiative design in alignment with new Strategic Plan goals, while leading the procurement process in partnership with Contract Administration & Purchasing (CAP) to evaluate new grants within the center.
• Supports the Communities department in defining intended outcomes during initiative design and ensures that mechanisms for learning objectives are incorporated in the solicitation or procurement process.
• Ensures that grants, initiatives and programs consider organizational capacity building needs of potential grantees and community partnerships.
• Ensures that grants, initiatives and programs align to First 5 LA governance guidelines.
• Facilitates strategic partnerships, identifies and cultivates relationships to design initiatives or grant programs, and to advance the outcomes articulated in the Strategic Plan.
• Ensures that grants, initiatives and strategies consider community impact, feasibility and perspective in design and implementation.
• Leads the transformation of First 5 LA’s Communities Initiative into a sustainable model that equitably prioritizes families with young children in Los Angeles County. The director will align interventions with First 5 LA’s Strategic Plan priorities, applying lessons learned from long-term place-based investments. This includes sunsetting programs or investments from the prior strategic plan that have fulfilled their purpose or lack demonstrated impact, and designing a new initiative that leverages proven strategies to maximize the outcomes for children prenatal to age 5 in high need areas in LA County.

1. Strategy and Portfolio Management, Grant Monitoring and Learning

• The Director must have an understanding of community-based investments and how such work can be targeted to the highest need communities. All new Communities work, investments and partnerships will be informed by diligently using the Equity Index and reflect a commitment to equity, measurable impact and sustainability.
• Ensures alignment between grantee activities with goals and strategies and oversees contract performance monitoring in accordance with the requirements of a public entity.
• Ensures learnings from grantee interactions are used to inform adjustments to the Communities work and/or initiatives and are shared across the organization.
• Ensures grantee reporting includes performance measures that align with First 5 LA’s impact framework and compliance policy.
• Advises and supports the Communities team in their stakeholder engagement and relationship-building efforts, ensuring that clear, effective communication and collaborative partnerships are consistently modeled.
• Works with the I&A Department to ensure evaluations, analysis, and data efforts are executed and aligned with First 5 LA’s Impact Framework; works in collaboration with the Center of Family Systems & Human Resources, shares learnings across the organization and contributes best practices to the field.
• In collaboration with I&A, implements a data strategy for Communities and contributes to the organization’s data strategy.
• Collaborates with all First 5 LA Departments to ensure that the experiences of families with children prenatal to age 5 inform the policy, legislative, and budget advocacy priorities.

1. Leadership and Collaboration

• As a member of the Leadership Team provides thought-partnership and advice to leadership team members on the community landscape in Los Angeles County and works in partnership with the Vice President of Community Engagement & Policy to collaborate with all centers in the organization.
• Represents the Communities Department on the First 5 LA Leadership Team which is responsible for the staff meetings and ensuring organization-wide support for the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. Provides strategic direction and ensures effective implementation of initiatives across cross-functional teams and efforts. Provides leadership to the Communities department, fostering a culture of team building, collaboration, innovation, rigor, and action. Must bring a strong background in performance management and accountability to ensure the team is both well-supported and held accountable for delivering measurable results. This includes hiring, supervision, setting clear expectations, and coaching to support the development of team members, implementing systems to track progress and impact and working with Human Resources to address and resolve complaints/challenges that arise about team members.
• Coaches and mentors diverse team members to achieve results that focus on family outcomes and advance the strategic plan.
• Leads the development of the Communities Department annual budget and monitors expenditures against budget to remain a fiscally responsible organization and maximizes the use of financial resources to support organizational goals.
• Models and leads strong departmental collaboration with other departments and teams across the organization.

1. Operates With a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lens
   • Consistently considers the implications, actions, and decisions, centering the experiences and perspectives of team members with diverse identities as well as the communities we ultimately exist to support.

Salary:

130600