Director, External Affairs

Job Title: Director, External Affairs

Team: New York City (NYC)

Location: In-Person in New York City

Employment Type: Full-time

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising young people—many of whom are people of color, from low-income backgrounds, and the first in their families to attend college—to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, we are helping to open up access to the American Promise, empowering a generation of leaders who mirror the diversity of our country.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact Report and Jobs Report.

About the Role

To achieve its goal of serving 80,000–100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director of External Affairs.  This role is critical to meeting the New York City region’s $5.95M fundraising goal for fiscal years 2025–2027. It involves cultivating and managing philanthropic and employer partnerships, supporting volunteer recruitment, engaging the NYC Board, and advancing Braven’s brand. 

This role is on the New York City team, reports directly to the Executive Director (ED), and manages one part-time intern.

What You’ll Do

Development  [35%]

• Support the ED to establish NYC’s fundraising strategy, and work with ED and Braven’s development team to complete NYC’s annual revenue gameplan.
• Track NYC’s revenue progress to goal and overall weighted pipeline; project managing the implementation of NYC’s quarterly action plans and adjusting as needed based on lessons learned.
• Support the ED in stewarding donor relationships with excellence; leading prep/follow-up, joining most regional meetings, and owning a portfolio of relationships.
• Partner with the ED and Braven’s development team to identify, vet, and cultivate new prospects; conducting research on priority prospects and creating individualized cultivation plans.
• Strategize with the ED to secure and prepare for donor meetings by leading meeting prep and follow-up (e.g. drafting emails, creating agendas, and customizing meeting collateral).
• Strategize with the ED on how to engage donors through the Moves Management stages and project manage execution of next steps, from making an ask to securing a commitment and stewarding relationships effectively to win a renewal.
• Review grant application and report drafts and support the central development team in submitting high-quality narratives/data on-time.

Employer Partnerships & Volunteer Recruitment [15%]

• Partner with the ED to create NYC’s Employer Partnership (EP) strategy for revenue, volunteer, and program opportunities - identifying EP prospects, building a pipeline, researching and creating engagement plans.
• Serve as a conduit of information about NYC’s program needs, deeply understanding nuances and priorities and advocating for shared-value solutions for Fellows and EPs.
• Manage a portfolio of ~5-10 NYC local EPs, recruiting volunteers, preparing meetings, sourcing opportunities, and (co-)hosting events.
• Collaborate with the central EP team on local contacts for EPs in the national portfolio, joining the ED or taking lead with the central EP director in meetings.
• Support in-person events at EPs for Fellows.
• Support volunteer recruitment through in-person info sessions, tabling, and personal outreach with national and local partners.

Board Management [15%]

• Support the ED on the recruitment of NYC board members -  identifying and vetting board prospects, partnering with the central team on briefs, developing cultivation and engagement plans.
• Prepare the ED for their 1:1 meetings/engagements - customize meeting collateral, lead meeting prep and follow-up.
• Project manage all board meetings - collaborate and coordinate across teams on the draft of the management memo, run of show, deck, pre and post follow up emails; note-taking during meetings.

Operations [15%]

• Create action plans for the quarter, month, and week to achieve goals across workstreams; adapting and adjusting when we’re not hitting shared goals. 
• Ensure systems are accurate with external stakeholder information (e.g. Salesforce, Asana/Jira, Confluence).
• Ensure strong preparation and follow-up for all internal meetings.
• Attend key program events (e.g. Learning Lab 1, Mock Interviews, Capstone Challenge Kickoff, Capstone Challenge Presentations) and ensure strong flow of information with NYC’s program team and between the external affairs team.

Steward Regional Relationships  [10%]

• Support ED in setting local strategy and project manage the ongoing cultivation and stewardship of all NYC stakeholders except schools.
• Project manage and execute on national cultivation cross-functional campaigns (e.g. jobs report, impact report, holiday campaign).
• (Co)-plan and execute external affairs-focused events such as site visits, lunch and learns, treks, and jobs/impact report events.
• Support the ED in stewarding and own a portfolio of community influencers.
• Develop relationships with champion Fellows / Post Accelerator Fellows and volunteers, and prepare / train them to represent Braven to external audiences.
• Monitor higher education partner / new site updates - understand high-level strategy, Fellow recruitment, Memorandum of Understanding renewal context, and key relationships.

Marketing & Communications [5%]

• Partner with the central communications team to conduct research on and secure opportunities for the region to build brand visibility and awareness; including speaking opportunities, awards, and media.
• Collaborate with the ED and the central communications team on social media strategy and write/review drafts of content to post weekly.
• Partner with the central communications team on the Jobs Report and Impact Report processes - review draft content, project manage photo shoots with Fellows, prepare stakeholder list and draft notes for personalized outreach.
• Support efforts for the ED to attend/speak at, prepare for, and follow-up from conferences.

Policy [5%]

• Support the building of a local policy agenda and cultivation plans in conjunction with the ED and the Managing Director of Policy. 
• Assist with meeting prep and follow-up for ED.
• Assist with applications for public funding.
• Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree
• 5 - 7 years of related work experience

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience in development, corporate partnerships, and/or high-stakes relationship management.
• Proven ability to strategically identify, build, and develop relationships, with a strong aptitude for influencing others.
• Experience in project management with strong strategic planning, prioritization, organization, and attention to detail skills, with a proven ability to collaborate effectively across lines of difference
• Demonstrated ability to adapt and innovate to solve problems, with a strong commitment to finding solutions in the face of challenges.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Track record of successfully meeting or exceeding ambitious goals.

• Proficiency in Google Suite and Salesforce.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in New York City at least 3 days per week.
• Ability to work in the evening for Braven related events and programming.
• Travel once/year to Braven’s All Team Retreat.

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of such by the date of hire. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons.

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $91,300-$114,100. This is a full-time regular,exempt and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity. Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and three team-wide, week-long shutdowns in Spring, Summer, and Winter (this is a minimum of 24 days per year)
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and often work remotely 2 days per week (although certain commitments might adjust that from time to time). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of New York City. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

At Braven, we are committed to attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining a diverse team. Braven operates in the context of our American culture, against the backdrop of systemic racism and oppression of marginalized people since our country’s founding. We are committed to assembling leaders at our organization who have emerged from everywhere, with a particular emphasis on those who share the racial and income backgrounds of our Fellows, and creating an inclusive culture that allows all teammates, of all experiences and identities, to thrive.  

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.