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Deputy Director

Job Description
Organization: 
EarthLinks
Organization Type: 
501(c)(3)
Job Location: 
Denver Metro
Type of Job: 
Full-time
Job Category: 
Executive
Job Description: 

Reporting to the Executive Director (ED), the Deputy Director (DD) will have overall operational responsibility for EL’s s staff and programs and will support the ED in the execution and sustainability of  EL’s mission and vision. S/he will initially develop deep knowledge of core programs, operations, business plan and strategic initiatives.  With guidance from the ED, DD will assume increasing responsibility to plan, organize, staff, direct and control all aspects of the operation.

As EL enters its 25th year, the non-profit is embarking on implementation of a long-term housing initiative and will also be managing one of Denver’s first Safe Outdoor Spaces.  EL will need a dynamic and versatile DD as the organization undertakes this new role.  S/he will be critical in successfully supporting the organization’s transition from a small, highly successful service provider to one of increasing visibility and influence in Denver as a non-profit that also offers housing to the city’s lowest income residents. The position requires unusual vision, flexibility and communication and management skills, grounded in EL’s mission, as EL navigates its growth and changing challenges. The DD will be able to showcase and promote EL’s unique model of Earth-centered trauma-informed care for expansion and replication.

About EarthLinks

EarthLinks was founded in 1996 in LoDo and is now located in the Sun Valley Neighborhood of Denver. EarthLinks’ mission is cultivation of transformation and self-worth with people experiencing homelessness and poverty. By creating opportunities through Earth-centered programs, individuals step out of isolation andinto community, restoring each other and the planet. Our culture is grounded in the principles of sustainability, equity, diversity and inclusivity.

Who We Serve 

We serve individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty.

Our Program and Approach

EarthLinks (EL) works to sustain adults experiencing homelessness through a Social Enterprise Program that prioritizes connection to nature as a means of healing.   Fundamental to this programming is a supportive community of peers composed of individuals who are also experiencingeconomic poverty and trauma.  EL’s Workshop program helps to stabilize individuals in crisis andconnect them to self-empowerment and housing opportunities.  In Workshop, staff social workers offer participants holistic, one-on-one support on the journey toward stable housing, accomplishment of personal goals, improved self-esteem, and a stronger connection to community and nature. The results of a 2013 study conducted by a student at the University of Colorado Graduate School of PublicAffairs found EarthLinks unique among 19 similar organizations in that it is the only organization serving those who are unhoused in its ability to connect the environment and nature into all participants’lives and in meeting the needs of the whole person according to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization). 

Areas of Responsibility

Leadership & Management:

  • Ensure ongoing local programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and
  • consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals
  • Actively engage and energize EL board members, committees, staff, volunteers, partnering organizations, and funders
  • Support the Executive Director in the development, maintenance and support of a strong board of directors and in seeking and building board involvement with strategic direction for both ongoing and future operations. Staff committees as assigned
  • Hire, lead, coach, develop, and retain EL’s high performing staff
  • Ensure effective systems to track scaling progress, and regularly evaluate program components, so as to measure successes that can be effectively communicated to the board, funders, and other constituents

Fundraising & Communications:

  • Expand local revenue generating and fundraising activities to support existing program operations and expansion while simultaneously retiring debt
  • Deepen and refine all aspects of communications—from web presence to external relations with the goal of creating a stronger brand
  • Use external presence and relationships to garner new opportunities

Planning & New Business:

  • Support the ED in EL’s expanding role as a housing provider, and in executing and updating the strategic business planning process over time.
  • Work to build new partnerships, establishing relationships with the funders and political and community leaders in support of EarthLinks’ mission
  • Be an external presence that publishes and communicates program results with an emphasis on the successes of EL program as a model for local, if not national, replication

Deputy Director Job Responsibilities

●   Responsible for planning, organization, and direction of the organization’s operations and programs including Workshop, Gardens and Social services.

●   Oversees and reports on the organization’s results for board of directors.

●   Provides leadership to and manages the efforts of site staff to ensure appropriate support of all departments.

●   Coordinates and leads annual budget reviews, monthly and quarterly reviews, and periodic forecast updates with operational and senior management for all locations.

●   Retains a diverse, highly qualified staff and volunteers by providing career coaching, growth, and personal development for workers.

 

Requirements/Qualifications
  • Demonstrated leadership and management skills
  • Strategic thinker and problem solver
  • Takes initiative and works independently
  • familiarity with environmentally sustainable practices
  • Experience working with the homeless population
  • Creative problem solving skills
  • Organized
  • Collaborative
  • Outcomes-based organization and staff; ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
  • Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget
  • Strong marketing, public relations, and fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures
  • Commitment to quality programs and data-driven program evaluation
  • Commitment to working with homeless and housing insecure
  • Commitment to environmental sustainability
Compensation/Benefits
Compensation: 

 $60,000-65,000 commensurate with experience

Benefits: 
  • Health and dental insurance
  • Sick leave
  • Vacation time
  • Holidays
How To Apply

We are excited you are interested in our organization and mission!   Please share the following information with us:

  • Cover letter (1-page) or video (less than five minutes) that addresses the following:
  • Why do you want to join the EarthLinks’ team?
  • Share an example of how you have lived or worked a value of inclusivity.
  • Tell us about your ideal team
  • Resume
    We are accepting applications for this position until January 29, 2021. Please submit to whandler@gmail.com

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