General Secretary / Chief Executive Officer

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United Women in Faith seeks a dynamic and dedicated leader to shepherd the organization through its next phase of growth and faithful service.

About United Women in Faith

United Women in Faith (UWFaith) is a global, mission organization and a part of The United Methodist Church. UWFaith creates and oversees programs that equip women and girls around the world to be leaders in communities, agencies, workplaces, governments, and churches and to advocate for the oppressed and dispossessed with special attention to the needs of women, children, and youth.

UWFaith builds supportive communities among women and engages in activities that foster growth in the Christian faith, mission education, and Christian social involvement. The organization works for justice through compassionate service and advocacy to change unfair policies and systems. It offers educational experiences that lead to personal growth in order to transform the world.

Mission

UWFaith seeks to connect and nurture women through Christian spiritual formation, leadership development, creative fellowship, and education so that they can inspire, influence, and impact local and global communities.

Vision

The members of UWFaith are a powerful, fearless force, driven by God’s love and united in sisterhood. With a focus on women, children and youth, its members act for justice and transform communities.

For more information about United Women in Faith, please visit https://uwfaith.org/

About the Office of the General Secretary

The Office of the General Secretary includes the General Secretary/CEO and Board Recording Secretary as well as Fund Development. The Office carries responsibility for supporting the Board and the Program Advisory Group in their leadership functions and for the Legacy Fund endowment campaign. The General Secretary/CEO leads the staff through the work of the Senior Leadership Team and with its members. The General Secretary/CEO also relates to various denominational bodies, and with the Connections Officer, maintains and shapes relationships across The United Methodist Church in an ecumenical approach. Additionally, the General Secretary/CEO represents and advances the work of United Women in Faith and shares responsibility for attaining the Legacy Fund goal and supporting membership growth and growth in all channels of giving.

About the Position

The General Secretary/CEO serves as chief executive of United Women in Faith and, in partnership with the Board, is responsible for the success of the organization.

Together, the Board and the General Secretary/CEO ensures UWFaith’s relevance to the membership, accomplishes UWFaith’ s mission and vision, and is accountable to UWFaith’s diverse constituents and community.

The Board delegates responsibility for management and day-to-day operations to the General Secretary/CEO. The General Secretary/CEO has the authority to carry out these responsibilities, in accordance with the direction and policies established by the Board. In turn, the General Secretary/CEO provides direction to the Board as the board carries out its governance functions.

Key Responsibilities

Mission and Policy

• Helps the Board uphold UWFaith’s values, mission, and vision, and determines short and long-term goals in accomplishing this mission
• Monitors, evaluates, and keeps the Board informed on UWFaith’s relevance to the community, effectiveness, and results
• Identifies problems and opportunities and addresses them; approaches the Board on these issues when necessary and facilitates discussion, deliberation, and policymaking
• Keeps current on best practices for human services, not-for-profit management, governance, and philanthropy and surfaces any trends needing discussion

Strategic Planning

• Develops the strategic direction of UWFaith in partnership with the Board and ensures its effective operations
• Ensures that the strategic planning process, priorities and goals are achieved and works with staff and Board to define priorities and goals for the next quadrennial while informing the Board of any material deviations from the strategic goals
• Ensures UWFaith’s culture is characterized by compliance, ethics, and integrity in service performance

Legal Compliance

• Complies with applicable legal, regulatory, ethical, UWFaith Code of Ethics and Conduct, and other UWFaith compliance requirements

• Ensures the filing of all legal and regulatory documents and monitors compliance with relevant laws and regulations

• Designs appropriate systems and controls to identify and mitigate the principal business, financial, compliance, reputational, and other significant risks facing UWFaith at any given time

• Along with UWFaith’s Treasurer, ensures the accuracy and integrity of UWFaith’s financial information, reporting and disclosure requirements, internal controls, and management information systems

Talent Management and Administration

• Provides general oversight of all UWFaith activities, manages the day-to-day operations and ensures a smoothly functioning, efficient organization
• Continues the efforts to improve communication and information sharing among the various stakeholders of UWFaith
• Mobilizes all talent within the organization by recognizing gifts and graces of UWFaith leadership, staff, and members and deploying them appropriately
• Ensures program quality and organizational stability through development and implementation of standards and controls, systems, and procedures, with regular evaluation
• Ensures a work environment that recruits, retains, and supports quality staff and volunteers
• Specifies accountabilities for management personnel (whether paid or volunteer) and evaluates performance regularly

Governance

• Helps the Board articulate its own role and accountabilities (and that of its committees and individual members) and helps evaluate performance regularly
• Works with the Board President/Chair to enable the Board to fulfill its governance functions and facilitates the optimum performance of the Board, its committees and individual Board members
• With the Board President/Chair, focuses Board attention on long-range strategic planning
• Manages the Board’s due diligence process to ensure timely attention to core issues

Fundraising and Financial Management

• Strengthens the capacity to build an effective fundraising effort, raise more money, and maintain financial discipline in order to maintain a balanced budget
• Oversees and partners with the Director of Development to solicit support and steward donations from corporate, government, and individual donors to meet annual and capital fundraising goals
• Helps guide and enable the Board, its fund development committee(s) and its individual Board members to participate actively in the fund development process
• Promotes programs and services that are produced in a cost-effective manner, employing economy while maintaining an acceptable level of quality
• Institutes transparency in UWFaith operations to engender member-trust in financial stewardship while providing the highest level of service to the membership
• Oversees the fiscal activities of the organization including budgeting, reporting, and auditing
• Works with the Board to ensure financing to support short- and long-term goals

Building Community

• Speaks for UWFaith to enhance UWFaith’s public image and reputation; strengthens and protects the UWFaith brand and acts as an advocate, within the public and private sectors, for issues relevant to UWFaith, its services, and constituencies
• Raises the visibility of UWFaith and confidence in its mission among UWFaith members, The United Methodist Church, and society at large
• Inspires, energizes, and increases local membership through direct recruitment and through new program initiatives that resonate with young women and women in transition/post retirement
• Builds strong collaborative relationships with other areas within The United Methodist Church and represent UWFaith at General Conference and other meetings and venues
• Builds the leadership of UWFaith through rich spiritual and educational programming
• Listens deeply to members, donors and the community in order to improve services and generate member involvement

Supervisory Responsibility

• The General Secretary/CEO oversees a staff of 60 and has direct supervisory responsibility for the following positions: Treasurer/CFO, Operations Officer, Connectional Officer, Transformation Officer, Board Corporate Secretary, and Director of Development.

Key Qualifications

• Thoroughly committed to UWFaith’s mission and should have proven leadership, coaching, and relationship management experience with a minimum of five years senior-level management, executive administrative or chief operating officer experience; preferably in a religious nonprofit or community-based organization with a specialized knowledge of nonprofit management and fundraising
• Track record of effectively leading and regionally and/or nationally scaling a performance- and outcomes-based organization and staff with an ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
• Knowledge of and experience in management and administration with demonstrated experience in integrating and coordinating diverse areas of management
• Knowledge in the following areas is required: human services; finance and personnel; oral and written communications; planning and evaluation; and governance
• Experience in the field of philanthropy, not-for-profit management and governance, and community relations is preferred
• A high level of interpersonal skills is required to make formal, persuasive presentations to groups and to deal effectively with people from all segments of the membership community. The individual must be comfortable with diversity and respectful of a wide range of faiths, beliefs, and experiences
• Ability to consistently display integrity, model behavior, develop people, and build teams. This individual deals effectively with demanding situations and designs and implements interventions
• Ability to manage continuity, change and transition

Other desirable qualifications include:

• A dedicated member of The United Methodist Church who possesses a strong witness for Christ and mission along with an understanding of The United Methodist Church, its polity, its connectional structure and the interfaith communities
• A passionate leader with a deep commitment to the role of lay women in the church and society and an understanding of contemporary women
• A strong commitment to social justice and advocacy as an instrument for social change within a theological framework
• Proven ability to perform research and create reports and presentations on confidential matters; able to discreetly handle sensitive matters
• Past success working with a Board of Directors with the ability to cultivate existing board member relationships
• Confidence, patience, a desire to help others

Special Consideration

This position requires contact on a regular basis with individuals and groups which are not part of the church’s official structure. This work has an integrity which United Women in Faith respects as part of its work. In all areas of United Women in Faith’s ministry, confidentiality in relationships must be respected.

Compensation

The salary range for this role is $140,000 – 170,000 commensurate with experience. UWFaith also offers generous benefits that include comprehensive insurance options, 100% vesting in the retirement program upon hire, and generous vacation time. In addition, the office is closed Christmas week and August Fridays.

United Methodist Women is an Equal Opportunity Employer and actively encourages candidates of diverse backgrounds to apply for employment. Applicants must meet the minimum requirements in terms of qualifications. An equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered unless specifically stated otherwise. This position description is a guide to the primary duties and functions of the job, not an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, qualifications, physical demands and work environment conditions. Position descriptions are reviewed and may be revised to meet the changing needs of United Methodist Women at the sole discretion of management.

Please email your cover letter and resume in confidence to: unitedwomeninfaith@developmentguild.com

Tracy Marshall

Senior Vice President, Principal

Development Guild DDI