Director, Life & Legacy

Director, Life & Legacy

The Harold Grinspoon Foundation seeks a strategic and visionary leader to serve as Director of Life & Legacy, a nationally recognized initiative advancing legacy giving and endowment-building across Jewish communities throughout North America. This is a unique opportunity to lead one of the field's most influential initiatives dedicated to strengthening the long-term financial sustainability of Jewish communal life. The role combines program and team management with a deep understanding of legacy giving and philanthropic strategy.

At a pivotal moment in the program's evolution, the Director will guide Life & Legacy's continued growth—expanding partnerships, strengthening its learning ecosystem, leading and developing a high-performing team, and advancing the impact of legacy giving across participating communities.

The Director will serve as a member of HGF's senior management team. In partnership with the Board of Trustees, the Director will chart a vision for Life & Legacy's next chapter, deepening collaboration across the field and promoting innovative solutions for endowment-building work in an increasingly complex landscape.

Life & Legacy helps Jewish communities secure the long-term financial future of their institutions through robust legacy giving and endowment-building strategies. Operating with a $3 million annual budget, the program provides education, financial incentives, peer learning opportunities, and strategic resources that support communal organizations and leaders in building and growing legacy giving programs.

Over the past 13 years, Life & Legacy has partnered with more than 75 Jewish communities and helped 950+ organizations secure over $2 billion in future philanthropic commitments, benefiting synagogues, day schools, social service agencies, and other local Jewish institutions.

Following a comprehensive program assessment conducted in late 2025, Life & Legacy is entering an important new phase of strategic development that will shape how communities approach legacy giving and endowment-building in the years ahead.

Key responsibilities include:

• Partner with HGF's Executive Leadership & Board of Trustees to develop and drive the overall vision and strategic direction for the Life & Legacy program.
• Translate strategy into clear program priorities, success metrics, and evaluation frameworks.
• Guide the effective use of grant funds to advance program goals and long-term impact.
• Identify new opportunities to expand the program's reach through partnerships, innovation, and community engagement.

• Serve as a visible ambassador, advisor, and connector for the Life & Legacy community at major convenings and the broader philanthropic arena.
• Provide vision and leadership for the annual Life & Legacy Conference and other field-wide convenings and learning experiences designed to foster collaboration and innovation.
• Shape the program's learning strategy, ensuring content and resources across all platforms reflects emerging best practices and trends in legacy giving and endowments.
• Oversee the continued evolution of the program's online knowledge center and development of new curriculum, tools, and resources to strengthen endowment-building capacity.

• Serve as a member of HGF's senior management team, contributing to broader organizational strategy and collaboration.
• Manage and mentor a team of four direct reports.
• Manage the program's annual budget, ensuring strong stewardship and alignment with program priorities.
• Oversee program operations and collaborate closely with shared services teams across finance, marketing and communications, legal, and HR.

The next Director of Life & Legacy will be a visionary thinker and decisive implementer who brings strong program strategy and leadership alongside content expertise in legacy giving. This individual will be highly motivated to advance the Jewish community's understanding and use of endowments as a critical tool for organizational sustainability. The ideal candidate will bring:

• 10+ years of leadership experience, including managing budgets, programs, and teams.
• Meaningful experience in legacy giving, planned giving, endowment development and/or philanthropic advising, ideally within the Jewish communal sector.
• Demonstrated ability to shape strategy, manage complex initiatives, drive measurable outcomes, and lead through influence and partnership.
• Experience developing and stewarding high-level external partnerships and community relationships.
• Deep commitment to strengthening the long-term vitality of Jewish communities.

Compensation and benefits: The salary range for this role is $180,000–$210,000, commensurate with experience. The Harold Grinspoon Foundation offers a generous benefits package and a mission-driven, team-oriented culture.

Location: Strong preference for this role to be New York City based and hybrid in the New York office. There will be consideration for the role to be fully remote or in the home office in Western Massachusetts.

Additional requirements: Hybrid employees are expected to work onsite approximately 60% of the time. All team members must be available during standard Eastern Time business hours for meetings and collaboration.

About the organization: The Harold Grinspoon Foundation envisions a future where everyone can meaningfully connect to Jewish life, culture, and community. The Foundation invests alongside partners and donors to help create and sustain transformational experiences through three flagship initiatives: PJ Library®, JCamp 180®, and Life & Legacy®.