Director of Community Engagement

About Us

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area (BBBSBA) envisions a world where all youth achieve their full potential. Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth across the ten Bay Area counties. Our evidence-based approach has proven to be successful for over 100 years nationally and over 65 years locally. Join our team at BBBSBA to make a lasting impact on the lives of young people, families, and mentors in our community!

Role Overview

The Director of Community Engagement is a strategic leader responsible for designing, executing, and monitoring a unified regional agency strategy focused on broad community building, program recruitment, and the stewardship of diverse stakeholders. Managing an expanded 10-county footprint, this individual builds the systems for sustainable relationship cultivation to support volunteer Mentors (aka Bigs) and family referrals for Mentees (aka Littles). By cultivating and stewarding high-stakes community alliances, the Director provides essential resources and support for our program participants. The ideal candidate brings expert-level data-savviness, rigorous project management skills, and an analytical framework to optimize strategic partnerships and enhance our overall community impact.

Location

Hybrid 2+ days – Office in Oakland, CA

Regular travel throughout 10 Bay Area counties.

Preference for someone living in San Francisco, San Mateo, or Santa Clara, or Alameda county to provide geographical diversity to the team.

Number of Direct Reports: 3 - 5

Key Responsibilities

Community Engagement & Recruitment Strategic Leadership (40%)

Provide the overarching vision and project management for our volunteer and family recruitment and engagement strategy across 10 counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and Santa Cruz). Use operational analytics to define how marketing, partnerships, events, ambassadors, and various other recruitment tactics can support these efforts with the best return on investment.

• Lead data-driven decision-making to optimize program recruitment and intake funnels with a lens for exceptional customer service for all potential Bigs and Littles.
• Collaborate closely with the Customer Relations Specialist and Enrollment & Matching team to ensure recruitment priorities meet program needs and work to minimize application bottlenecks.
• Coordinate regularly with Marketing & Communications Manager to align on branded materials needed for recruitment and ensure online recruitment efforts are optimized.
• Support Recruitment & Relations Coordinator to identify geographic priorities and ensure community recruitment efforts have the greatest ROI.
• Support Customer Resources and Events Coordinator to ensure resources and events address the greatest needs of program participants and allow for opportunities to collaborate with potential community partners.
• Identify trends across the Bay Area for youth populations that have high needs for services and liaise with program team to elevate needs for new taskforces to support more robust and inclusive programming.
• Provide leadership and training to Program team members on best practices in customer service and volunteer appreciation and engagement.
• Identify and grow new volunteer opportunities and policies to support community engagement and agency growth (ex. Volunteer recruitment ambassadors, event volunteers, work study and service learning opportunities, etc.).
• Oversee recruitment budget and lead community engagement team to build systems for managing and organizing supplies for recruitment and events.

Partnership Management (40%)

Build and steward high-level community relationships focused on meeting strategic goals to drive volunteer and youth recruitment to reduce waitlists, and provide high value resources to our program participants.

• Directly manage relationships with organizations that have higher potential for visibility and multifaceted engagement, including corporate, local government, and national nonprofits.
• Develop partnership cultivation and stewardship systems, and tools to train direct reports and peers on best practices for partner relationship management and account ownership.
• Serve as a bridge to the Development team by actively recognizing corporate alignment for grants, sponsorships, or employee giving, handing off strategic insights for further cultivation.
• Learn from other BBBS agency leaders across the country to maximize partnership and community engagement potential.

Team Leadership & Management (20%)

Provide direct supervision, performance management, coaching, and professional development for the Community Engagement team.

Miscellaneous

Other duties as assigned – including but not limited to assisting with organizational events, networking at community meetings, fundraising events, donor site visits, board meetings, many of which may take place on evenings and weekends.

Core Competencies

• Partnership Cultivation & Coalition Building : Cultivates and stewards strategic partnerships and community coalitions. Identifies mutually beneficial solutions to complex challenges, bridging diverse stakeholder needs to advance organizational goals.
• Data-Driven Strategy & Innovation : Uses data to drive decision-making and identify trends that inform innovative recruitment and engagement strategies. Translates analytical insights into actionable, forward-thinking approaches. Pilots new ideas, learns from mistakes, and refines
• Informed Decision-Making & Active Listening : Excels at active listening and synthesizing diverse perspectives to reach well-rounded, balanced decisions. Navigates complex organizational needs with clarity and consensus-building.
• Strategic Project Management : Manages competing priorities with precision. Executes complex, cross-functional projects by rallying teams around shared goals and timelines.
• Leadership & People Development : Inspires and develops high-performing teams by providing clear guidance, constructive feedback, and opportunities for growth. Fosters a culture of collaboration, inclusivity, and accountability.

Required Qualifications

• Extensive knowledge of Bay Area community organizational landscape, community partners, education community
• 6+ years of progressive leadership experience in customer service, marketing, client management, community organizing, corporate engagement, or a similar field
• 4+ years of experience managing people and directing teams
• Exemplary interpersonal skills with a strong customer/client focus, with the ability to engage effectively with families, volunteers, and donors in large group presentations and individual conversations.
• Proven track record of managing multi-channel recruitment funnels and analyzing data to maximize campaign ROI.
• Exceptional project management background with a demonstrated track record of planning and leading multi-faceted recruitment or advocacy campaigns.
• Exceptional event planning experience - with the ability to design community events with 200+ attendees
• Tech savvy, with a proficiency in Google Suite, Excel, database management (Salesforce preferred), and interest in building tools and systems that leverage Ai and automations
• Attentive and active listening skills, flexible thinking, ability to function well in a fast-paced environment while maintaining a commitment to innovation and process improvement.
• Highly organized with the ability to balance focus between strategic visioning and exceptional attention to detail for marketing and promotional materials
• Value Diversity - Able to seek out and work effectively with others who have diverse perspectives, talents, backgrounds, and/or styles; contribute to a team climate in which differences are valued and supported. Ability to relate well in multicultural environments
• Must have reliable transportation to facilitate independent travel to meetings and activities in the agency’s 10-county service area
• Hold a Bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent prior experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with groups that mobilize volunteers in black, Latinx, and LGBTQ+ communities (ex. 100 Black Men, sororities & fraternities, employee resource groups, etc.)
• Experience with PR, media, marketing strategy, corporate fundraising
• Experience with AmeriCorps, service learning, or other internship programs
• Have experience working in the launch or growth phases of organizations
• Bilingual - Spanish

Our Values

Our values guide us every step of the way: Connection, Adaptive Growth, Resourcefulness, Empathy, and Safety . We bring together people who might never have met otherwise, forging bonds that change lives. We embrace challenges with flexibility and creativity. We lead with compassion. We prioritize safety. We work tirelessly to break down barriers so that every young person has access to the brighter future they deserve.

Equal Employment Opportunity

BBBSBA provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals without regard to race, creed, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, or non-disqualifying physical or mental handicap or disability.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Applicants as well as employees who are or become disabled must be able to perform the essential duties & responsibilities either unaided or with reasonable accommodation. The organization shall determine reasonable accommodation on a case-by-case basis in accordance with applicable law.

Job Responsibilities

The above statements reflect the general duties, responsibilities and competencies considered necessary to perform the essential duties & responsibilities of the job and should not be considered as a detailed description of all the work requirements of the position. BBBSBA may change the specific job duties with or without prior notice based on the needs of the organization.