Director of Stakeholder Engagement

Position Title: Director of Stakeholder Engagement

Location: Lowell, MA with travel to other sites, including some out of state travel

Reports To: Executive Director, Training Center for Excellence

Position Type: Full-Time

About the Organization:

UTEC’s mission is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disengaged youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC’s outcomes-focused model begins with intensive street outreach, reaching proven high-risk youth where they’re at. UTEC engages youth in workforce development and educational programs and provides mental health services and intensive case management. Social justice and civic engagement are embedded in all programming.

UTEC’s Training Center for Excellence (TC4E) was established in 2019 to work strategically and collaboratively with other Massachusetts community-based organizations on addressing gun violence by applying a public health framework. Now providing training and capacity-building assistance to 25 youth-serving organizations, the TC4E is poised to expand services beyond Massachusetts. The Director of Stakeholder Engagement will share best practices in community violence intervention and prevention and create new learning exchanges in partnership with community-based organizations nationally.

Position Summary:

The Director of Stakeholder Engagement will provide comprehensive training and technical assistance to enhance the organizational capacity of community-based organizations (CBOs). This role involves supporting CBOs with strategic planning, serving high-risk individuals, promoting staff professional development and wellness, and leveraging data and research for continuous improvement and outcome evaluation. The Director of Stakeholder Engagement will focus on supporting CBO’s with designing, implementing, and sustaining effective Community Violence Intervention (CVI) strategies with an emphasis on street outreach, cross-sector partnerships, and credible messengers.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Travel 2-5 days at a time to support four CBOs with training, technical assistance, learning exchanges, and network building.
2. Capacity Building:
   • Develop and administer and organizational training and technical assistance needs assessment with CBOs to identify organizational strengths and areas for improvement.
   • Use the results of the CBO needs assessment to identify appropriate training and technical assistance providers, including training center staff, training partners, and consultants, including credible messengers and subject matter experts.
   • Develop and deliver tailored training programs to enhance CBO capabilities in fundraising, service delivery, staff development, and data utilization.
   • Provide ongoing technical assistance to support the implementation and sustainability of CVI strategies.
3. Program Development and Implementation:
   • Support the development of strategic plans and program models that incorporate street outreach, cross-sector partnerships, and credible messenger strategies.
   • Facilitate learning exchanges
4. Professional Development and Staff Wellness:
   • Create and facilitate professional development opportunities for CBO staff to enhance skills and knowledge in violence prevention and intervention.
   • Promote staff wellness initiatives to ensure the well-being and resilience of individuals working in high-stress environments.
5. Data and Research Utilization:
   • Support TC4E with the development of tools and methodologies for data collection, analysis, and reporting to support evidence-based decision-making.
6. Stakeholder Engagement:
   • Foster strong relationships with CBOs, community stakeholders, and cross-sector partners to enhance collaborative efforts in violence prevention and intervention.
   • Represent the organization at meetings, conferences, and community events to promote CVI initiatives and share best practices.

Qualifications:

• Minimum of 10 years of experience in community violence intervention and prevention, nonprofit management, project management, or a related field.
• Proven experience in providing training and technical assistance to community-based organizations.
• Strong knowledge of CVI strategies, including street outreach, cross-sector partnerships, and credible messenger approaches.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
• Demonstrated ability to use data and research for program development and evaluation.
• Commitment to promoting social justice, equity, and community empowerment.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience working with high-risk populations or lived experience in communities aected by violence.
• Project management experience
• Proficiency in data analysis software and tools.
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders.

Salary/Benefits: $95,000 plus benefits, commensurate with experience. UTEC offers a competitive benefits package that starts with 4 weeks of vacation (3 standard for all new employees and a week of agency-wide wellness closure between the Christmas and New Year holidays), 12 holidays, 10 sick days, 2 personal days, and health, dental and vision insurance. We also offer life insurance, first time homeowners support, an annual cost of living increase, a 401-K retirement plan, a $1,200- $1,800 annual wellness fund, and professional development support. With time, benefits grow to include up to 6 weeks of vacation, 80% coverage of employee health and dental insurance costs and availability for a 3 week sabbatical.

UTEC also stresses the importance of work-life balance and offers several wellness opportunities including additional time off (i.e. for the past two years we have closed at 3pm on Fridays during the summer months), an employee assistance program, down payment assistance for first time home buyers, parental leave, bereavement supports and unlimited free coffee! See more about our benefits here.

UTEC provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, UTEC complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.