Senior Director of Partnership Experience

THE ORGANIZATION

In 1988, civic leader and entrepreneur Paul DeBruce founded The DeBruce Foundation to support those in need in Kansas City and beyond. Mr. DeBruce challenged the Foundation to transcend the scope of a traditional philanthropy and embrace market forces as a lever to expand pathways to economic growth and prosperity. He assembled a transformational team of experts charged with identifying opportunities to maximize impact in the years to come.

Today, The DeBruce Foundation partners with educators, employers, and agencies to change how people pursue careers and economic well-being. Through the provision of data-informed tools, training, and resources, The DeBruce Foundation supports individuals and organizations in unlocking their potential, meaningfully navigating career transitions, and in upskilling workforces. The Foundation is committed to leading with a healthy spirit of innovation and an ethos of sustainability to ensure that the Foundation’s impact is both broad and deep.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The DeBruce Foundation is seeking a driven, visionary, and collaborative activator to serve as the Foundation’s Senior Director of Partnership Experience. This individual will lead the Foundation’s work in bringing tools, training, and resources to new partner organizations, seeking greater impact through widespread adoption. The Senior Director of Partnership Experience will craft the partner acquisition strategy, lead partner outreach and acquisition, contribute to content development that supports successful adoption and implementation, manage and prioritize team capacity, and coordinate with the Foundation team to ensure impeccable partner experience. This role reports directly to the Executive Director & COO.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES - Roles and responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Engaging partners at multiple points in the adoption cycle
• Managing the creation, distribution, and adoption of DeBruce tools, training, and resources, to new and existing partners
• Prioritizing strategies for partner acquisition and positive partner experience
• Articulating of multiple value propositions to different partner audiences
• Leading a team to maintain partner pipeline and ensure impeccable service
• Gathering impact data and telling stories about successful partnerships
• Managing, growing, and developing a high-performing team
• Stewarding the associated budget and financially forecasting for the future
• Collecting client feedback and iterating towards positive experience and impact
• Situationally representing the donor and the Foundation externally
• Collaborating cross-functionally with The DeBruce Foundation leadership and Board

DESIRED EXPERTISE - The ideal candidate will have the following functional, people, and strategic expertise:

• 10+ years of successive leadership experience. Bachelor’s degree required, advanced or terminal degree strongly preferred
• Meaningful sales, partnerships, or new business experience, especially in pipeline cultivation
• Experience with scale, growth, and designing support systems and processes
• Deep experience with strategic planning, consensus-building, and facilitation
• Familiarity with procurement cycles for key institutional partners
• Experience in the field of economic empowerment, career navigation, or talent pipeline/workforce development
• Strong people, project, and budget management skills
• Familiarity with nonprofit operational context
• Strong leadership qualities that inspire, empower, and guide a team
• Inclusive collaboration skills, a positive attitude, and emotional intelligence
• Experience building positive relationships internally and externally
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and storytelling ability
• An entrepreneurial drive and a scrappy, “can-do” attitude
• A level of composure and the ability to stay poised and polished under stress
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated ability in planning and implementing long- and short-range initiatives
• The ability to clearly and efficiently communicate different value propositions to different audiences
• The ability to operate with flexibility and adaptability, with excellent decision-making instincts
• The ability to “gearshift” between strategic ideation and tactical execution
• A clear passion for expanding pathways to economic mobility and creating impact across the United States, and perhaps, beyond