Director of Programs- Boston

ABOUT COMPASS WORKING CAPITAL

Anti-poverty programs in the United States provide critical, but insufficient, support to families with low incomes. If we are to end poverty and close racial and gender wealth gaps in our communities, we must support families to build the financial assets and capabilities needed to achieve their goals and dreams.

Since 2005, Compass Working Capital (“Compass”) has been working to do just that, by providing savings and financial coaching programs that support families with low incomes to build assets, achieve their financial goals, and become financially secure. Our vision is to build a leading, nonprofit financial services organization that promotes economic mobility and financial security for families with low incomes by influencing field-related practice and policy. In late 2019, through philanthropic investment, Compass embarked on a strategic plan to significantly expand its national scope and impact. This investment provides Compass with the funding and support to ready the organization for greater impact by ending asset poverty for 220,000 families with low incomes by 2030. We envision a day when asset building is the norm, and not the exception, in our nation’s anti-poverty work.

As Director of Programs - Boston at Compass Working Capital, you’ll lead as a solutions-oriented innovator and implementer in supporting greater access to our financial coaching and savings programs across the communities we serve. You’ll collaborate across large urban public housing providers in Boston, leadership teams, and our client-facing teams to ensure clients experience the best service possible from Compass and our housing providers.

Beyond directing a multifunctional team to achieve our programmatic strategies, you’ll work to ensure our programs are achieving impact in the community. Within the last decade alone, Compass clients have built over $10 million in assets across our programs in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

ABOUT THE POSITION

The federal Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program is a five-year program through which clients work closely with coaches to grow their financial assets to achieve personal and professional dreams. In Boston, the FSS program includes Boston Housing Authority (BHA), Metro Housing | Boston (Metro), and Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA). The program currently serves 1,400 families with an aim to grow to 2,500 families by mid-2022.

The Director of Programs - Boston will oversee our largest partnerships with housing authorities at Compass, including the largest team, and our biggest programmatic growth goals in our strategic plan. You’ll be a wonderful addition to our team if you have a passion for team-based management and leadership, can anticipate and mitigate risks to the execution of our strategy, and are energized by implementing high-impact solutions.

You will be a great fit for this role if you are energized by forging strong relationships across partners, colleagues, and clients while executing on strategic goals in your work. You’ll have the opportunity to test and refine processes to ensure the highest success for clients, including testing an opt-out enrollment model and expanding account access solutions for clients.

As Director of Programs-Boston, you will oversee a team of six direct reports and a total of 23 staff members, including Financial Coaches, Coaching Managers, Program Managers, and Client Outreach and Enrollment Specialists. This role reports directly to the Chief Program Officer.

To learn more about working at Compass, click here. To learn more about Compass’ commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, click here.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Your work as Director of Programs - Boston will focus on the following key objectives:

Direct Compass’ Boston Program Strategy and Management

• Provide oversight of and be accountable for the department’s key performance indicators, including enrollment, coach-to-client touch points, client satisfaction metrics, retention, and graduation rates.
• Work collaboratively with our partners to establish and build trusting relationships and be accountable for the delivery of contractual obligations.
• Develop a broad and deep knowledge of FSS programs and ensure compliance with HUD guidelines and other contractual obligations.
• Proactively identify innovation in and enhancements to the delivery of our services, including the oversight of our opt-out enrollment pilot, and lead the creation of a project plan and deliver on these strategies.
• Anticipate and mitigate risks to the implementation of our strategy, including streamlining and simplifying a growing volume of client work between Compass and our partners.
• Provide data and insight into operations to inform policy advocacy to expand FSS opportunities and funding within the public housing sector.

Lead Compass’ Boston Programs Team

• Provide effective and inspiring leadership by coordinating work across functions within the department to ensure a positive client experience, from marketing to enrollment to coaching to graduation.
• Meet regularly with Coaching Managers and Program Managers to receive updates on progress towards the department’s goals; listen to, understand and problem-solve challenges that arise; and ensure efficient and collaborative processes between the coaching and program teams in pursuit of our service to clients.
• Work collaboratively with other Directors in the organization on the Program Leadership Team to share best practices, identify program and organizational improvements, and communicate back to the team broader organizational program developments.
• Meet regularly with the Chief Program Officer and other leadership team members to provide program updates, elevate and solve problems or risks to the program, and strategize on program goals.
• Create and monitor dashboards across outcomes for coaching and programs staff, including possessing a deep understanding of the data inputs and process within our Salesforce system to properly interpret the data interaction at a dashboard level and maintain a rigorous dedication to confidentiality and data security protocols when sharing reports externally.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We seek a Director of Programs with a strong “roll-up-your-sleeves” attitude, innate leadership capabilities, and excellent project management skills. Competitive candidates will demonstrate a strong background in scaling programs and leading teams.

There are innumerable ways to learn, grow, and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. We want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. This said, we are most likely to be interested in your candidacy if you can demonstrate the majority of the qualifications and experiences listed below.  

Experience Leading Diverse Teams: Progressive professional experience leading high-performing teams and driving outcomes through others with cultural humility and an openness to and respect for others’ cultures, identities, and lived experiences.   

Proven Success in Scaling Programs: Proven track record of managing and scaling programs or projects, particularly with external partnerships. Previous experience in the financial coaching or asset-building fields, or with the FSS Program or other economic mobility models for families with low incomes are a plus.  

Relationship Builder and Collaborator: Experience in community-building, networking, and partnership-building in the Boston community. Trustworthy, with strong interpersonal skills, maturity, self-awareness, empathy, integrity, sound judgment, and ability to establish and build strong, trusting partnerships.  

Adept at Managing Complex Projects: Ability to prioritize competing priorities in ways that advance high quality outcomes. Ability to identify, anticipate, and mitigate risks, and to keep others on track. Passion for data and dashboards. Comfort and experience working with software applications and databases such as Salesforce. 

This position is currently remote, though we are piloting a voluntary return-to-office option for staff in the Boston area. The Director of Programs – Boston will eventually be expected to be based in our Boston office.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

The salary range for this role is $85,000-$100,000. We’ll promote your professional growth and development by providing access to a competitive salary and benefits package and additional employee benefits that include but are not limited to:

• Healthcare: medical, dental, vision
• Retirement plan 401(k) & match
• Life insurance & disability Insurance
• Paid time off
• Paid parental leave
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account
• Professional development & certification
• Pre-tax commuter benefits
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

HOW TO APPLY

To apply to this position, please prepare a resume and cover letter to the attention of the Compass Working Capital Chief Program Officer and submit your materials through our online application portal run by our recruiting partners, Positively Partners. For confidential inquiries or for assistance in completing the application, please contact search@positivelypartners.org.

TIMELINE AND HIRING PROCESS

We will review and respond to all applications received. While subject to change, candidates elected to advance throughout the process can expect to progress through a process that includes initial conversations with Positively Partners, an interview with the Chief Program Officer, and a final interview day with members of the Compass team. Anticipated start date is February 2022.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT

Compass Working Capital is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We consider applications for all positions, without regard to age, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, ancestry, creed, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Compass Working Capital is committed to ensuring individuals with disabilities receive the accommodations required for them to interview for a position on our team. Should you require accommodations, please contact search@positivelypartners.org.