INITIATIVE OVERVIEW
The Rec Connect Initiative is an innovative public-private partnership involving the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (RPD), the San Francisco Department of Children Youth and their Families (DCYF), community-based organizations, and foundations. The primary goal of Rec Connect is to expand and enhance the quality programs and opportunities for children, youth, and families at vibrant community hubs in five neighborhoods.
Rec Connect will intensify programming during family-friendly times of day and will engage the community in projects, events, and celebrations to build ownership of this as "their" place. Guided by best practices in recreation, youth development, and family support principles, Rec Connect's widened array of activities will tap children's interests, spur youth to build skills, and further reinforce caring relationships across cultures and generations.
Staff from the five recently announced Rec Connect sites begin a four month Start-up Phase during which they will assess community needs and interests, improve site safety and functionality, and design two-year implementation plans.
Rec Connect sites are supported by the Rec Connect Initiative which provides:
• Leadership to enable system partners and sites to learn from experience,
• Technical assistance to sites to help build capacity for more complex operations and to reach the higher level of quality programming;
• Support for expansion and enhancement of quality opportunities for San Francisco families at their Rec Connect site, and
• Public sponsors (RPD and DCYF) to sustain their long-term pledges for support of the successful approaches and to make critical system changes that enable quality service to thrive.
Rec Connect’s leadership and decision-making body is a six-person Steering Team comprised of executives from key partner organizations—RPD and DCYF; a CBO executive representing the five CBO partners; two site-level Rec Connect leaders—one from RPD and one from a CBO; and the Fiscal Sponsor agency’s Executive Director, The Managing Director reports to the Chairperson of this Steering Team.
The Community Network for Youth Development (CNYD) serves as the fiscal sponsor to the Rec Connect Initiative. CNYD is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to strengthen the field of youth development in the San Francisco Bay Area. CNYD works with a wide range of public and private youth-serving agencies, foundations, government officials, academics, and has a strong track record of working effectively with San Francisco policy makers and service providers. CNYD served for six years as the intermediary for the San Francisco Beacon Initiative from inception to operational stability. The Beacons have become permanent school-based youth development assets in eight San Francisco neighborhoods, have earned national recognition, and provide local experience upon which the Rec Connect Initiative can build.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
CNYD is seeking an experienced person for the two-year position of Rec Connect Initiative Managing Director. This position must provide leadership and effective management to achieve program milestones set for the formative first two years of Rec Connect, which has the enthusiastic support of the Mayor's office, the Department of Children Youth and their Families, the Recreation and Parks Department, and five outstanding community based agencies which serve as site co-leads.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES
• Strategic management of the Initiative: Work with executives of city departments sponsoring the initiative, CBO agency leaders, and Rec Connect co-leads, as well as with other allies, to achieve the two -year milestones, develop an annual Operational Plan, and manage day-to-day operations of the Initiative
• Facilitation and support of the Rec Connect Steering Team:. This includes development and facilitation of monthly Steering Committee meetings, ongoing communication and coordination the Steering Team
• Communication, coordination and support: Provide support to key internal and external Initiative stakeholders, including the Mayor's Office, city commissions, and private funders
• Fiscal management: Provide support for grants development, reporting and on-going fiscal management for Initiative funding, signature project funding and program evaluation.
• Site Capacity Building: Assessment of technical assistance needs to enhance Rec Connect sites' program and organizational capacity; support thriving neighborhood based partnerships; and facilitate a cross-site learning community
• Signature Project leadership: Explore development and implementation of new cross-site signature programs to fit Rec Connect.
• Oversight of evaluation of the Initiative: Assume responsibility for determining evaluation design with Initiative stakeholders, managing selection process for the evaluator and managing the evaluation, with special attention to meaningful site participation and integration of evaluation learning.
• Supervision of a part-time Rec Connect Administrative Assistant
QUALIFICATIONS We are seeking candidates with 5-8 years of senior leadership experience implementing city-wide initiatives, facilitating complex multi-partner collaborations requiring system-level coordination and problem-solving, or with 5-8 years senior leadership in large citywide organizations working proactively in the areas of youth development, family support, recreation, neighborhood strengthening.
Qualified candidates will have:
• A strong background in youth development, recreation and/or family support
• An understanding of issues facing municipal recreation departments and community-based organizations serving children, youth and families
• Advanced skills in collaborative leadership, including facilitation and negotiation with diverse constituencies
• Experience providing strategic leadership, including identifying emerging threats and opportunities and leading strategic planning processes
• Proven ability to achieve goals in a fast paced environment, and to be resourceful in drawing upon diverse partners' existing resources to advance a mission
• Strong writing and oral presentation skills
• Understanding of basic program evaluation and ability to support sites and systems to define, collect and make sense of data to improve performance and assess whether objectives have been reached
• Prefer a Masters degree in a related field or substantial relevant experience in lieu of advanced degree. Bachelor's degree required.
OPPORTUNITY This position is an excellent opportunity for an individual who:
• Is eager to work in a start-up environment, thrives working with government systems and between systems and neighborhood sites
• Is a strong facilitative leader, who understands how to bring multiple parties to achieve a coherent vision.
• Can promote shared problem solving among diverse stakeholders
• Is sensitive and responsive to cultural differences in order to serve economically and ethnically diverse community populations
• Is a motivated self-starter
• Is committed to high quality work
• Is effective in creating communities of practitioners that serve as learning resources to each other
• Wants to play a leading role developing an innovative program which has the enthusiastic support of San Francisco’s Mayor's office, Department of Children Youth and their Families, and the actively restructuring Recreation and Parks Department, as well as five outstanding Community Based agencies.
COMPENSATION:
$70,00 - $85,000 depending upon experience, plus excellent benefits including a 401K retirement plan, and medical, dental, and vision insurance. Full-time for two years.
REPORTS TO:
Chairperson of the Rec Connect Steering Team
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
April 1, 2006. All applications will be reviewed 4/1/06. If the position is not filled from this pool, the Initiative will consider applications until the position is filled.
No phone calls please.
Email, mail or fax a resume and cover letter. Please state in your cover letter why you are interested in the position and provide your salary requirements.
Send to:
Rec Connect Managing Director Search
Community Network for Youth Development
657 Mission Street, Suite 410, San Francisco, CA 94105 Or,
Fax: 415-495-0666 Or,
Email: rec@cnyd.org
CYND is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to a culturally diverse workplace. Interested candidate’ names will be held confidential until mutual interest is established.
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