THE OPPORTUNITY

As we near our ten-year anniversary and begin strategic planning for the next ten years, ReFrame seeks a Deputy Director of Strategic Programs to take ReFrame’s strategic programs and projects to the next level. We are a powerful, high-aspiring staff team made up of people with diverse experiences and identities committed to building a narrative ecosystem capable of transforming the world around us toward a common sense rooted in multi-racial democracy and an economy that works for all of us.

In line with our lineage and our aspirations, we actively work to build a resilient organization. Our culture is rooted in care, curiosity, creativity, humor, innovation, and a commitment to excellence in the service of liberation. We lead with anti-racist, pro-queer and trans, working-class, disability justice, and feminist values. We believe liberation is a journey, leaning into learning and enacting how to be curious and rigorous stewards of liberation.

ReFrame is a remote-first organization and is fiscally sponsored by the Proteus Fund which partners with foundations, advocates, and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights, and peace.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Deputy Director of Strategic Programs is a senior leadership position that, in consultation with the executive team and under the direction of the Executive Director, develops and directs program strategy and implementation while living into ReFrame’s values, mission, and goals. This position is responsible for all aspects of ReFrame programming from narrative research to training and integrated narrative action, including but not limited to program strategy development and implementation, program operations and evaluation, developing and maintaining relationships with partner organizations, participating in grant reporting and other fundraising and fiscal activities, strategic opportunity and risk identification, and bootstrapping new projects where organizational strategy requires it. The Deputy Director of Strategic Programs is an active member of the executive team, leverages staff to execute the daily work of ReFrame’s program strategy, and collaborates with advisors, program directors and managers, consultants, vendors, and other stakeholders to advance the organization’s strategy.

Position & Compensation
This is a full-time, exempt position that reports to the Executive Director.
The starting compensation for this role is based on a range between $103,000 and $154,000.

Location
This is a remote position based in the United States. U.S. East and Central Time Zone Preferred. We are not currently accepting applications for those residing outside of the U.S.

Application Close Date & Target Start Date
Applications are accepted through March 31, 2023. The target start date for this position is May 15, 2023.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

We are seeking a collaborative senior leader who is both a thinker and a doer and who owns their domain of work as well as ReFrame’s broader vision, mission, values, and goals. You should bring:

A Transformative People-Centered Approach
You have strong alignment with ReFrame’s vision, mission, and approach putting the values of racial, gender, and economic justice and their intersections into action in the work environment and beyond. You are self-reflective, cultivate your leadership growth, steward the leadership development of others, and proactively engage and build a culture of feedback.

Strategy and Culture Building Chops

You have a track record of designing solutions from vision to execution grounded in strategy, expertly navigating elevation changes in setting strategy, and making decisions in the near term, medium term, and long term based on organizational goals and values. You can both dream up strategic paths and direct their operationalization with multi-dimensional teams maintaining a can-do attitude when curveballs strike. You can effectively cope with ongoing change, shifting gears when needed and supporting staff with wit, candor, and direction. You can comfortably handle uncertainty while laughing along the way.

Narrative & Strategic Communications for Power Building

Narrative might as well be your middle name. You have a track record of leading power-building work with strategic and integrated narrative and communications strategies designed to win. You intimately understand what it takes to build narrative ecosystems and infrastructure from training and leadership development to research and campaigns. You think about pedagogy and learning modalities as much as utilizing data and research for strategy. You can just as easily design a narrative north star as analyze data, train a room of 100 people, or lead a campaign strategy - all while developing a team of people along the way.

Next Level Agile Project Direction

You can lead a team and move people into action toward a common vision and goal holding the highest standards of excellence and accuracy of work in your domain and in the domain of staff, vendors, and organizational partners in your purview. You can direct yourself and others with clear communication and high organization skills to meet deadlines and direct multiple priorities at once including across teams in the organization when necessary.

Interpersonal Savvy and Insatiable Curiosity

Organizations are only as strong as the teams that move them forward. You are effective at directing up, sideways, and down across the spectrum of roles and capabilities in the organization – balancing leadership development, relationships (both internally and externally), and outcomes of the work at hand. You can build constructive and effective relationships grounded in trust, curiosity, proactive communication, and a shared commitment to the common purpose of the organization. You exercise diplomacy while balancing both giving direction and soliciting feedback.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Organizational Strategy and Direction

As a part of the executive team, steward the organization in line with mission, vision, and values by supporting and participating in organizational strategy development, goal setting, and planning.

• Co-design, support, and participate in organization-wide planning processes across core capabilities from programming to operations to revenue at monthly, quarterly, and annual rituals

• Co-design, support, and participate in weekly organizational work planning and coordination rituals

• Proactively collaborate in partnership with the executive team on budgeting and workforce forecasting as well as monthly P&L reconciliation.

Develop and Direct ReFrame Program Strategy

Under the direction of the Executive Director and in consultation with the executive team:

• Develop and lead multi-year program strategy in line with organizational values and goals that support ReFrame’s current operating budget and our future growth - starting at $6.5 million annually and growing to $10 million annually over the course of three years

• Establish clear and scaleable processes for identifying and triaging emergent opportunities and requests for ReFrame training, research, and strategy accompaniment.

• Set goals for program strategy including tracking progress, setbacks, and overall performance including

  • Directing and maintaining integration of ReFrame core capabilities (narrative training, research, and action)

  • Analyzing results and presenting findings to the executive team

  • Integrating impact measurement into planning and decision making

  • Collaborating with revenue and executive teams on revenue and fundraising-generating activities

• Directs and co-designs the codification and expansion of ReFrame’s narrative power training and leadership projects, including but not limited to

  • Setting and maintaining core curriculum through collaborative processes including the production and distribution of synchronous and asynchronous training content

  • Building a bench of trainers, mentors, and coaches

  • Iterating on and evaluating training projects in multiple delivery vehicles from in-person convening to small coaching cohorts to scaled virtual training.

  • Integrating language and disability justice through core training content and pedagogical approach

  • Developing point of entry to coach and mentor pipeline development

• Directs and co-designs the codification and expansion of ReFrame’s narrative research projects

  • Provide high-level oversight and thought partnership of narrative, story, and data analysis

  • Set standards of quality for the production and distribution of research products including co-designing and finessing repeatable product archetypes through the project pipeline from research to editorial to production and distribution with an eye on efficiencies of cost and time

  • Iterating and evaluating research methodologies but current and emerging opportunities to scale and diversify ReFrame’s core research capabilities

• Directs and co-designs emerging integrated narrative action projects including

  • Expanding programming for a diverse range of ReFrame alumni

  • Designing and expanding nascent pilot projects to test viability when appropriate

  • Standing up and bootstrapping both short-term and long-term projects and programs when emerging opportunities arise in line with organizational goals and strategy

• Bring program strategy into overarching organizational strategy and ensures all staff and collaborators are prepared and supported

Lead and Collaborate with Team ReFrame

• Direct management of project budgets across multiple teams

• Direct the training of Reframe staff when necessary on core competencies required for program strategy

• Direct cross-functional teams that support organizational projects to be delivered with excellence, integrity, celebration, high impact, and efficiency through competing deadlines and resource and capacity management

• Lead and maintain cross-functional program staff through

  • Maintaining open and clear communication across project teams

  • Utilizing organizational practices and tools for coordination and work management across projects and teams

  • Supervising and coaching program staff at a variety of levels from assistant to director level

  • Annual evaluations of all direct reports

  • The hiring and onboarding of all direct reports and skip-level reports

  • Performance management for direct reports

  • Support program managers and directors in team and work management through leadership development, supervision, and coaching

Engage and Organize Stakeholders, Build & Organize Systems

• Build and maintain high-level relationships with programmatic partners -both field and funder facing including:

  • Establishing clear work parameters, timelines, expectations, and shared project infrastructure

  • Collaborating on evaluation, reporting, and external communications

  • Co-designing ladders of engagement where appropriate

  • Collaborating with ReFrame revenue, operations, and communications teams

• Work with a team of staff, consultants, and vendors to drive ReFrame programming toward annual goals and quarterly benchmarks.

• Identify, develop, direct, and implement organizational systems that support program endeavors in collaboration with the executive team that are cross-functional, repeatable, and scaleable across the organization.

• Develop a bench of vendors that can be leveraged for both discreet and long-term projects.

• Direct managers and directors with various experience levels to effectively supervise staff in project strategy, workflow, and evaluation

Storytelling & Organizational Ambassadorship

• Direct cross-functional staff teams that can bring a high level of attention to detail, efficiency, and excellence in producing and distributing training, research, and integrated action projects while ensuring brand integrity and strategy across organizational program activities.

• Serve as an ambassador for the organization in high-level partnerships from philanthropy, consultants, and vendors to program partners.

• Collaborate with the executive director and executive team to identify compelling stories to elevate ReFrame’s impact.
  

QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES

• Commitment to the mission and values of a progressive social justice organization

• Culturally aligned with an organization that is committed to movement-facing work, grounded in racial and gender justice, flexible, and accountable to multiple stakeholders

• Experience with power building organizing coalitions, organizations, and networks including

  • Familiarity with progressive social movements

  • Familiarity with power building organizing and other change methodologies

• Expertise with narrative and strategic communications development and implementation including

  • Narrative power frameworks and implementation

  • Narrative and strategic communications training and pedagogy

  • Narrative research (opinion polling, message testing, natural language processing, etc.)

  • Integrated narrative action implementation such as strategic messaging initiatives

• Executive leadership skills including
  • 10+ years experience in the non-profit or private sector with at least

    • 7+ years in leadership roles in non-profits or business

  • 7+ years in program implementation and management

    • 3+ years in directing multiple con-concurrent programs and projects

  • 5+ years in supervising staff and managing teams of various sizes and across all levels of staff

  • Demonstrated understanding of change management principles

  • Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills

  • Excellent relationship-building skills

  • A direct communicator who proactively solicits feedback

  • A high degree of emotional intelligence

  • Ability to adapt and quickly adjust in response to changing priorities

• Expertise in aligning and integrating organizational projects across domains of work

  • Strategic mindset and skills for program development

  • Facilitation and agenda design expertise

  • Expert work planning and project manager

  • Expertise in team performance and management

  • Ability to multi-task with competing priorities

  • Detail oriented

  • Solutions minded problem-solving skills

• Thrives in remote teams and work environments including agility with remote work tools, such as:

  • Google Work Space

  • Asana or similar digital project management tools

  • Slack

  • Airtable or equivalent software

  • Microsoft Office Suite

  • Apple Hardware

• Authorization to work in the U.S. and based in the United States

We value candidates who can demonstrate capability and articulate how prior experiences will help them transition into this role.