Director, External Affairs

Braven • Birmingham, AL

14h • $87,200 - $93,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, External Affairs is part of Braven’s Alabama Region team and reports directly to the Executive Director, Alabama Region. The role supports the region’s goal of raising $9 million in its first year and contributes to Braven’s ambition to serve 80,000–100,000 Fellows over the next decade. The Director cultivates philanthropic and employer partnerships, supports volunteer recruitment, helps recruit and engage the Alabama Regional Board, and advances Braven’s brand.

The position leads and coordinates regional development work, including fundraising strategy and planning, revenue and pipeline tracking, donor cultivation and stewardship, prospect research, grant support, and execution of donor engagement plans. It also develops employer partnership opportunities, manages a portfolio of approximately 5–10 local employer partners, and supports volunteer recruitment and events.

The Director supports board recruitment and engagement, manages board meetings, coordinates regional stakeholder relationships and cultivation activities, and plans external affairs events. The role also coordinates operational plans and information systems, works with program teams around key events, contributes to marketing and communications efforts, and supports regional policy agenda development and public funding applications.

The role is hybrid, with in-office work in Montgomery or Birmingham, Alabama, three days per week (Tuesday through Thursday) and remote work two days per week (Monday and Friday). It requires regional travel, occasional travel to other Braven regions, and some evening and weekend work, particularly during peak event seasons. The role is full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits-eligible, and is based on a 50-hour work week. The anticipated start date is February or March 2027.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 5–7 years of related work experience.
• Authorized to work in the United States; Braven does not offer employment visa sponsorship.
• Ability to work in person in Montgomery or Birmingham, Alabama, at least three days per week and live within commuting distance of either location.
• Ability to travel within Alabama, especially to Montgomery, Birmingham, and Huntsville; travel to other Braven regions approximately 1–2 times per year; and attend Braven’s annual All Team Retreat.
• Ability to work some evenings and weekends, approximately 1–2 times per month and more during peak event seasons.
• Access to internet.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in development, corporate partnerships, and/or high-stakes relationship management.
• Ability to strategically identify, build, and develop relationships, with a strong aptitude for influencing others.
• Project management experience and strong strategic planning, prioritization, organization, and attention-to-detail skills, with the ability to collaborate across lines of difference.
• Ability to adapt and innovate to solve problems and commitment to finding solutions in the face of challenges.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Track record of successfully meeting or exceeding ambitious goals.
• Proficiency in Google Suite and Salesforce.
• Commitment to building strong, welcoming cultures that help develop others.
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
• Experience informing a belief in Braven’s mission and preparing the candidate to work with or for Braven’s student Fellow population.

Responsibilities

• Support the Executive Director in establishing the Alabama region’s fundraising strategy and completing the annual revenue game plan with the central development team.
• Track revenue progress and the weighted pipeline; project-manage quarterly action plans and adjust them based on lessons learned.
• Support donor stewardship, lead meeting preparation and follow-up, participate in most regional meetings, and manage a portfolio of relationships.
• Identify, vet, and cultivate prospects; research priority prospects and create individualized cultivation plans.
• Prepare donor meetings by drafting communications, creating agendas, and customizing collateral; coordinate donor engagement and follow-through from initial asks through commitments and renewals.
• Review grant application and report drafts and support timely submission of high-quality narratives and data.
• Develop the region’s employer partnership strategy, identify prospects, build a pipeline, and create engagement plans.
• Represent Alabama program needs and advocate for shared-value solutions for Fellows and employer partners.
• Manage a portfolio of approximately 5–10 local employer partners, including volunteer recruitment, meeting preparation, opportunity sourcing, and event co-hosting.
• Coordinate with the central employer partnerships team on local contacts for national portfolio partners and participate in or lead meetings.
• Support in-person employer events for Fellows and recruit volunteers through information sessions, tabling, and outreach.
• Support recruitment and engagement of Alabama board members, including prospect identification and vetting, briefs, and cultivation plans.
• Prepare the Executive Director for board-member meetings and engagements, including collateral, preparation, and follow-up.
• Project-manage board meetings and coordinate agendas, management memos, presentations, communications, and meeting notes across teams.
• Create and adapt quarterly, monthly, and weekly action plans across workstreams to achieve goals.
• Maintain accurate external-stakeholder information in systems such as Salesforce, Asana/Jira, and Confluence; ensure internal meetings are well prepared and followed up.
• Attend key program events and maintain strong information flow with Alabama’s program team and the external affairs team.
• Support local strategy and manage cultivation and stewardship of Alabama stakeholders other than schools.
• Project-manage and execute national cross-functional cultivation campaigns, including the Jobs Report, Impact Report, and holiday campaign.
• Co-plan and execute external affairs events, including site visits, lunch and learns, treks, and jobs or impact report events.
• Support stewardship of community influencers and develop relationships with champion Fellows, Post Accelerator Fellows, and volunteers; prepare them to represent Braven externally.
• Monitor higher education partner and new-site updates relating to strategy, Fellow recruitment, Memorandum of Understanding renewals, and key relationships.
• Work with the central communications team to identify and secure regional brand-visibility opportunities, including speaking engagements, awards, and media.
• Collaborate on social media strategy and write or review weekly content drafts.
• Support Jobs Report and Impact Report processes, including reviewing content, managing Fellow photo shoots, and preparing stakeholder lists and personalized outreach notes.
• Prepare the Executive Director for conferences and support attendance, speaking engagements, and follow-up.
• Support development of a local policy agenda and cultivation plans with the Executive Director and Managing Director of Policy.
• Assist with meeting preparation and follow-up for the Executive Director and with applications for public funding.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Discretionary time off, organization-wide holidays, and two week-long shutdowns in July and December, with an additional week-long spring shutdown for regional staff (a minimum of 20 days per year).
• $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health.
• 401(k) contribution match up to 5% of base annual salary, beginning the first full month.
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premiums for the employee and dependents.
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
• One-month paid sabbatical after four years on staff.
• Monthly $75 reimbursement for cell phone or internet.
• Access to funding for continued career development.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director