Director of Strategic Initiative

Catholic Charities Eastern Washington•Spokane, WA

About The Position

The Director of Strategic Initiatives is a highly collaborative and experienced leader responsible for advancing agency-wide initiatives that strengthen organizational effectiveness, mission alignment, and program impact. Working closely with the Chief Mission & Strategy Officer (CMSO), vice presidents, and program directors the Director supports strategic planning, data-driven outcomes management, accreditation readiness, leadership development, and organizational culture initiatives. This role requires expert knowledge and experience with principles of healthy organizations and systems thinking, in addition to strong project management skills, the ability to translate data into actionable insights, and a passion for supporting mission-driven human services work.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; master’s degree in organizational development, social work, nonprofit management, public administration, social work, leadership or related field strongly preferred.
20+ years of progressive experience in human services, nonprofit management, program management, training and development, or organizational development at leadership and/or teaching levels.
Experience with strategic planning, accreditation processes, and outcomes/impact measurement tools.
Demonstrated success in creating and leading training, facilitation, and learning initiatives utilizing adult-learning and universal design principles.
have a valid Driver’s License
Successfully pass background check applicable to position.
Strong project management and organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple priorities.
Exceptional facilitation, communication, and relationship-building abilities.
Exceptionally strong writing skills.
Ability to translate data into insights and guide teams in data-informed decision-making.
Deep understanding of leadership frameworks such as adaptive leadership and servant leadership.
Commitment to CCEW core values of respect, compassion, collaboration, and justice, and trauma-informed organizational practices.
Ability to work collaboratively across departments and levels of the organization.
High emotional intelligence, discretion, and sound judgment.
Adaptability: ability to adapt to changes, delays or unexpected events in the work environment; ability to manage competing demands and prioritize tasks; ability to change approach or method to best fit the situation.
Analytical Ability: ability to maintain focus for extended periods of time; ability to complete research projects with resourcefulness and persistence; ability to synthesize complex or diverse information; ability to use intuition and experience to complement existing data.
Attendance: ability to consistently arrive and be able to work as scheduled.
Computer/Technical Ability:
working knowledge of:
Word Processing software
Spreadsheet software
Design Software
Dependability: ability to follow instructions, both in written and verbal format; ability to respond to management direction; ability to complete tasks on time or notify the appropriate person with an alternate plan when necessary.
Interpersonal Skills: ability to maintain satisfactory relationships with others, excellent customer service skills and a good overall understanding of appropriate human relations. Awareness of and sensitivity to the service population’s culture and socioeconomic characteristics.
Judgment: ability to make prudent and timely decisions; ability to exhibit sound and accurate judgment; ability to explain reasoning for decisions.
Language Ability:
Intermediate Ability: ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals; ability to write routine reports and correspondence; ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.
High Ability: ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations; ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals; ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
Mathematical Ability: (choose the level that applies)
Basic Ability: ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
Intermediate Ability: ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, area, circumference, and volume; ability to apply concepts of basic algebra and geometry.
Motor Coordination: the ability to coordinate eyes, hands, fingers, and feet accurately and handle precise movements.
Problem Solving Ability: ability to identify and/or prevent problems before they occur; ability to formulate alternative solutions to problems when necessary; ability to transfer learning from past experiences to new experiences of similar nature.
Quality Management: ability to complete duties, on time and with absolute precision, at least 95% of the time; ability to edit the accuracy and thoroughness of one’s work as well as the work of others; ability to constructively apply feedback to improve performance, ability to generate ideas to improve and promote quality in work.
Reasoning Ability:
Intermediate Ability: ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form; ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
High Ability: ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists; ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Responsibilities

Strategic Planning & Execution
Collaborate with individual program directors to build, refine, and manage annual strategic plans aligned with agency-wide priorities and long-term goals.
Support program teams in developing measurable objectives, work plans, timelines, and deliverables; monitor progress and elevate challenges or opportunities to CMSO.
Facilitate cross-program learning and ensure strategic alignment across departments.
Employee Engagement & Organizational Development
Guide program directors in crafting annual engagement and improvement objectives responding to Employee Engagement Survey results.
Provide coaching and consultation to support implementation of engagement strategies.
Track and report on progress toward engagement goals across the agency.
Data-Informed Impact & Outcomes Management
Lead conversations with directors and program teams to interpret and apply outcomes data, including data from Salesforce and other systems, to improve service quality and measure impact.
Partner with the Data/IT and Quality Improvement teams to ensure data accuracy, reporting integrity, and continuous improvement, and collaborate with Data Services and all programs to complete various agency surveys requiring data reports to internal and external entities, including the annual Catholic Charities USA survey, impact reports for various boards, and others.
Develop tools and frameworks to help programs use data to tell their impact story internally and externally.
Leadership & Culture-Building
Promote and model healthy leadership practices grounded in adaptive leadership, servant leadership, and trauma-informed organizational strategies.
Facilitate conversations and workshops on culture, boundaries, staff wellbeing, and professional development as needed.
Serve as a trusted advisor, collaborator, and consultant to program leaders on complex organizational issues.
Special Projects & Emerging Priorities
Lead or support agency-wide special projects identified by the Chief Mission and Strategy Officer and senior leadership team.
Provide research, analysis, project management, and implementation support for major initiatives related to mission, strategy, and organizational improvement.
Develop high-quality presentations, reports, and communications for internal and external stakeholders.
Accreditation Management
Serve as the project lead for the agency’s accreditation process (e.g., COA, CARF, or other relevant bodies).
Coordinate agency-wide efforts to maintain compliance with standards, prepare documentation, and manage timelines for accreditation cycles.
Facilitate communication between program areas and accreditation reviewers; support staff training on standards and best practices.
Curriculum Development & Training
Provide training and development on various organizational topics, in collaboration with Human Resources and program directors, as additional organizational capacity and support as needed.
In collaboration with the Chief Mission and Strategy Officer, the VP of Mission, and the VP of Human Resources, design, implement, teach and coordinate teaching of a multi-course “CCEW University” curriculum for new and existing agency leaders, as part of CCEW’s approach to Mission Formation. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Agency mission, values, and strategic priorities
Budgeting and financial management
Human resources fundamentals and supervision essentials
Program compliance and quality assurance
Professional communication principles
Healthy organizational culture
Adaptive and servant leadership principles
Effective communication and cross-team collaboration
Evaluate and revise curriculum annually to reflect agency needs, emerging trends, and best practices.
Consider and advise Chief Mission & Strategy Officer on opportunities to scale the “CCEW University” model to broader staff audiences.
Leadership Team Development
Serve as project lead to build an internal professional development fellowship-style program for selected members of the Leadership Team
Collaborate to communicate, help select, and project manage the fellowship program.
Curate opportunities for fellowship program participants to learn and grow in various areas of professional and leadership development, based on individual interests and intersecting with agency needs.
Create and integrate continuous evaluation process as part of fellowship program and prepare progress reports on the program for senior leadership, board, and other entities as directed.
Uses appropriate administrative, fiscal, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and security of CCEW client protected health information (PHI), per regulations outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).
Will regularly utilize all forms of communication (email, text, phone, etc.) and database practices necessary for this position and as directed by supervisor.
As a mandated reporter, follows all procedures outlined in agency policies and procedures to report to the proper agency when there is suspicion and/or confirmation that a child or adult has been a victim of abuse or neglect.
Adheres to the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching and Catholic Doctrine.
Performs related functions necessary to support the mission and core values of Catholic Charities