Executive Director at Cambridge Neighbors

Riverwalkertalent • Cambridge, MA

8d • Onsite

About The Position

Cambridge Neighbors is seeking an Executive Director to lead a small, well-established organization into its next chapter. This is a hands-on leadership role where the Executive Director will support a team of three: a full-time Assistant Director, a part-time Member Services Coordinator, and a contract bookkeeper. The role involves visiting prospective members, building relationships, writing grants, speaking at events, building the vendor network, supporting volunteer management, working with major donors, and steering the organization forward. The ideal candidate will thrive in a role that is different every week, requires high emotional intelligence and care, utilizes creative and enterprising skills, and supports older adults across five cities. Key aspects of the role include member relationships, where the Executive Director will visit prospective members, gather feedback, and support staff in member collaboration, and fundraising, which constitutes roughly half the budget through individual giving, grants, sponsorships, and legacy gifts. The Executive Director will report to the Board President and work alongside an engaged Board of Directors. The organization is financially sound with consistent membership growth and a new multi-year grant.

Requirements

• Passion for working with older adults and belief in aging in place.
• Supervisory experience: empowered, supported, and mentored people; set direction; trusted staff; given hard feedback; accountable for team performance.
• Fundraising experience: ability to point to funds raised and how they were achieved.
• Experience working with a board or similar governing body and building productive relationships.
• Experience building real community relationships and understanding their outcomes.
• Experience as a final decision-maker.
• Ability to read a budget confidently and understand financial data.
• Understanding of the needs of adults over 60 for aging in place and the resources that support it.
• Warm and approachable demeanor, comfortable with people at all stages of later life and their families.
• Confidence in written and public communication, at ease in front of a room.
• Independent thinker and doer; comfortable leading and doing the work in a small organization.
• Comfort with Google Workspace, spreadsheets, databases and CRMs, and email marketing tools.
• A valid driver's license and access to a car.
• Willingness to travel regularly across Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Somerville, and Watertown.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with the Village model or the Village-to-Village Network.
• Experience working with an aging population and community-based approaches to elder independence.
• Experience partnering with an engaged, hands-on board through a period of governance change or organizational transition.
• Direct service, social work, or case management background, particularly with older adults.
• Volunteer program leadership — recruitment, screening, training, and retention.
• Knowledge of the elder services landscape in Greater Boston: councils on aging, elder service agencies, and community partners.
• Living in or near the communities we serve.

Responsibilities

• Membership Growth & Member Relationships: Know members, visit prospective members, guide onboarding, stay connected, grow membership strategically, lead retention efforts, develop recruitment and marketing strategies for eligible members, develop new benefits and programming, expand and steward the vendor network, and manage member expectations.
• Fundraising & Development: Lead fundraising across individual giving, grants, sponsorships, events, and legacy giving; write and manage grants, diversify and deepen the donor pool, steward major and legacy donors, support board members in fundraising efforts, and develop and publish an annual report.
• Team & Volunteer Leadership: Supervise and support the Assistant Director, Member Services Coordinator, and contract bookkeeper; set clear expectations, provide feedback, conduct performance reviews, support volunteer recruitment, screening, training, and retention, and support outreach and assessment of vulnerable members.
• Community Partnerships & Visibility: Represent Cambridge Neighbors publicly at speaking engagements and events, build and deepen partnerships with community organizations, maintain relationships with the Village-to-Village Network, and identify external resources for members.
• Board Partnership & Governance: Work in close partnership with the Board President and Executive Committee, attend Board meetings, partner on strategic planning, help welcome and engage new board members, and communicate proactively and transparently with the Board.
• Operations & Finance: Develop the annual budget, manage the organization to the budget, oversee accounting, payroll, audit preparation, insurance, and financial reporting, maintain and improve office systems, personnel policies, and documentation, and use the organization's data platform strategically for decision-making.

Benefits

• Salary: $100,000–$110,000 annually.
• A four-day work week: Monday through Thursday, with Fridays off.
• Time Off: four weeks of paid vacation, 13 paid holidays, and five paid personal and sick days.
• Health Insurance: monthly reimbursement of $700–900 toward the cost of an individual plan.
• A financially stable organization with a small operating budget, meaningful reserves, three consecutive years of membership growth, and multi-year grant support.
• A structured transition with the outgoing Executive Director available on a part-time consulting basis.
• The chance to lead an organization that makes a daily, tangible difference in whether people get to stay in the homes and communities they love.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed