Senior Director of Community Engagement

JCC Chicago•Northbrook, IL

22h•Hybrid

About The Position

JCC Chicago is seeking a dynamic and mission-driven Senior Director of Community Engagement to join our team in Northbrook. This senior leadership role focuses on building meaningful relationships, strengthening program partnerships, and advancing community connection and impact across our programs and constituencies. The ideal candidate brings proven experience in community engagement, relationship-building, and strategic leadership. The Senior Director of Community Engagement serves as the strategic leader responsible for the vision, growth, and measurable impact of JCC Chicago’s community engagement portfolio. This role oversees a diverse ecosystem of programs, including arts and ideas, young family engagement, teen initiatives, adult programming, and agency-wide Jewish experiences and ensures they operate as an integrated, data-informed strategy to deepen participation, strengthen Jewish identity, and expand community reach. The Senior Director is accountable not only for program excellence, but for scaling engagement, increasing retention and conversion across the JCC pipeline (early childhood, camp, teens, adults), and driving sustainable growth through innovation, partnerships, and fundraising. This leader establishes clear success metrics, ensures consistent evaluation and follow-through, and builds systems that allow programs to evolve based on participant needs and community trends. As a senior agency leader, they partner across departments to position JCC Chicago as a central convener and destination for Jewish life across Chicagoland.

Requirements

Minimum 10+ years previous experience working in educational, social and/or community-building setting.
Previous experience creating and implementing programming, broad-based community-based and cultural programming experience valued.
Outreach experience to lay leaders and community stakeholders required.
Individual and Corporate/Organizational fundraising success desired.
Effective networking and relationship-building skills a must.
Budget development, management and compliance expected.
Daily travel to various program sites.
Consistently demonstrate and reinforce the values of caring, respect, honesty and responsibility.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree in Jewish Communal Service, Social Work or Education preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multi-year community engagement strategy aligned with JCC’s organizational goals, with clear KPIs around reach, retention, conversion, and impact.
Establish systems for program evaluation, including participant feedback loops, data tracking, and post-program analysis to inform continuous improvement.
Drive pipeline integration, ensuring alignment and intentional pathways between early childhood, camp, teen, and adult offerings.
Identify and scale high-impact programs, while sunsetting or redesigning underperforming initiatives.
Utilize data and community insights to inform geographic expansion and audience segmentation strategies.
Build new partnerships outside of JCC to create pipelines for JCC programming.
Identify strategic partnerships to maximize outcomes and leverage resources.
Develop and manage a portfolio of prospects and donors to support community engagement programs and sponsor signature events; work with Chief Impact Officer to determine a six-figure fundraising target for the year.
Partner with FRD to co-create fundraising strategies, including donor cultivation tied to signature programs and impact areas.
Collaborate with FRD to align programs with funding priorities, donor engagement, and grant opportunities.
Partner with Marketing to ensure clear value propositions, audience targeting, and brand positioning for all engagement initiatives.
Set and drive the strategic direction for all community engagement initiatives, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and long-term growth goals.
Define success metrics and performance benchmarks across all program areas; regularly assess outcomes and adjust strategy accordingly.
Position JCC Chicago as a thought leader and convener in Jewish community engagement locally and nationally.
Lead innovation and expansion efforts, identifying new program models, audiences, and delivery methods.
Oversee portfolio management, ensuring a balanced mix of flagship programs, scalable offerings, and experimental initiatives.
Maintain full accountability for budget performance, including revenue generation, and cost management of programs.
Ensure all program areas operate within a cohesive, strategic framework aligned with engagement and growth goals.
Expand programming across key geographies, including the City, North Shore, Northside and Northwest Suburbs.
Strengthen participant acquisition, retention, and progression across all engagement pathways.
Oversee execution of signature initiatives, ensuring quality, consistency, and impact.
Work with FRD, Customer Solutions and department heads to ensure evaluation and data tracking is occurring.
Analyze participation data, satisfaction metrics, and feedback to inform decision-making.
Create follow up strategies after programming to keep participants engaged.
Regularly assess program effectiveness and drive iterative improvements.
Share insights with senior leadership and stakeholders to ensure accountability and transparency.
Serve as a model of positive leadership in alignment with agency core values and behaviors.
Build a high-performing, accountable team culture grounded in clear goals, data-driven decision-making, and professional development.
Ensure staff are equipped to execute with excellence while thinking strategically about growth and impact.
Work with department staff to foster a strong team culture.
Active engagement with agency colleagues in the planning and implementation of year-round programming across regions.
Provide informal feedback regularly and formal evaluations to department staff annually.
Build successful partnerships and synergies with agency operations and program staff to support programs.
Communicate with program participants in a respectful, timely, appropriate manner to assure best practices in customer service, resolve any issues.
Maintain consistent communication with program partners to build trust and assure clarity of roles and expectations.
Actively pursue an understanding of all agency programs to steward participants through JCC offerings.

Benefits

Flexible Work Schedule
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Participation in a 401(K) plan with matching contributions
Life insurance and short/long term disability coverage
Generous paid time off, sick time, and paid observance of secular and Jewish religious holidays
Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
Free fitness membership at JCC Chicago community centers and aquatics facilities
Meaningful discounts on JCC Chicago programming, including day and overnight camp, Early Childhood, and event rentals
Professional development opportunities with the JUF/Jewish Federation
Tuition Assistance Program