Strategic Initiatives Director

Tipping Point Community•San Francisco, CA

5h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Strategic Initiatives Director builds Tipping Point’s newest funding strategies from the ground up, recommending what to fund, coordinating external partners, and reporting on results. This high-level individual contributor leads through influence rather than direct reports and is accountable for the coherence and performance of two investment areas: The Critical Decade and Sector-Focused Pathways. The role owns ecosystem-level investments, including direct grant funding, and collaborates with the Policy Director and Senior Program Officers to source, scope, and fund aligned projects. The Critical Decade is an intersectional strategy across education, employment, and housing for low-income young people ages 15–24. It coordinates career-connected education, workplace training and experience, and housing stability to help young people build durable economic futures. Sector-Focused Pathways connects to Tipping Point’s Employment portfolio and develops a regional, sector-based career pathway strategy linking low-income workers to quality jobs in high-growth Bay Area industries through employer-aligned training, work-based learning, and advancement supports. The Director reports to the Senior Director of Grantmaking + Capacity Building and works across grantmaking, capacity building, impact, and operations teams. The position leads strategy development and implementation, internal project coordination, external partnerships, learning and impact, and communications and funder engagement. Regular travel is expected within the Bay Area, especially Santa Clara County, with occasional travel to Sacramento and national convenings. The position is salaried and exempt. Tipping Point’s hybrid work model requires staff to be in the office Tuesday through Thursday; on Mondays and Fridays, staff may choose to work remotely or from the office.

Requirements

Significant relevant work experience and a proven track record of building initiatives from concept through execution, including designing and testing new approaches before scaling.
Knowledge of or experience in Bay Area nonprofits, public systems, and systems change.
Expertise in workforce development, education, or housing.
Exceptional project management skills, including driving complex, multi-workstream strategies with numerous contributors and external partners, self-direction, and prioritization among competing goals.
Demonstrated success leading cross-functional or cross-organizational strategies by building trust and alignment and moving colleagues and partners toward shared timelines without a reporting line.
Experience building and managing employer or industry partnerships, or demonstrated ability to establish credibility with private-sector partners.
Comfort with ambiguity and strong analytical skills, including acting on incomplete evidence, learning new domains quickly, working with labor market and outcomes data, and adjusting course as new information emerges.
Strategic communication skills and ability to translate complex, cross-cutting work for varied audiences, including employers, public officials, grantees, and funders, and build alignment among them.
Commitment to Tipping Point's mission and values and ability to represent the organization with the highest degree of integrity.
Core competencies: flexibility, exceptional communication skills, ability to work well on a team, and continuous problem solving in the face of challenges.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of or experience in Santa Clara County is strongly preferred.
Experience working at the intersection of two or more of workforce development, education, and housing is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Translate each investment area's theory of investment into an executable plan with timelines, milestones, budget, and decision rights, and revisit plans as evidence develops.
Build systems and drive day-to-day execution for each investment area, including managing budgets, consultants, and research partners in partnership with Program Operations, Senior Program Officers, and the Policy Director.
Identify aligned projects and organizations, conduct due diligence, and propose new investments to the Board in collaboration with Senior Program Officers and the Policy Director.
Assess potential new investment areas with the Senior Director of Grantmaking and Capacity Building and develop first-phase plans for approved concepts, including early partners, learning questions, and evidence needed to support continued investment.
Lead The Critical Decade and Sector-Focused Pathways, aligning internal teams and driving workstreams, dependencies, and decision points.
Convene and lead a working group for each investment area, set its agenda and cadence, identify decisions, and ensure decisions are implemented.
Prepare analysis and materials for Chief Program Officer review, program committee engagement, and Board approval, and maintain accessible strategy and learning documentation.
Serve as the primary internal and external point person for each investment area, using problem solving and consensus building to align partners with differing incentives and create shared accountability.
Build and sustain relationships with public systems, employers, and industry associations, directly or through a convener.
Manage relationships with peers and co-funders and identify opportunities for aligned investment.
Collaborate with the Research + Innovation Director to ensure grantmaking produces answers and outcomes rather than activity.
Maintain processes with the Research + Innovation Director to use early-stage indicators to guide decisions to increase, redirect, or discontinue investments, distinct from the longitudinal outcomes framework for external reporting.
Commission field assessments and analysis, convert findings into technical assistance and investment decisions with the Capacity Building team, and recommend stopping work that is not effective.
Communicate strategy, progress, and impact to Tipping Point leadership, the Board, supporters, and external audiences through updates, presentations, and written materials, collaborating with Communications.
Serve as the program team's point person for funder relationships connected to each new investment area, including complex or multi-party engagements, and provide the Development team with current, accurate information.
Structure investments with the Policy Director to leverage public and employer funding and pursue long-term sustainability.
Perform other duties as assigned.