Reports to (title): Chief Program Officer
Job Summary:
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.
Key Programs:
- Growing Hope – Growing Hope embodies a slate of programming focused on acceptance, understanding and kindness, and focused on bridge-building and the common human experience. The JCC Chicago Jewish Film Festival is an annual marquee event engaging the community through the genre of film, as does ReelAbilities Chicago for which JCC is host. Signature educational programs and exhibitions, which started with Violins of Hope in 2023 and continue annually reaching tens of thousands every year, include cohort programs, plays, memorial programs and partnerships with organizations such and YMCA and myFace.
- Young Family – Young family engagement primarily around Shabbat and Jewish holidays, and in connection with core programs (early childhood and camping) are critical to Jewish community-building and foundation funding.
- Teens – Programming for teens through Jewish Student Connection clubs, cohort programs, middle school engagement, and connection with day and overnight camp teens and staff builds future Jewish leaders; JCC Teens is larger than all Chicagoland Jewish youth groups combined.
- Older Adults – Regular regional programs, primarily Community Days, provide opportunities for social/educational/learning enrichment for older adults and seniors, currently taking place in five geographic areas and online.
- Adults – Programming for ages 45-55 centered around community, hobbies, and wellness. Providing an opportunity for empty nesters or those without children and opportunity to socialize.
- Israel – Integration of Israel discussions and celebration of Israel Independence Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day across departments and throughout the agency to execute and build connection to Israel.
Specific areas of responsibility
Strategic Priorities & Accountability:
- 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.
External Relations and Fundraising:
- 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.
Leadership and Strategy:
- 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.
Program Oversight and Growth:
- 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.
Program Evaluation & Continuous Improvement:
- 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.
Building of Team:
- 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.
Customer Relationships:
- 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.
Physical Requirements:
- Demonstrate physical stamina and agility required to be mobile for long periods throughout the day.
- Ability to physically procure, lift, move and set up program supplies (minimum 20 lbs) for direct program support.
- Stand for long periods of time and be able to actively engage with adults of all ages.
- Possess strength and endurance required to set up, facilitate/host and clean up events.
- Clearly and effectively communicate in a manner that adults understand.
- Know the difference between appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. Prevent, circumvent, and deal with problem behaviors appropriately and effectively.
- Maintain a sense of calm and perspective with physical and mental alertness during stressful times.
- Ability to climb stairs, access public and private transportation. (in the case of an emergency).
- Implement activities to meet a broad range of physical, emotional, intellectual and social needs of the adults aged 22 – 102.
- React with physical and mental alertness in emergency situations.
- Vision – must be able to distinguish between colors, shades and brightness with ability to focus.
Days/Hours/%Travel:
Monday – Friday; 37.5 hours a week; Hybrid work schedule; Must be able to attend events and programs scheduled on evenings and weekends
Direct Reports (titles and FTE%):
- Teen & Young Adult Engagement Manager, 100% FTE
- Operations Coordinator, Community Engagement 100% FTE
- Senior Coordinator, Community Engagement 100% FTE
- Project Director, Growing Hope 100% FTE
- Director, Community and Donor Engagement 100% FTE
Indirect Reports (titles and FTE 100%):
- Teen Engagement Coordinator, 100% FTE
- Misc. PT staff/volunteers
Job Category:
Management
Salary Range:
$150,000-$160,000
Education Qualifications:
- Bachelors Degree Required: focus on Fine Arts, Non Profit Management of related preferred
- Advanced degree in Jewish Communal Service, Social Work or Education preferred
Previous Experience:
- 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.
Other Requirements:
- Daily travel to various program sites.
- Consistently demonstrate and reinforce the values of caring, respect, honesty and responsibility.
Employee Benefits:
JCC Chicago offers a suite of comprehensive benefits to full time staff including:
- 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)
Uniquely JCC Benefits
- 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
JCC Chicago is an equal opportunity agency that offers programs for all ages and abilities. Our goal is to foster relationships, build our community, and create connections that will enable our mission to reach a larger impact. We welcome you to join us in building your career, as we build a stronger community.