Job description
Job Title: Director, External Affairs - New York City
Team: NYC Regional Team
Location: In-Person in New York City
Employment Type: Full-time
FLSA Classification: Exempt
Start Date: ASAP
About Braven
Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.
We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.
Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.
About the Role
In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, External Affairs - NYC. The Director, External Affairs will be a key leader on our New York regional team, advancing Braven’s brand, cultivating and stewarding philanthropic and employer partnerships, supporting volunteer recruitment, and engaging with our New York City Board.
Reporting to the Executive Director (ED) of New York, this role combines strategy, relationship-building, and operational leadership to drive regional growth and impact.
What You’ll Do
Development & Strategic Leadership (45%)
- Partner with the ED and Braven’s central development team to shape and execute the New York region’s strategy, including revenue targets, growth plans, partnership prioritization, and brand representation.
- Track progress toward revenue goals and pipeline development; create and project-manage quarterly action plans and adjust based on outcomes.
- Own a portfolio of philanthropic relationships, including cultivation, stewardship, meeting prep, and follow-up.
- Partner with the ED to strategically steward key relationships, own meeting preparation and follow-up, collaborate with Braven’s development team to identify and cultivate new prospects, and develop individualized cultivation plans for priority relationships.
- Review grant applications and reports, supporting the central development team in timely, high-quality submissions.
- Attend local events to expand Braven’s brand and networks.
- Monitor developments in the New York region’s higher education partnership expansion.
Employer Partnerships & Volunteer Recruitment (25%)
- Partner with the ED to shape and execute the New York City region’s Employer Partnership (EP) strategy for revenue, volunteer, and program opportunities: identifying prospects, building pipelines, and creating engagement plans.
- Manage 15-20 local employer partnerships, including volunteer, stakeholder engagement, and co-hosting events.
- Support the central EP team with national partnerships that have a New York presence, joining or representing the ED when needed.
- Support in-person EP-related events.
Cross-Cutting Operations & Regional Support (20%)
- Create monthly and quarterly action plans across workstreams to achieve shared goals, adjusting course as needed.
- Lead regional communications, brand opportunities, and campaigns in partnership with the central communication team, including: Jobs Report, Impact Report, Holiday Campaign, ED’s media and speaking engagements, and social media strategy and content.
- Plan and execute external affairs-focused events (ie: site visits, lunch-and-learns, treks, jobs/impact report events, development/brand events ).
- Maintain accurate stakeholder information in systems (Salesforce, Asana/Jira, Confluence).
- Ensure strong preparation and follow-up for all internal meetings.
- Attend key program events to ensure alignment between the NYC program team and the external affairs team.
- Manage a portfolio of community influencers, including champion Fellows and volunteers and prepare them to represent Braven to external audiences.
- Support the ED and Head of Policy on local policy initiatives, public funding applications, and the partnership with a lobbyist firm.
- Manage an external affairs intern.
Board Management (10%)
Support ED in recruiting and cultivating New York board members: identifying and vetting board prospects, partnering with the central team on briefs, developing cultivation and engagement plans.
Prepare the ED for 1:1 board meetings/engagements, including meeting materials and follow-up.
Project manage board meetings: draft management memo, run-of-show, deck, pre- and post-meeting communication; note-taking during meetings.
Perform other duties as assigned.
Minimum Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree
- 5 - 7 years of related work experience in development, corporate partnerships, or high-stakes relationship management.
Preferred Qualifications
- Proven ability to strategically identify, build, and develop relationships, with a strong aptitude for influencing others.
- Strong project management, strategic planning, and organizational skills, with a proven ability to collaborate effectively across lines of difference.
- Problem-solving mindset with adaptability in complex environments.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Track record of meeting or exceeding ambitious goals.
- Proficiency in Google Suite and Salesforce.
- Demonstrated commitment to building strong and welcoming cultures that help to develop others.
- Exemplification of Braven’s core values.
- Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population.
Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.
Work Demands
- Ability to work in-person in New York City at least 3 days per week.
- Ability to work in the evening for Braven related events and programming.
- Travel once/year to Braven’s All Team Retreat.
Additional Requirements
- Authorized to work in the U.S.
- Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship
Application & Interview Process
While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:
- Phone screen with Talent Team member
- Performance Task
- Interview with Hiring Manager
- Panel Interview with Key Partners
- Reference Checks
Compensation and Benefits
Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.
Starting salary within the range is determined by role scope and qualifications, with new hires starting at the lower end to allow for growth with performance. Braven does not base compensation on individual candidate salary expectations and is committed to maintaining internal equity. The salary ranges, by geographic market, for this role are set forth $101,200-$126,400. This is a full-time, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.
Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include:
- Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and two team-wide, week-long shutdowns in the Summer and Winter (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
- Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
- Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
- Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
- 12 weeks of paid parental leave
- A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff
Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe our total rewards package aligns with what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply.
Location
We gather in the office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and work remotely 2 days a week (Monday and Friday). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of New York City. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.
Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor. We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.
