Senior Manager, Regional Engagement

Project Equity grows community wealth by retaining successful local businesses through employee ownership transitions 

Do you want to see a world where the average employee has economic security and businesses help build resilient communities? So do we! Project Equity helps employees become owners of the businesses where they work. We raise awareness of employee ownership as a business succession and local business preservation strategy, target lower middle and middle market companies for awareness and education, and provide consultations and direct support for business owners and employees to transition to employee ownership. Project Equity is currently expanding into multiple regions around the country.

Help us tap incredible momentum

Project Equity’s success has garnered coverage from media outlets such as Forbes, Fast Company, National Public Radio (NPR) and The New York Times and has propelled us forward as a national leader in the movement to harness employee ownership to maintain thriving local businesses, create quality jobs, and address income and wealth inequality.

Your role

The Senior Manager, Regional Engagement, will help advance Project Equity’s work in select regions around the country through education, partnerships, networks and other efforts.

How will you expand employee ownership?

• Develop a robust understanding of the local landscape for a portfolio of regions, including local government, business and economic development, workforce development, small business and employee ownership services, philanthropic and local impact investing.
• Develop and manage relationships and partnerships to engage key actors across public, private and nonprofit sectors.
• Work in close coordination with marketing, business development, client services and development teams, along with the co-founders, in the development and execution of a strategy and work plan for each region, and an overall prioritization of our regional efforts. Work plans include raising awareness, building pipeline, delivering client services, securing regional funding, potentially securing regional investment capital and advancing local or state policy, and supporting the development of regional ecosystems and programs through education, partnerships and networks.
• Work with internal teams and partners to define, develop and execute a “test and learn” approach to figuring out how to “make employee ownership stick” in specific regions and with specific types of partners.
• Create and track learning goals that could include learnings about which types of partners are most effective in advancing employee ownership (EO) goals within specific regions; how different categories of partners advance EO in different ways (across regions); what works to “make EO stick” in regions; how regional characteristics (e.g. rural / urban, liberal / conservative, etc.) map to how to approach EO ecosystem building most effectively, etc.
• Plan and deliver presentations (webinars and in person when safe) on employee ownership to educate a diverse range of stakeholders on employee ownership.
• Plan and facilitate internal and external meetings.
• Be an important external face of the organization, representing Project Equity in key partnerships and at conferences and other forums.

How you work

• You are passionate about employee ownership and driving long-term systems change.
• You take initiative. You proactively identify gaps and develop solutions. You are comfortable figuring things out and being resourceful to meet your goals.
• You’re a strategic thinker. You are adept at identifying traditional and “out of the box” opportunities to meet goals. You look for patterns that point to opportunity for replication and scale – across types of partners and across regions.
• You are goal- and results-oriented. You make things happen. You are able to stay focused on and successfully achieve milestones. You are proactive in adjusting based on learnings in order to stay on track.
• You’re a team player. You enjoy and are highly skilled at collaborating within and across teams.
• You can both lead and follow and like to collaborate. You care about building local capacity and sustainable impact, and you are excited to bring and adapt ideas and strategies in new locations. You know the difference between replication and adaptation and can figure out the right blend of the two.
• You enjoy traveling for work. When safe and advisable, in person meetings and travel will resume. Building and deepening relationships in person will be a central success factor of this position, both with internal team members and external partners.

Areas where you shine

• You are a great communicator. People enjoy engaging with you and you enjoy engaging with people. You can communicate complex concepts simply to diverse audiences via written materials (including PowerPoint), email, phone, and presentations, both in person and virtually.
• You are a great partner. You have the ability to bring vision, leadership, and results-oriented collaboration, while being receptive and a good listener.
• You’re experienced in and comfortable working across public, private and nonprofit sectors. You understand both small businesses and community-based nonprofits, and are able to quickly gain respect from business owners, the business ecosystem and nonprofits.
• You enjoy learning. You want to dive in and really understand the “employee ownership transition” process, so that you will be able to get partners excited and educated about how their role can most effectively plug in to the mission.
• You’re humble and self-aware. You’re aware of what you know, and what you don’t know, and are great at bringing in other people to round out your personal expertise.
• You thrive in dynamic, evolving environments. You’re excited to work with a small, very agile, fast-moving and sophisticated team. You are flexible and nimble, able to operate successfully in a growth environment, and comfortable with change.
• BONUS: Experience with employee ownership (not required).

This position is envisioned as a full-time senior manager’s role in our innovative, growing organization. We are especially interested in candidates based in Miami, Atlanta, Arizona, Washington state or Southern California, but open to candidates based anywhere in the U.S. Travel is central to the role (when safe and advisable), estimated at 20-30%. Compensation is commensurate with experience.

We work virtually, coming together regularly through the week within and across teams for online meetings, and twice a year (in person when safe) as a full team.

Benefits

• Medical, dental and vision coverage: employer covers 100% of employee premium and 30% for dependents
• Simple IRA: A dollar for dollar employer match of the employee’s contribution, up to 3% of gross wages
• Short and long term disability, life insurance policy
• Generous holiday, vacation and sick leave.
• Holidays: 12 days annually, which includes 2 floating holidays
• Vacation: 15 days (years 1 ‐ 4) 20 days (year 5+)
• Sick: 10 days annually

Project Equity is an independent operating project of the nonprofit umbrella organization, Multiplier, a nationally recognized nonprofit with a growing portfolio of innovative initiatives that conserve and protect a sustainable and resilient world (www.multiplier.org)

Multiplier and Project Equity celebrate diversity and are committed to building teams and partnerships that represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Multiplier and Project Equity are also committed to providing an environment of mutual respect that is free from discrimination and harassment. Multiplier and Project Equity prohibit discrimination in its governance, programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, marital status, amnesty, status as a covered veteran, because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from public assistance, or for any other non-merit based factor.