Chief Solutions Officer

ABOUT JFF 

Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a leading national nonprofit focused on accelerating the alignment, transformation and reimagination of the American workforce and education systems to to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. 

Uniquely situated at the intersection of education and workforce, for nearly 40 years, JFF has led the way in designing innovative and scalable solutions to ensure that all Americans have the skills, resources, and credentials they need to achieve economic advancement. JFF works with partners across the field to improve labor market outcomes for youth and adults—particularly for individuals who face barriers to economic mobility and populations that have been historically denied opportunity.   

JFF operates at the national, state, and local levels to bridge education, workforce, and policy within regions of all sizes. The organization employs a staff of more than 300 across the U.S., both fully remote and in offices in Boston (headquarters); Washington, DC; and Oakland, CA. The organization has a $105 million operating budget and is on a path of continued scale and impact. JFF has developed powerful partnerships and networks across the public, private and non-profit sectors and is funded by dozens of leading government agencies, foundations and corporations. JFF’s work is guided by a set of five strategic priority areas.  

Learn more about JFF and join us as we build a future that works.  

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY 

JFF has experienced a period of exciting and unprecedented growth across recent years, resulting in its significantly expanded reach and impact. The organization is poised to continue and to extends its market leadership with creative thinking and bold action that deepens its impact on education and workforce systems and encompasses technology, innovation, and investment in new ways of creating opportunity. In light of this, JFF is strategically organizing both to scale its impact and to support the wellbeing of our staff. As a result, we've recently created several new positions and departments to build a solid foundation for growth in support of our mission to drive equitable economic advancement for all. 

A key component of this organizational redesign is JFF’s new Solutions Group, the largest and most complex team within JFF, currently comprising nearly 200 staff. Led by a newly created Chief Solutions Officer (CSO) role, the Solutions Group encompasses three Practices and three Centers, as well as a large Solutions Design & Delivery team. The Chief Solutions Officer (CSO) will provide broad leadership for JFF’s programs, focusing on aligning resources to strategy, maximizing conditions for impact and scale, and enabling Practice and Center leaders to drive forward successful strategies for impact and excellence. The CSO ensures JFF’s strategic priorities are effectively advanced by the Solutions Group and promotes integration, communication, and consistent execution excellence so JFF can realize its highest aspirations for impact. The CSO will also inspire their team to develop bold new ways for JFF to deliver its services while both meeting the current needs of the field and be looking ahead to identify future trends and system challenges.  

Reporting to the CEO of JFF, the CSO supervises two teams of leaders:    

• The Solutions Practices & Centers teams generate ideas and solutions that drive impact in the systems and sectors we seek to change. Specifically, the 3 Practices focus on Education; Workforce & Regional Economies; Employer Mobilization, and the 3 Centers include the Center for Apprenticeship & Work-based Learning; the Center for Justice & Economic Advancement; and the Center for Racial Economic Equity. These Practices and Centers are led by Vice Presidents who are nationally recognized experts and change makers. 

• The Solutions Design & Delivery (SD&D) team provides capabilities, expertise, and talent to implement strategic solutions across JFF and JFFLabs. SD&D includes Field Implementation, Research & Analytics, Project Management & Execution, and Resource Management. Led by a Vice President for Solutions Design & Delivery, these teams support the Solutions Group, JFFLabs, and other JFF teams in the design and execution of work across our entire portfolio. 

This role offers a unique and exciting opportunity to lead a team of senior programmatic leaders as well as delivery teams, specialist teams and thought leaders to transform ways of working and build new organizational capacities that will enable JFF to drive transformation of the American workforce and education systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all. 

WHAT YOU’LL DO  

Lead JFF’s programmatic strategy and impact 

• Build and scale JFF’s new Solutions Group, overseeing the successful delivery of impact-generating programs and initiatives aligned with JFF’s strategic goals and objectives 
• Lead and enable the Solutions Group and partner with the VP for Solutions Design & Delivery to create and implement innovative new service lines that leverage knowledge, expertise, and practices across JFF 
• Serve as a thought partner to Solutions leaders in the development, design and launching of new programs and initiatives which will contribute to impact goals 
• Oversee excellence and consistency in the design and delivery of programs, initiatives, and service lines, including working with the VP for Solutions Design & Delivery to create a disciplined practice of using common playbooks, approaches, product and process management methods across the breadth of JFF’s offerings, and building the culture, incentives, and systems to support this among the full Solutions Group and its leaders 
• Develop, promote and direct the implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion policies in all aspects of JFFs programmatic work; ensure that our service delivery reflects the diversity of the populations and communities that we support
• Inform and shape business development, fundraising, and pursuit of new opportunities to maximize JFF’s impact and influence across Solutions; partner with Solutions VPs and executive team colleagues to pursue and close new opportunities; set
• Set annual fundraising targets for programmatic leaders and hold them accountable to revenue and impact goals
• Work closely with other executive colleagues to foster connections, synergies, and processes for collaboration and knowledge sharing across JFF and JFFLabs teams
• In collaboration with executive colleagues, develop and maintain strong and purposeful relationships of influence with key external stakeholder organizations
• Collaborate with JFF’s centralized Marketing and Communications colleagues to ensure the development of comprehensive marketing plans and marketing communication plans for our impact work
• Serve as a member of JFF’s Executive Team, contributing to organizational decision-making and strategy setting 

 Oversee performance, talent, and resources across the Solutions Group 

• Provide strong, empowering leadership for the Solutions Group, effectively mentoring and managing the Vice Presidents reporting to you, supporting them to develop as leaders, providing thought partnership and strategic direction, and supporting themto achieve objectives and required outcomes 
• Ensure that programs and initiatives are managed and executed in a systematic and enabling way, deploying and leveraging organizational expertise and capabilities to enable growth, maximize impact, meet client expectations, and deliver excellence at scale 
• Develop and manage the budget for the Solutions Group, ensuring that there are adequate talent and resources to support growth and scale year over year 
• Design and implement ways that JFF can effectively measure the performance and impact of services, initiatives, and programs in accordance with the organizational impact framework 
• Serve as a model leader and mentor to staff across the Solutions Group, stewarding a team culture that promotes inclusion and enables the professional growth of all team members.  Work with the VP People & Culture to drive organizational culture change, leadership development, and colleague engagement 

WHO YOU ARE 

• You have 15+ years of experience as a senior leader within a mission-driven and/or professional services organization and have a track record of success in leading the development, delivery, and scaling of programs, services, and solutions 
• You bring high energy and passion for JFF’s mission and enthusiasm for doing whatever it takes to advance equitable economic advancement for all though the mediums of education and work 
• You have extensive knowledge of the learn-to-work ecosystem and can contribute to strategy setting within and potentially across domains of JFF’s work to maximize our impact 
• You have prior experience with change management, including success in helping teams, functions, and organizations navigate transformative change and growth 
• You possess an outstanding relationship-building ability and keen understanding of the power of partnerships with the ability to build bridges and influence within and beyond the boundaries of our organization
• You have demonstrated success in managing significant financial resources with the ability to devise strategies for revenue and funding generation and deploying resources for sustainable initiatives, products and services
• You are an authentic and values-led leader who knows how to engage, inspire, develop and manage others to achieve objectives; you bring experience leading large teams and managing effectively through layers of leadership
• You have experience analyzing, building, and driving new strategies with a forward-looking orientation and a commitment to balancing impact and revenue
• You are a curious and adaptive learner, with a willingness to take in new information, perspectives and data to inform your work 
• You believe in JFF's core values and can apply those values to all areas of your work, including modeling inclusive leadership, working effectively with diverse staff, and building and stewarding an organizational culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
• You are able and willing to travel up to 30%. (Note: JFF requires Covid vaccination for all work-related travel.)   

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at JFF:  

JFF is committed to sustaining a diverse community with a work environment that is welcoming, respectful, and encouraging to all. JFF fosters a culture of inclusion that celebrates and cultivates diversity along multiple dimensions, including race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, national origin, socioeconomic status, religion, ability, culture, and experience. As part of our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, JFF strongly encourages people impacted by the criminal legal system to apply.    

COMPENSATION 

JFF offers a competitive salary and benefits package, commensurate with experience and skills.  

TO APPLY 

JFF is partnering with Korn Ferry to manage this search. As part of your application, please include your resume and a thoughtful cover letter, addressed to the Korn Ferry team, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position. Please apply directly to the posting on JFF's job board and also email your materials to the Korn Ferry team ([email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]) for consideration. Any questions should also be sent to Divina, Cristina, and Traci. 

 Positions at JFF are not eligible for employer-visa sponsorship or open to F-1 student visa holders.  

All JFF employees are required to be fully up to date on their vaccinations against COVID-19, unless a medical or religious exemption has been requested and a reasonable accommodation approved.