Chief Operating Officer

Washington, DC or San Francisco, CA

Background

America is on the cusp of a demographic revolution. Over the next three decades, the number of individuals 60 and older will double, at which point this group will constitute nearly a quarter of the population. Furthermore, with improvements in health care, Americans entering the post-midlife period can now count on decades of continued wellbeing at a juncture when earlier generations faced significant disability and prepared to disengage from mainstream society.

With the first of the Baby Boom generation turning 60 this year, public attention has been fixed on the potential costs and challenges of an aging population. However, the assumption that older people are frail, dependent, and in need of services fails to capture the circumstances of the vast majority of people moving into their 60s, 70s, and beyond. These women and men are in a position to make enormous contributions to the larger community, and to enrich their own lives in the process.

Mobilizing this cohort Americans and creating a compelling spectrum of ways to put their talents to productive use for society constitutes one of the most significant opportunities for social change in the 21st Century. That is the mission of Civic Ventures. Since its creation in 1997, Civic Ventures has been at the leading edge of efforts to re-envision the years after midlife career as a time of continued growth and to promote a new movement built around meaningful social contribution by people who have completed their midlife careers.

To this end, Civic Ventures has played a leading role in making the case to transform the aging of America into a source of individual and social renewal. Through books, extensive articles, research, speeches, and media coverage, Civic Ventures, and its founder Marc Freedman, has become known as the leading voice for productive capacity of people who have finished their midlife careers.

In addition to this thought leadership role, Civic Ventures operates several programs to demonstrate and tap the potential of older Americans including:

• Experience Corps, which engages 2,000 older adults as tutors and mentors in 19 cities across the country;
• The Purpose Prize, which recognizes, invests in and brings attention to social innovators who are over 60;
• Next Chapter, which provides directions and connections for people who want to make a difference in the second half of life; and
• The Breakthrough Awards, which recognizes organizations that are leading examples of engaging people in social purpose work in the second half of life.

Civic Ventures has just completed a major planning process, which gave shape to the next phase of the organization’s work — a multi–year campaign to establish social purpose encore careers as a new aspiration and social norm, and to catalyze a vibrant marketplace for encore careers. Based on the programs already in place and Civic Ventures’ historic strengths and past successes, the plan calls for a focus in three areas:

• Thought Leadership, by developing and advancing a new and compelling story about the importance of social contribution in the second half of life;
• Innovative Opportunities, by incubating new ways for people to translate the desire for significant engagement into action; and
• Network Development, by establishing and supporting a network of individuals and organizations that make significant engagement in the second half of life a personal and organizational priority.

Chief Operating Officer — Roles and Responsibilities

Civic Ventures has an exceptional team of experienced professionals working in offices in San Francisco, Washington, DC and Boston. While Civic Ventures has been very successful to date, the adoption of the new strategic plan has added both complexity and urgency to the operation of organization. This complexity and urgency create the need for a new senior manager who will lead and co-ordinate all of the organization’s activities.

Working in conjunction with senior management staff, the COO will play a vital role in the future of the organization by advancing the organization’s existing work and leading the execution of the new strategic plan. Civic Ventures is rich with big thinkers and big ideas — the COO will be responsible for helping to turn those ideas into reality. That’s why the COO position offers an extraordinary chance to combine passion with pragmatism, intellectual curiosity with outstanding management skills, and the challenge of helping to establish a completely new way of thinking about what constitutes success in the second half of life. The crucial role of the new COO is to manage the day–to–day operations of the organization and the implementation of the strategic plan. Key responsibilities include:

• Provide assistance and support to senior managers.
• Make sure that the work on individual projects is linked to and advances the overall organizational strategy.
• Co–ordinate the work across projects, making sure that cross-project communications are robust and that the organization recognizes and capitalizes on synergies.
• Oversee the consideration and implementation of new initiatives that reflect and advance the strategies identified in the overall plan.
• Lead development of annual operating plans and budgets to implement the strategic plan and effectively deploy organizational assets.
• Create and implement tracking and measurement systems to assure execution of the annual operating plan, and appropriate adjustments as necessary to respond to experience and opportunity.
• Work with the Vice–President for Finance and Administration to create and manage budgets for individual projects, the campaign and for the whole organization.

The person hired as COO will be expected to perform these roles in an environment that values mutual respect, rapid response to changing conditions and new opportunities, flexibility and intelligence, as well as a sense of humor and humility.

The successful COO will have not only exceptional management skills but a lively intellect and the ability to cross a variety of disciplines. As an organizational leader, the COO will have the maturity to respect his or her colleagues’ unique contributions as well as the responsibility to synthesize those contributions into a larger and stronger whole.

The COO will report to the President.

Qualifications

Civic Ventures’ new Chief Operating Officer will convincingly demonstrate the ability to advance an innovative set of existing programs, while managing the implementation of the strategic plan. These responsibilities will require highly-developed skills in project management, strategy, execution, communication and co-ordination, tracking critical details, managing a significant budget, and producing consistently outstanding processes, products and results. This individual will apply this unique skill set while promoting strong collaboration throughout the organization.

The ideal candidate will bring creativity, dynamism, leadership, and extraordinary management skills to this cause. While no candidate embodies every desired quality, Civic Ventures is looking for a person who demonstrates most of the skills and experiences listed below.

• A passionate commitment to — and deep understanding of — Civic Ventures’ mission.
• Substantive knowledge and operational skills that will contribute to the success of Civic Ventures’ strategic plan.
• A keen and curious intellect.
• Outstanding management talent, combining respectful leadership with drive, creativity, and pragmatism.
• Proven ability to manage and lead effectively in a flat organization comprised of highly-talented and experienced senior leaders.
• Exceptional communications skills, including outstanding writing abilities.
• The skill to create and manage large budgets, integrate multiple streams of work, and lead staff located in several time zones.
• The ability to flourish in a small, nimble, and entrepreneurial environment.
• Sufficient comfort and understanding with technology to use it to advance initiatives and improve operations.

Salary and Benefits

The COO can be located in either the Washington DC or San Francisco offices of Civic Ventures. Civic Ventures offers competitive salaries and an excellent benefits plan. The Chief Operating Officer will receive:

• Senior executive level salary, commensurate with experience.
• Employer paid health, dental, and vision coverage.
• Access to employee-funded pre-tax health and transportation spending accounts.
• Paid vacation, sick, and holiday leave.
• Excellent retirement plan: after six months of employment — 9% employer contribution to match mandatory 3% employee contribution.
• Participation in a national organization and movement that offers flexibility and encourages creativity while providing a national network of skilled colleagues creating social change.

To Apply

Applications are accepted until the position is filled. To be complete and considered, applications must include a cover letter describing your interest and qualifications, your resume (in Word format), and your salary requirements. Please submit your application to: jobs@civicventures.org.

Please name your resume file: Your Last Name Resume. (For instance, "Smith Resume")
Please name your cover letter file: Your Last Name Cover. (For instance, "Smith Cover")

It is Civic Ventures’ policy to employ, compensate and advance personnel without regard to sex, race, color, religion, age, national origin, veteran status, physical disability, sexual orientation or marital status.

For more information about Civic Ventures, please visit www.civicventures.org.

(Posted 11/09/06)