Chief of Staff & Chief Strategy Officer

OUR MISSION | REMARKABLE IMPACT

Remarkable impact is the heart of Foundation for the Carolinas’ mission, and the driving force behind our mission is the collective impact of thousands of nonprofits, families, companies, and organizations who partner with us to amplify the power of giving.  

HOW YOU’LL ADVANCE OUR MISSION | POSITION OVERVIEW 

The Chief of Staff & Chief Strategy Officer plays a critical role in stewarding the Foundation’s mission, vision, and strategic priorities as an FFTC executive leader with primary connection to the President. The Chief of Staff & Chief Strategy Officer serves as a strategic partner and impact multiplier to the President, with oversight of designated internal and external initiatives and responsibilities. This role partners closely with the President to help shape institutional strategy, in partnership with the Executive Leadership Team, in pursuit of mission and vision priorities established by the Governing Board. This role also works to integrate work and advance institutional strategies across departments, functions, and teams, and to lead internal and external strategic initiatives that advance the Foundation’s mission in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region and nationally. The executive in this seat builds trusted, vibrant and durable relationships with the Governing Board, with colleagues on the executive team, with community leaders across sectors, and with external civic and philanthropic partners locally and nationally.

YOUR UNIQUE IMPACT | ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES    

Enterprise strategy

•  In partnership with the President and executive team, establish and maintain the enterprise view: identify opportunities for strategy integration and where the Foundation’s collective effort can be concentrated for greater effect.
• Lead the development, synthesis, and integration of Foundation-wide strategies in alignment and attainment of priorities of the President.
• In partnership with the executive team, lead strategy development, design, and execution of select cross-cutting initiatives that do not sit within a single function, including initiative launch, partner engagement, and post-launch stewardship. Ensure effective, coordinated execution of tactics and implementation of strategies across the enterprise
• Steward the institutional strategic agenda, translating long-range priorities into sequenced, resourced, an measurable work.
• Ensure the Foundation’s strategic initiatives are evaluated against clear impact measures and that learning informs subsequent strategy.
• Partner with the President and executive team on strategic planning

Institutional representation, external and internal strategic initiatives

• Represent the Foundation externally in the community: convening civic, corporate, philanthropic, and public sector partners, and serving as an active, accessible and visible voice for the Foundation, its mission, vision, values, and priorities locally and nationally.
• Strategic initiatives designated by the President.

Counsel to the President and Governing Board 

• Represent the President in internal and external settings. 
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the President on enterprise strategy. 
• Identify, inform, and frame consequential institutional opportunities, threats, relevant trends, analyses and insights to frame decisions for the President and Governing Board, surfacing options, tradeoffs, and implications.
• Prioritize the deployment of the President’s attention, time, and engagement toward the Foundation’s highest-value priorities. 
•  Shape the President’s and organization’s workflow patterns, processes, and decision-making flow, executive agendas, and management protocols, norms and practices. 

Organizational leadership and cross-function integration 

• Drive the operating cadence of the executive team — agenda-setting, follow-through, and accountability for cross-functional commitments. 
• Serve as a connector across the organization, in partnership with the executive team, ensuring information, priorities, and decisions move effectively among the Governing Board, executive team, and staff across the organization. 
•  Partner with executive colleagues to align resource deployment with strategic priorities. 
• Contribute to a culture of candor, collaboration, and institutional trust. 

Governing Board engagement

•  Support the President in Governing Board and committee engagement, including the framing of strategic materials, agendas, and the preparation of consequential discussions. 
• Build direct, durable working relationships with Governing Board leadership in service of institutional continuity. 

Thought leadership, trend analysis and forecasting 

• Gather, analyze and synthesize data, insights, and information relevant to FFTC’s mission and strategies. 
• Inform and illuminate opportunities and challenges to the President, Governing Board, executive team and others as relevant.
• Share and communicate strategic insights for the institution, key partners and stakeholders, donors, and the community.

 WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR SUCCESS | QUALIFICATION 

Experience

• Substantial senior leadership experience, typically fifteen or more years, with a record of accountability for strategy, initiative leadership, or enterprise-level responsibility.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives from concept through launch and sustained execution.
• Experience operating at or adjacent to the C-suite, with exposure to Governing Board governance and executive decision-making.
• Cross-sector fluency and proven impact at scale. Candidates may come from philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, the private sector, public service, civic institutions, or a combination; the Foundation places particular value on leaders who have worked effectively across these boundaries.
• Deep familiarity with the civic, philanthropic, business, and public landscape of the Charlotte region, or the demonstrated capacity to establish that fluency quickly and credibly.

Capabilities

• Strategic synthesis. Exceptional ability to integrate disparate information, functions, and perspectives into clear institutional direction.
• Organizational optimization and executive judgment. Sophisticated understanding of how institutions work, ability to optimize operations in alignment with strategy, ability to navigate, align, and move complex organizations both with and without formal authority over every part of the institution.
• Communications strength. A skilled writer, framer, and communicator, able to render complexity intelligible for the Governing Board, partners, staff, and the public.
• Convening stewardship and external credibility. The standing and skill to bring senior civic, corporate, and philanthropic leaders to a table and to hold that table productively.
• Innate initiative and effective execution to impact. The discipline to move ambitious ideas into operating reality, motivating, leading and inspiring team and staff at all levels of the organization.
• Discretion and trustworthiness. Comfort holding confidence and serving as a candid, skilled advisor to CEO-level leaders.