Summary/Objective

The Director, Section Engagement is responsible for facilitating a positive experience for our Section members by fostering and cultivating collaborative partnerships with volunteer leaders to drive engagement and growth. In this role, you will lead the strategic planning, development and implementation of value-add programs focused on member engagement, customer satisfaction, in addition to retention and recruitment strategies. This role requires excellent organization skills and a personable disposition to keep us thriving. Through strong leadership, natural flexibility, and a commitment to excellence, the Director, Section Engagement will assist in achieving organizational efficiency by supporting section member success and brand loyalty.  

Essential Functions

• Responsible for hiring, training, onboarding, and performance management of direct reports
• Establishes the strategic direction of membership section initiatives and executes this strategy in collaboration with executive, volunteer and section leadership
• Collaborates with cross functional teams to identify opportunities to increase membership value; suggests products, or services that will meet those needs
• Creates, implements, and oversees membership recruitment initiatives, notifying key stakeholders of emerging trends and execution plan to address those trends
• Analyzes member preferences and value proposition to execute marketing strategies
• Oversees section governance in order to ensure compliance
• Serves as the liaison for volunteer-led sections by proactively addressing and solving any issues
• Builds brand loyalty through high responsiveness to Section needs throughout all stages of the business relationship
• Leads volunteer development through training, promoting the central planning of resource utilization and by effectively demonstrating clear communication strategies
• Develop, design, and implement leadership development opportunities to equip volunteers with the confidence and skills to advance their careers and find success in volunteer roles
• Ensures the availability of technical talent by identifying and coordinating cross training for team members on all critical processes. Creates training programs as needed
• Provides hands-on leadership for support staff and strong oversight to ensure customer preferences and needs are being met
• Provides resources on association management trends and best practices
• Collaborates with internal staff to create relevant volunteer-centric resources for section use
• Fosters and role models a customer focused mindset, demonstrating exceptional communication and solution-oriented approaches
• Responsible for accurate forecasting and performance prediction
• Oversees volunteer management and governance, meeting management, operations and reporting
• Analyzes market data through critical thinking lens to identify opportunities to drive member value, revenue, and growth opportunities 
• Develops, implements, and enforces key performance metrics, milestones, documentation, reporting requirements and budgets
• Actively participates in all regular business review meetings
• Manages effective external vendor relationships
• Through effective management, cultivates an environment that allows for a strong and productive employee experience

Competencies

• Proven leadership and management skills with a passion to develop team members including volunteers
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with an emphasis on the ability to give constructive feedback and concise instruction
• Exceptional interpersonal and customer facing skills; highly professional yet empathetic in addressing concerns or issues particularly on behalf of section members and team members
• Efficient time management, planning, and organizing skills
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong knowledge of budgeting and financial management
• Proven self-motivator with the ability to meet deadlines and produce results
• Ability to function independently in a high-paced and at times stressful environment while remaining professional and calm
• Ability to prioritize and handle a variety of tasks for customer experiences
• Actively models all IFT Core Values

Management Responsibilities

• Oversees a team of 1 manager

Travel Required

• Occasional travel to events and meetings inside and outside of the Chicagoland area is expected

Required Education and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Management, Communications, or equivalent
• 5+ years experience working in an association space or related field
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
• Proficient in various social media platforms and tools

Other duties

This position, and all others at IFT, may be modified at any time. To ensure operational efficiency and meet the changing needs of our customers and our Business, other duties may be assigned as needed.

About Institute of Food Technologists

Since 1939, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) has been a forum for passionate science of food professionals and technologists to collaborate, learn, and contribute all with the goal of inspiring and transforming collective scientific knowledge into innovative solutions for the benefit of all people around the world. As a scientific community grounded in purpose, IFT feeds the minds that feed the world.

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