Background
The Tucson Jewish community is a thriving, inspiring community serving over 23,000 Jews. Our community is proud of its many pathways to Jewish life through time-honored Jewish organizational and synagogue life. We are also proud of newer pathways to engagement we have created and continue to seek new and varied opportunities for individuals and families to connect with Jewish life in personally meaningful ways.
Tucson is also a wonderful place to live. Among its many attributes, Tucson is the first designated UNESCO City of Gastronomy in the US, offering a wide variety of ethnic food options. It also boasts a beautiful desert landscape surrounded by mountain ranges with a variety of hiking and biking outdoor opportunities. Tucson is a thriving city, and University town – a real diamond in the rough.
The Director of Jewish Community Engagement position reflects our ongoing efforts to collaborate and seek meaningful Jewish engagement for the community. This position reports to the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s (Tucson J) Senior Director of Jewish Living and Engagement, with a dotted line to the Jewish Philanthropy of Southern Arizona’s (JPSA) VP of Strategy and Community Impact. This is a community-wide engagement role, where programming and meetings take place within and beyond institutional physical spaces.
About the J: Guided by values rooted in Jewish tradition, the Tucson J is open to all people of all ages and all abilities. Everyone belongs, while some may choose to formally join. The Tucson J practices radical inclusivity and is a safe non-judgmental space for all. Our Southern Arizona Jewish community is incredibly diverse with Jewish families and individuals self-identifying as: “Just Jewish,” Not Jewish, Culturally Jewish/Secular/Humanist, Jewish by Birth, Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, multi-faith, Israeli American, Jews of Color, LGBTQ, single-parent, differently abled/special needs, low-income, middle-income, and affluent. We welcome the participation of self-identifying Jewish families of all backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities.
Position Summary
We are searching for a dynamic individual to bring new and enhance existing engagement efforts for the southern Arizona Jewish community. This individual is knowledgeable on Jewish practice and organizations, and engagement-related resources and best practices. The Director of Jewish Community Engagement connects southern Arizonans with one another and with local and online resources, supporting each person’s growth on their Jewish journey.
As the Director of Jewish Community Engagement, you will:
- Be a leader and strategic thought partner of relationship-based engagement (RBE) throughout the community.
- Participate in RBE training.
- Meet with previous community RBE cohort participants to learn about their experiences and identify how you can support their RBE efforts.
- Develop expertise as a trainer in RBE, including developing, implementing, and documenting RBE curriculum.
- Recruit and train a cohort of professionals to use RBE in their Jewish community work.
- Provide ongoing support for RBE cohort “graduates.”
- Recruit, train, and support volunteer community weavers (volunteer connectors), each of whom will maintain an RBE engagement portfolio and host events using the Connect Jewish Tucson platform.
- Evaluate outcomes of RBE initiatives.
- Partner with JPSA in implementing Connect Jewish Tucson, an online Powered By One Table platform.
- Help drive traffic to Connect Jewish Tucson and work closely with the Community Impact Manager at JPSA to facilitate trainings for new platform users, potential gathering hosts, and organizations.
- Work with JPSA Community Impact Manager to develop and implement engagement strategies for a variety of demographic groups where needed.
- Function as Connect Jewish Tucson site ambassador in collaboration with JPSA Community Impact Manager.
- As a concierge for the community, manage an engagement portfolio and serve as a network weaver between people to people, and people to organizations.
- Meet with community members currently engaged and those not currently engaged to understand their Jewish journey and desires for Jewish connection and/or expression, using RBE.
- Understand the communal landscape using previous environmental scans and identify existing gaps.
- Connect individuals and families with people, programs, and initiatives or assist in creating alternative Jewish experiences as appropriate.
- Identify (and where there are gaps, co-create) diverse engagement opportunities, including but not limited to micro communities for those interested in furthering their Jewish connection.
- Track engagement meetings with community members documenting frequency and outcome of meetings.
- Maintain, in collaboration with the Marketing team at JPSA, the community resource directory.
- Identify and enhance existing opportunities for cross-community event collaboration.
- Identify opportunities for cross-organization collaboration on community-wide events.
- Facilitate, when appropriate, or provide support for the collaborative planning and implementation of community-wide events.
- Build connections between and among Jewish organizations and individuals looking for elevated or alternative approaches to Jewish life.
- Provide feedback on engagement activities for JCC/JPSA marketing initiatives.
- Collaborate with engagement staff across Jewish organizations.
- Be a thought partner on the J’s engagement team, work collaboratively with other JCC departments, attend all relevant JCC staff team meetings.
- Participate in joint engagement team meetings, eco-system work groups and summit planning with JPSA team, as appropriate.
- In collaboration with others, identify emerging community needs, identify/share opportunities for collaboration, and be a strategic thought partner.
- Other pillars and responsibilities as they arise.
Ideal Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and experience
- 5+ years of related community relations experience, including managing community engagement and outreach programs
- 3+years supervisory experience
- Enjoy interacting with people
- Familiarity with Jewish lifecycle events and an appreciation for the importance of Jewish communal life, Jewish organizations, and trends in Jewish life
- Effective written and oral communication skills for diverse community interactions, public speaking, workshops, publications, and public relations
- Strong organizational skills and ability to multitask and prioritize work
- Experience working on complex, cross-agency projects, and ability to make sound decisions with evolving information
- Demonstrated ability to design and facilitate meetings, events, and collaborative processes engaging diverse stakeholders for continued community growth
- Facility for technology and social media, as well as excitement about its potential as a tool of engagement
- Creative, self-motivated, and energized by interpersonal interactions
- An able project manager, competent in breaking down and implementing project steps
- Able to build meaningful and trusting relationships with inter-organizational partners and internal colleagues
- A team player, supporting the work of others, and being accountable to colleagues
- A quick study who can track and use data to understand and translate complex information
- Understanding of and commitment to the initiatives’ intended outcomes
- Ability to work flexible hours, including some nights and weekends
- Access to reliable transportation