Mission Critical:
USY empowers exceptional Jewish teens to create exceptional Jewish experiences. For 72 years, USY has taught young Jews the values and skills they need to become exceptional leaders in their religious and secular communities. USY empowers youth to develop friendships, leadership skills, a sense of belonging to the Jewish People, and a commitment to inspired Jewish living through meaningful and fun experiences rooted in Conservative Judaism’s approach to learning, spiritual expression, and social responsibility. Through year round programming and domestic and international travel opportunities, USY inspires in teens a deep sense of pride in and love for their Jewish identity. To learn more, visit www.usy.org.
Position Purpose
A key pillar of USY’s growth strategy is narrowing the focus of our staff to concentrate on a single metropolitan area with significant capacity for a vibrant community of Jewish teens and pre-teens.
The Seattle USY Engagement Director will be hired to both develop a city-wide engagement plan powered by USY and recruit teenagers to attend existing regional and international programs, while developing unique USY experiences for that specific metropolitan area. The Seattle USY Engagement Director will work directly with the local congregations to build their teen engagement programs, while establishing the USY brand outside the walls of congregations to expand USY’s reach beyond the traditional USY chapter.
Duties and Responsibilities
The position reports to the USY Engagement Director with secondary supervision by the Senior Director of Teen Engagement Department. The position includes five areas of responsibility:
- Grassroots Organizing and Leadership Development for USY in Seattle: Using a community organized based-model, the Seattle USY Engagement Director will work on a daily basis to maximize touchpoints of Jewish engagement with Jewish youth between grades 2-12. The focus will be on engaging middles school students, while also creating some programs for younger students and for high school, to create the pipeline of next steps for middle school.
- Teen Engagement Capacity Building With Conservative Synagogues: All Conservative synagogues have different teen engagement structures, and the Seattle USY Engagement Director will be responsible for developing an action plan for best serving each based on a needs assessment.
- Create Initiatives to Engage Teens in New Arenas: USY is a synagogue based program, but there are teens in other settings that would benefit from the experiences USY has to offer. The Seattle USY Engagement Director would implement new engagement models to include teens in public school settings, Jewish schools, and Jewish camps.
- Community Relationships: The Seattle USY Engagement Director will represent USY within the greater Jewish community and build relationships and partnership opportunities with local professionals, Conservative congregations and other Jewish organizations.
- Serve as Member of the USY Staff Team: The Seattle USY Engagement Director will be an official member of the USY Engagement Team, and will attend regular staff meetings with key staff and USYers, as well as staff in-person USY programs on a regional and international level.
The Teen Engagement Department allows team members the opportunity to develop passion projects that they believe will provide enhanced value for member congregations, and looks forward to helping this person find other opportunities to use their unique talents and skills.
Supervisory Responsibility: NA
Required Education and Experience
- Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science required.
Preferred Education and Experience
- 3 years or more relevant experience
Additional Eligibility Qualifications
- Significant knowledge of teenagers, teen engagement, and experiential Jewish education. While USY background and knowledge is a plus, it is not required.
- Experience in immersive Jewish education, whether as a camp counselor, youth group advisor, Birthright staff member, Hillel engagement position, etc.
- Build relationships and partnership opportunities with local professionals, local Conservative congregations and other Jewish organizations
- Passion for Judaism, social action, Israel, and overall Jewish engagement
- Familiarity and comfort with the principles of Conservative Judaism
Work Environment: The Seattle USY Engagement Director must be based in the Seattle area. Even though this position is remote, it requires synagogue and school visits, and attending community and local programs in the Seattle area.
Position Type/Expected Hours of Work
- Full-time position
- Some evenings and weekends required, almost all of which are known far in advance
Travel: Semi-regular travel required, including weekend conventions.
Benefits: Health, dental, vision, flex spending account, life insurance, retirement plan, paid time-off, Shabbat Fridays