Community Partnerships Director
Title: Community Partnerships Director
Department: Community Partnerships and Programs
Reports to: President/CEO
Direct Reports: Partnership Operations Manager, Partnership Coordinator(s), Building Bridges Manager, and/or project support staff, as assigned and funded
Employment status: Full-Time Position
Salary Range: $65,000-$80,000
WHO WE ARE & WHAT WE DO:
United Way of Southeast Minnesota (UWSEMN) responds to the greatest needs across our region by inspiring people to get involved, give back, and take action. We envision a resilient region defined by care and collective action where residents are healthy, households are financially secure, and young people succeed in school and life.UWSEMN serves Dodge, Fillmore, Olmsted, and Winona counties. Our work is entering a new chapter focused on strengthening community partnerships, reducing fragmentation, and helping people connect to the right support at the right time.
You can learn more about our organization, our impact, and our values at www.uwsemn.org
WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS
UWSEMN is transforming its former Community Impact structure into an active partnership backbone. This is not simply a program management position. The Community Partnerships Director owns the operating system that turns executive direction and partner commitments into priorities, standards, participation expectations, shared infrastructure, and measurable progress.The Director leads the Community Partnerships & Programs portfolio, including Building Bridges, 211, Get Connected, VITA, grant and investment partnerships, regional partnership development, Imagination Library, Running Start for School, resource intelligence, and future Building Bridges capacity. The Director sets direction and leads performance while the Operations Manager, Partnership Coordinator, and other assigned capacity carry much of the recurring execution and individual partner service.
Building Bridges remains startup-stage work. The Director will help UWSEMN build, test, refine, activate, and stabilize the shared infrastructure that allows independent organizations to work more effectively as a community system.
HOW YOU WOULD FIT IN & STAND OUT
This role is for a leader who can:- Translate strategy into a practical partnership operating system.
- Lead people and priorities so recurring work moves with clarity, accountability, and follow-through.
- Build trust, align partners, and move organizations from interest to shared practice.
- Interpret data and partner experience and turn learning into decisions and improvement.
- Write clearly enough to make complex work understandable to staff, partners, executives, the board, and donors.
We are looking for someone who combines execution discipline, written structure, partner credibility, practical judgment, and systems thinking. This is a hands-on leadership role, but it is not a role in which the Director personally performs every recurring task.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
Own the partnership operating system
- Translate strategy and agreements into priorities, protocols, standards, participation expectations, decision structures, workplans, and accountabilities.
- Clarify what UWSEMN owns, what partners co-create, what staff execute, and what requires executive judgment.
- Maintain an executive view of portfolio performance and reduce dependence on the President/CEO for routine planning and cross-functional decisions.
Lead the shared infrastructure and program portfolio
- Provide strategic oversight across Building Bridges, 211, Get Connected, VITA, grant and investment partnerships, regional partnership development, Imagination Library, Running Start for School, and resource intelligence.
- Set priorities, standards, adoption expectations, and performance measures while assigning recurring operations and individual partner support appropriately.
- Recommend improvements and resource decisions based on strategic fit, utilization, workload, community value, and learning.
Build and activate Building Bridges
- Lead the development, testing, refinement, and stabilization of Building Bridges as UWSEMN's primary transformation initiative.
- Set the purpose, participation expectations, learning agenda, and operating standards for the Community of Practice and related components.
- Oversee future capacity modules and coordinate with Finance/Administration on Community Relief Fund workflow while preserving financial-control boundaries.
- Translate early implementation experience into updated protocols, resource decisions, partner guidance, and recommendations for the next phase.
Develop and activate partnerships
- Maintain a deliberate cross-sector partnership portfolio throughout UWSEMN's four-county region.
- Work with the President/CEO on highest-level institutional relationships and translate executive commitments into operating participation.
- Direct routine cultivation, onboarding, support, utilization, and follow-up through the Partnership Coordinator and other assigned staff.
- Design and lead convenings that balance trust, inclusion, clarity, accountability, shared ownership, and forward movement.
Lead learning, investment strategy, and team accountability
- Interpret operating data, partner experience, grant reporting, program performance, and community learning and recommend changes.
- Lead grant and investment strategy and recommendations while assigning routine administration and partner follow-up appropriately.
- Lead staff through clear priorities, role boundaries, operating cadence, coaching, and escalation pathways.
- Coordinate across Revenue & Engagement, Communications, and Finance/Administration so partner intelligence informs organizational action, donor confidence, stewardship, and risk management.
REQUIRED WORK PRODUCTS
This role requires consistent, clear, structured written work. Upon hire and ongoing, you will produce:
- A 90-day partnership operating system plan.
- A rolling 12-month Community Partnerships & Programs portfolio workplan, updated quarterly.
- Board-ready updates and decision memos.
- Operating standards and partner-facing materials that clarify participation, roles, cadence, shared tools, decision rights, and follow-through.
- Periodic portfolio reviews summarizing performance, utilization, barriers, improvements, resource needs, and decisions.
- Internal leadership updates identifying what moved, what is stuck, what is being learned, and what requires President/CEO attention.
THIS JOB IS FOR YOU IF YOU:
- Love translating strategy into an operating system people can actually follow.
- Can lead staff and partners with clarity, structure, judgment, and accountability.
- Write well enough to simplify complex decisions without oversimplifying the work.
- Can activate shared infrastructure by helping partners understand, use, and improve it.
- Can build while learning and adjust plans as evidence becomes visible.
- Know what to own, what to delegate, and what to elevate for executive judgment.
- Can treat grantmaking and recurring programs as parts of a broader partnership and learning portfolio.
- Understand that effective partnership leadership requires regular in-person presence and relationship proximity across the region.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree required; master's degree preferred in a relevant field or equivalent experience.
- Progressive experience in nonprofit, public-sector, human services, education, community development, or systems-change work.
- Demonstrated experience building cross-sector partnerships and moving organizations from interest to shared practice.
- Demonstrated excellence in written and verbal communication, including implementation planning and executive-level summaries.
- Strong facilitation, consensus-building, organizational, and people-leadership skills.
- Ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity while creating clarity, accountability, and momentum.
- Cultural competency and demonstrated ability to work effectively with diverse communities, organizations, and lived experiences.
HOURS / WORKPLACE
This full-time leadership role requires regular, predictable in-person presence with staff and partners in Rochester and across UWSEMN's service territory, especially during the first six to twelve months. Some evening and occasional weekend availability is expected.
United Way of Southeast Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from candidates who bring diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to the work.
UWSEMN encourages applications from individuals of all races, genders, ages, and abilities. Applicants must be approved to work in the United States to apply. We cannot sponsor work visas at this time.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Salary range: $65,000-$80,000, depending on experience and qualifications, with comprehensive health and retirement benefits.
TO APPLY
To apply, please email Grace Erskine at GraceE@uwsemn.org with the following information:
- A short note describing your interest in the role and how your experience aligns with partnership operating systems, shared infrastructure, and Building Bridges startup work (not attached, write in the body of the email).
- A resume and/or LinkedIn profile.
- A writing sample, preferably a workplan, board memo, implementation plan, partner communication, or similar document that demonstrates your ability to organize complex work into clear written form.
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and the position is open until filled. Priority consideration will be given to applications received by 4:00pm on Friday, September 25th.
