East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG) is seeking an Initiative Director to support the daily management and strategic development of the new Save Lives Now! Anti-Violence Initiative
The Save Lives Now! Anti-Violence Initiative has been established to manage the implementation of the Save Lives Now! Initiative. This position will report the Executive Director. The goal of Save Lives Now! is to save lives across the St. Louis region by reducing homicides and shootings by 20 percent over three years by engaging those at the highest risk for violence and working to keep them alive, safe, and free, while holding those who shoot and kill fully accountable. Save Lives Now! is regionally focused, informed by evidence and data, and humanity centered.
The Save Lives Now! Initiative contains three major programmatic elements. The first is a regional focused deterrence effort, which is a problem-oriented crime reduction strategy that mobilizes community residents, service providers, and law enforcement officials in response to chronic crime conditions. The second element is cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) and other behavior modification strategies provided to high-risk individuals to help them to manage emotions, address conflicts constructively, and think carefully before acting. The third element is the use of street outreach workers to ensure CBT-informed supports reach those who need them most.
The Initiative Director coordinates the work of the implementation team, which is composed of officials from St. Louis City, St. Louis County, and St. Clair County responsible for the day-to-day on the ground work and contract management. The Initiative Director will convene key stakeholders from across the region, both inside and outside government, paying special attention to the inclusion of impacted community members. They will perform any “backbone” activities necessary to drive collective action, including convening regular meetings of stakeholders, ensuring consistent communication between stakeholders, engaging experts to provide training and technical assistance, tracking, analyzing, and sharing data, and other key functions.
The primary duties and responsibilities of this position include:
- Direct policy efforts and activities of the Save Lives Now! Advisory Council and the Regional Implementation Team.
- Oversee the development of strategic plans, work plans, and policies and procedures consistent with the mission and direction of the Save Lives Now! Anti-Violence Initiative
- Work collaboratively with stakeholders to identify, prioritize, collect, and analyze data to inform the work and decision making of the Save Lives Now! Anti-Violence Initiative
- Facilitate the creation of benchmarks and produce assessments to measure effectiveness of implementation of the initiative.
- Source new grant opportunities, prepare grant proposals, manage existing grant funding, and prepare financial and progress reports.
- Develop and execute regular stakeholder communication plans that include strategic priorities, updates, policy changes, decisions and directions, benchmarks, and progress towards initiative goals.
- Provide an annual report to the EWG Board of Directors and Save Lives Now! Advisory Council on developments related to the Save Lives Now! Initiative.
- Assist Board chairs in planning and facilitating the Save Lives Now! Advisory Council meetings.
- Chair and facilitate the Implementation Team meetings.
- Direct, supervise, and coordinate the activities of assigned staff.
Best Qualified Candidates will have:
Education:
- Associate’s degree or higher in criminal justice, law, public administration, business administration, political science, organization development, strategic planning, or a related field and 7 years or more of project management or related experience; a Master’s degree in a directly related field may be substituted for a maximum of 1 year experience; or any equivalent combination of experience and education.
- Strong project management and facilitation skills
- Ability to recognize and respect cultural differences
Desired Qualifications:
- Knowledge of the criminal justice system
- Familiarity with intergovernmental and public-private partnerships
- Experience managing complex system level collaborative projects
- Experience with writing grants and grant management
- Experience developing, managing and monitoring annual budgets
- Experience working with and analyzing data
Skills Needed
- Strong Interpersonal Skills
- Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to translate research findings to the user community in a way that helps with re-design of policy and practice
All applicants for this position must be authorized to work in the United States.
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The salary range for this position begins at $101,448 annually, with actual starting salary based on background and experience. EWG offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including: insurance (health, dental, vision, and life), flexible spending accounts, retirement plan with employer match, and generous paid time off (vacation, holiday, and sick leave).
Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume by email to:
careers@ewgateway.org
Subject Line: Director of Regional Anti-Violence Initiative Application
EWG is an equal opportunity employer.