Executive Director

Chula Vista, CA

Job Description

Position  Executive Director

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the Executive Director (ED) will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for the staffs and programs of both Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orphanage as well as for the implementation of our core mission.    

The position will be located in San Diego, California with frequent trips to St. Innocent Orphanage located in Tijuana, Mexico.  Additional travel typically will not exceed 15% over the course of year.

Organization  Project Mexico & St. Innocent Orphanage

Our Mission

Project Mexico performs works of mercy and helps others do works of mercy in the name of Jesus Christ, transcending cultural barriers by building homes for the poor in Mexico and by providing a home for orphaned boys through St. Innocent Orphanage.

Our History

In 1988, Project Mexico began by providing an opportunity for young people within the United States to alleviate the suffering of others by building  homes for Mexico's poor.   Since that time, over two hundred homes have been built and blessed and over 10,000 volunteers from the United States and eleven foreign countries have come to give of themselves!   Our office in San Diego, California serves as the headquarters for our organization.

Our outreach expanded in September of 1996 through the opening of St. Innocent Orthodox Orphanage in Tijuana which provides a home for boys who would otherwise be forced to live on the streets of Mexico and be left to fend for themselves.  Typically housing nearly 40 boys, St. Innocent Orphanage is the only facility which supports the care of teenage boys in Tijuana and one of only four in the entire country of Mexico.

Once opened, the orphanage also began serving as the home base for Project Mexico homebuilding teams where they could assemble to eat, sleep, pray and prepare for their projects. 

Annual Operating Budget:  $1 million (USD).

Position Responsibilities

Leadership & Management

·         Program Excellence:  Ensure ongoing  programmatic excellence;  rigorous program evaluation;  consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.

·         Board Alignment:   In cooperation with the President of the Board of Directors develop, maintain and garner the support of a strong board of directors; serve as ex-officio member for board committees; seek and build board involvement with both the strategic direction of the organization as well as local operations.

·         Team Leadership:  Excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performing teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget for multiple enterprises.

·         Program Integration: Ensure effective systems are in place to track progress, and the regular evaluation, of program components so as to measure their successes and provide clear status to the board, donors, and other constituents.

·         Constituency Support:  Ability to actively engage and energize church leadership, volunteers, board members, event committees, alumni, partnering organizations, and donors.

Fundraising & Communications

·         Fundraising: Expand local revenue generation and fundraising activities to support existing program operations and debt reduction.

·         Brand Expansion:  Deepen and refine all aspects of communications—from web presence to external relations with the goal of creating a recognizable and compelling brand.

·         Organization Spokesperson:  Be an external local, national and international presence that publishes and communicates program results and successes.

Planning & Positioning

·         Strategic Planning: Actively participate in the design and completion of the strategic business planning process in order improve our mid to long-term position.

• Partnership Development: Build partnerships in Mexico and the United States in order to establish relationships with donors as well as political and community leaders in each locale.

·         Orthodox Environment:  Understands jurisdictional positioning, including Hierarchical Relations

 Qualifications

 The successful ED will be thoroughly committed to Project Mexico & St. Innocent Orphanage’s mission. 

All candidates should have proven leadership, coaching and relationship management experience.

Demonstrable experience and other qualifications include:

·         Advanced degree, ideally an MBA or MSW, with at least 5 years of senior management experience; track record of effectively leading an outcome-based organization and staff.

·         Past success working with a board of directors with an ability to cultivate board relationships.

·         Strong marketing, public relations, and fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide

 range of stakeholders and cultures.

·         Strong written and verbal communication skills.

·         Excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills.

·         Committed to leading by example.

·         Action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approach to business planning.

·         Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people.

·         Must possess strong ability and desire to be self-driven / self-monitoring.

·         Creative thinker with exceptional problem solving skills.

·         Must be U.S. citizen or have legal right to work in the U.S.

·         Bi-lingual fluency in Spanish and English ideal.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation commensurate with experience.

Health and Dental Insurance;   Cell Phone; Housing (should candidate choose to live at St. Innocent Orphanage); Access to Company Vehicle for Business Travel.

To Apply

Applicants should send a letter of application and resume to jobs@projectmexico.org  for review.