Senior Manager, Impact

About this role: 

Eat. Learn. Play. is transforming the school experience for a generation of Oakland students. We help to provide the resources kids need to reach their full potential, including access to nutritious food, high-dosage tutoring, and physical activity. We also transform school spaces to ensure kids have equitable access to dignified, joyful places to eat, learn, and play including schoolyards, cafeterias, libraries, and gyms. 

Working closely with the VP of Impact and Director, Community Partnerships, the Senior Manager of Impact will manage major construction projects. In this newly established role, the Senior Manager will manage a grantmaking portfolio of $5+ million annually for facilities renovations, primarily focused on schoolyards, cafeterias, libraries, and gymnasiums at Oakland Unified Schools (OUSD). The Senior Manager of Impact will be supported by the Director of Grant Administration on planning, grant administration, and measurement and evaluation.  

The Senior Manager of Impact should have significant experience overseeing multi-million construction projects, experience working with school districts, strong project management skills, and the ability to steward trusted and authentic relationships by bringing humility and deep listening to the community we serve. 

Responsibilities: 

Capital Projects Planning 

• With the CEO and VP of Impact identify opportunities to align OUSD renovation plans with Eat. Learn. Play’s overall strategic plan and budget. 

• Create a comprehensive Capital Projects plan that meets the needs of our partners and advances ELPs mission with timebound benchmarks for success. 

• Ensure partners engage in a human centered approach to design planning, centering community needs. 

Project Management  

• Oversee implementation of the plan, including careful attention to the budget. 

• Serve as project manager for capital projects, coordinating partners, multiple contractors and volunteers 

• Serve as primary point of contact on construction-related decisions, including safety and compliance 

• With the Director of Grant Administration, support strategies for monitoring and evaluation. 

• Develop budgets and oversee spending. 

• Collaborate with the Marketing and Communications and Development teams to develop portfolio specific communications plans and share relevant information and outcomes. 

Partnership Management 

• Play a strategic and diplomatic role with community partners, positively representing the Foundation’s decisions and rationale with a wide range of stakeholders 

• Support selection of partners and contractors, establish roles, and drive collective work plans. 

• Communicate honestly and directly with potential grantees about the scope, budget and conditions of grants to manage expectations 

• Establish strong relationships with partners and grantees to provide feedback and resolve complex problems as needed 

Communications 

• Keep Eat. Learn. Play. staff informed of programmatic and grantmaking developments 

• Act as a motivating mentor to direct reports, providing regular feedback to support development. 

Work Experience: 

• 10+ years of leadership experience, including significant experience designing, building, and managing seven-figure facilities upgrades. 

• Experience as an effective manager within a growing organization, with an ability to handle shifting priorities and an appetite for new ideas and approaches. Successful managerial experience in leading a team and mentoring/coaching staff. 

• Experience working effectively with a broad range of nonprofit, community-based organizations, and public sector entities. 

• Experience in creating realistic project budgets and timelines. 

Required Skills & Abilities: 

• Demonstrated interest in Eat. Learn. Play.’s core issue areas with a broad range of experience working with non-profit organizations. Deep expertise is not needed, but issue area experience and/or experience working with public school systems is a plus. 

• Respect for the community, and ability to engender trust, credibility, and confidence with a variety of constituencies. 

• Demonstrated creative initiative and problem-solving skills, can synthesize information, translate it into a program design and lead a team to execute it.