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New Search Announcement! President & CEO of NEACH (New England Automated Clearing House Association)

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Pillar's New Search

POSITION DESCRIPTION

 

Pillar Search is pleased to have been selected to manage the search for the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the New England Automated Clearing House (NEACH) and, its for-profit subsidiary NEACH Payments Group (NPG).

 

 

Reporting to the Board of Directors, the President & CEO will work collaboratively with the Board of Directors to guide and implement the strategic direction of NEACH and its affiliates (“the organization”).  The primary objectives of the President and CEO are to provide leadership within the organization to achieve its’ short and long term mission, strategies, goals and objectives, and to advocate the use of electronic payments within the financial services arena and to enable the Board of Directors to fulfill its governance function.

 

NEACH description

 

The ACH Network is a processing and delivery system that provides for the distribution and settlement of electronic credit and debits among financial institutions. The ACH Network was developed in response to the astronomical growth of check payments and the many technological advances in the mid-twentieth century and functions as an efficient, electronic alternative to paper checks. Through a nationwide telecommunications network, each ACH Operator is able to communicate with other ACH Operators to exchange entries quickly and efficiently, regardless of geographic distances involved. The ACH network offers an assortment of technical formats that can be used for a variety of payment applications, products and services. The ACH network is governed by operating rules and guidelines, which are developed by the actual users of the system, and is administered through a series of agreements among financial institutions, customers, trading partners, and ACH Operators.

 

For additional information on NEACH, please click here.

 

PRINCIPAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

 

Strategic Direction and Governance:

  • Ensures that the organization remains financially viable, and is an effective and efficient presence within the payments marketplace.
  • Aligns the organization with the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), Regional Payment Associations and other industry stakeholders to maximize opportunities for visibility and growth.
  • Ensures the organization aligns its products and services to provide maximum value to members.
  • Presents a strong, positive and uplifting image to members and payments industry stakeholders.
  • Remains keenly aware of the industry landscape for change/growth opportunities and keeps abreast of all industry trends and technology advancements.
  • Communicates current trends, issues and changes to the Board of Directors.
  • Works closely with the Board of Directors to develop, revise and implement a strategic plan, as appropriate. Serves as ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.

 

NEACH Membership:

  • Oversees design, marketing, promotion, delivery and overall quality of programs, products and services.
  • Oversees member outreach program to maintain member satisfaction and to increase overall membership.
  • Ensures the organization serves as a trusted resource for matters related to payments including, but not limited to, compliance, risk management, education, training and payments strategy.

 

Advocacy:

  • Ensures the organization’s vote on NACHA ACH Rules and other matters is submitted responsibly, seeking member/board input when deemed necessary.
  • Ensures members are aware of opportunities to utilize and benefit from the ACH network and other payment delivery channels.
  • Oversees the organization’s relationship with NACHA, other Regional Payment Associations, national councils, forums, committees, work groups and industry stakeholders.
  • Ensures members’ interests in payments are considered at all times, especially in matters relating to ACH rule changes and related regulations.

 

Administration:

  • Oversees the financial status of the organization including the development of long and short term financial plans, monitoring the budget and ensuring sound financial controls are in place.
  • Sets financial priorities accurately to ensure the organization is operating in a manner that supports the needs of all stakeholders.
  • Oversees the following functions: risk, human resources and facilities.
  • Manages staff of both direct and in-direct reports and ensures staff meets the needs of the organization.
  • Provides leadership and guidance to all organization staff to maintain a high quality and mutually rewarding working environment.
  • Demonstrates strong commitment to the professional development of staff.

 

Physical and Schedule Requirements:

  • Travels as needed to attend organization or industry specific conferences and/or meetings.

 

Knowledge and Skill Requirements:

 

Possesses the following:

  • Sufficient technological skills to execute the requirements of this position in the most effective and efficient means possible.
  • Intimate knowledge of the payment system process, environment and marketplace.
  • Working knowledge of applicable trade associations and/or not-for-profit associations within the industry.
  • Exemplary member and client service skills.
  • Proven leadership skills in a similar business and/or non-profit environment.
  • Proven coalition building skills with an ability to communicate and work effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders; a persuasive negotiator able to achieve consensus amongst differing opinions.
  • Outstanding presentation and communication skills and the experience and proclivity to be an outgoing spokesperson and relationship builder.
  • Ability to work within and manage a multi-level budget process.
  • Ability to think “strategically”.
  • Adept at creative problem solving.
  • Excellent interpersonal and people management skills.

 

Education and Experience:

  • Minimum of 7 to 10 years of senior leadership experience at a trade association, not-for-profit association or financial institution.
  • Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited university or college.
  • Master’s Degree from an accredited university or college. (Can be substituted for demonstrated equivalent work experience.)

 

For immediate consideration, please submit a cover letter and resume to Cindy Joyce, Founder of Pillar Search, at cjoyce@pillarsearch.com.

 

With personalized service and proven results, Pillar is your partner in executive search and human resources consulting. With over 20 years of experience, Pillar provides retained search services for exceptional non-profits and foundations and early-stage or rapid growth for-profit firms. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on both a local and national level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Pro Bono Posting: Director, Strategic Business Development with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, a Boston Nonprofit Organization

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Background 
The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) is a national non-profit organization founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter to promote economic development in America’s inner cities through private sector engagement that leads to job, income and wealth creation for local residents. ICIC brings together business and civic leaders to drive innovation and action, transform thinking, and accelerate inner city business growth. At ICIC, you will work with talented, creative and committed professionals in a collaborative culture dedicated to excellence and innovation.

 

Position Summary
ICIC is seeking an experienced professional who will report directly to the CEO and work closely with the management team to attract new partnerships, cultivate and strengthen external relationships, manage a business development portfolio, and create and execute a business development plan.

 

Duties and Responsibilities 

  • Provide strategic support to the CEO for the design and continuous refinement of both annual and long-term development plans, comprised of diverse revenue sources, including foundation grants, major gifts, corporate sponsorship, and annual and multi-year donations. 
  • Oversee local and national prospect management from identification to stewardship; personally build appropriate relationships with individuals and institutions (foundations, corporations, anchors, etc.), that result in meaningful levels of support for existing programs, new initiatives, and innovation efforts. 
  • Actively research and identify new grant opportunities that meet the funding needs of the organization; manage the grant application process for all of ICIC’s proposals and reports annually. 
  • Establish clear, realistic, transparent and accountable fundraising success metrics; monitor performance and provide timely and accurate projections for budgetary and financial reports to the CEO and Board of Directors on all fundraising activities.
  • Gain first-hand knowledge of ICIC’s research and advisory content and programmatic work in order to understand and articulate the activities, stories, and impact of ICIC’s work. 
  • Lead the creation and execution of marketing strategies and materials to support development efforts. 
  • Select and manage opportunities for the CEO and senior leadership to participate as thought leaders in media (publications/interviews), events, conference presentations and similar settings. 
  • Serve as a key member of the senior executive team, contributing to overall organizational goals and representing the priorities of the development function.
  • Continually evaluate, refine and/or redesign fundraising systems, practices and policies in order to support fundraising efforts; maintain high functioning infrastructure for pipeline development and tracking, grant reporting, list management, and overall donor outreach and engagement. 
  • Hire, train and coach staff to ensure talents are matched to roles and assignments in ways that set the team up for success and maximize high-performance; introduce and maintain development and fundraising best practices through ongoing professional development for team members. 
  • Collaborate across ICIC programs, convenings and initiatives to support ICIC’s strategic goals and general operations.

Qualifications Desired
The successful candidate is a self-motivated, dynamic, collaborative leader who is also a strong project manager.   This person must be comfortable interacting with people at all levels of an organization and influencing decisions at a high level.

  • Significant experience leading successful business development or fundraising functions including individual and institutional strategies.
  • Experience raising funds for a complex multi-program organization is a plus.
  • Understanding of economic development and small business issues.
  • Experience addressing multiple constituents’ needs across projects and/or programs at the same time.
  • Proven success in building and maintaining client relationships.
  • Demonstrated ability to solve problems and think strategically while executing tactically.
  • Ability to manage and execute projects and multiple tasks and flexibility with changing priorities.
  • Ability to innovate, develop new approaches, and drive creativity and inventiveness within the organization’s fundraising efforts.
  • Ability to work well with a team as well as individually.
  • Outstanding interpersonal skills and written and verbal communication skills.
  • Strong planning, organizational and self-management skills and attention to detail.
  • Ability to travel up to 20% of the time.
  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required. An advanced degree in business, marketing, or similar field preferred.

 

ICIC is an equal opportunity employer. This position is a full-time position working out of ICIC’s office in Roxbury, near downtown Boston, reporting to the CEO.
Please submit your resume and cover letter to Matt Camp at icicresumes@gmail.com. No calls please.

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Two Exciting Recruiting Roles in Boston With Year Up!

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Year Up, a valued client of Pillar Search, is seeking talented recruiting professionals to join their Boston team. The positions currently available are:

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

Year Up is an award-winning national 501(c)3 organization striving to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults ages 18-24 with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Through a one-year intensive training program, these young adults complete a unique combination of rigorous, hands-on technical and professional skills training, college credit. and corporate internships. With an annual operating budget of $90 million, Year Up will serve over 2,700 students in 2015 nationwide.

Year Up takes three approaches to closing the Opportunity Divide. Our core sites are based on our founding program model – direct service programming where facilities, staff, infrastructure, academics, and all other aspects of the program are managed by Year Up staff. The Professional Training Corps (PTC) is a community college based model that provides an opportunity for students to engage in meaningful workforce training. In this model, students are dual-enrolled in the community college and Year Up; technical skills are taught by college faculty, while Year Up staff provide professional skills and other wrap-around services. Lastly, our Employer Based Solutions are created in collaboration with employer partners; custom solutions are developed to meet critical business needs and solve for skills gap challenges in the marketplace.

Consistently voted one of the Best NonProfits to Work For by the NonProfit Times, Year Up is a rewarding place to work. Our staff is passionate, supportive, mission-driven, and committed to positive change and continuous learning. We set high standards for both ourselves and our students, and live by a set of core values that reflect an unshakable belief in the talent and full potential of our young adults. The work we do is life-changing, and we know that our team is the greatest asset in achieving our mission.

Please visit http://www.yearup.org/careers to learn more about working at Year Up.

TO APPLY FOR EITHER POSITION:

Please submit a thoughtful cover letter and resume through the Year Up website.

Note that applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Year Up respectfully request no phone calls.

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Onboard or Onward: Ensuring the Success of Your New Executive Hire

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“About 40% of executives who change jobs or get promoted fail in the first 18 months.”

Fortune Magazine

Where does it all go wrong? Too often, the onboarding process is where things fall apart. I am not talking about “orientation”, which often is done day one and generally involves the basics of assigning a building pass, conducting a benefits overviews, meeting the team and reading a few policies. Onboarding is a longer process, and if done well (typically in partnership with Human Resources and managed by the new executive’s manager, or the Board Chair if they report to the Board of Directors) can almost guarantee fit. It is holistic and gradual. It is also very deliberate, and will require constant check-ins and open communication.  Here are five key activities that will help to ensure that your new executive will be successful in their new role:

Start to Onboard Before They are Actually ON BOARD!

The time between an offer being accepted and the executive starting is sensitive. They may be dealing with a counteroffer, having to say goodbye to much-loved colleagues, and are nervous about this new venture. Keep in touch. Reiterate your excitement to have them joining the team, and have a few people in the organization reach out. If there are organizational overviews, annual reports, strategic plans or other things that that they can read up on ahead of time, get those to them during this time so that they start to feel like part of the team.

Send an announcement out to the staff and the board a few days before their start date explaining their background and the job they are filling. This will help make them seem more familiar to the team when they come through the door, and as an added benefit they will not have to review their resume and background with absolutely everyone in their first week or so.

Relationship Before Task 

Ideally, new executives will meet with their team and people across the organization. One-on-one meetings are great, but remind those who will be meeting with the executive to get to know them before delving into the inner workings of their role or the issues they face. Building rapport with new colleagues and direct reports is critical in the early days.

Learn By Doing 

Too often, in an effort to get all the information to a new hire as soon as possible, they are introduced to processes way too soon. Guess what? They will not remember how to do an expense report or change their password or complete a sales report 30 to 60 days in when they actually need to do it if they are taught how to do it their first week. Have the right people meet with them at the start to review the process at a high level, and then have them set up a time to do it later when they can sit down with real data and learn from it real-time.

The Buddy System 

What we learned in grade school still applies: the buddy system works when the new kid starts. This should not be the executive’s manager, but a peer or high-performing direct report who has longevity and the personality to be an effective buddy. The buddy can manage the nicety of taking them to lunch on day one and being available to explain the intricacies of culture, relationship dynamics, and certain pitfalls to avoid, which are things that the executive may not be comfortable asking of higher-ups.

Check In Early & Often

I too often hear that executives join, get a ton of attention the first day or two, and then are largely left on their own. It does not feel welcoming, and it runs the risk of them going in a direction that is difficult to course-correct later on. Meet with them daily, even for 10-15 minutes, in the first few weeks. Move on to twice weekly, weekly….you get the point. Let them know where they are doing a great job. Let them know where they need to take a different approach. But LET THEM KNOW. Being clear on what is a success will lead to more success.

While by no means a complete onboarding process, following the steps above will help to ensure that your new executive hire is one of the 60% who will be a success in the first 18 months.

Cindy Joyce is an Executive Recruiter and the Founder of Pillar Search, an Executive Search and HR Consulting firm located in Boston that works with clients nationwide. She can be reached here.