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Congratulations to Year Up and Willow Bechtel!

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Pillar's Search Success

Pillar Search is pleased to announce the placement of Willow Bechtel as Senior Director of National Accounts with Year Up.  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.

 

Willow will work with major Fortune 500 corporate partners in need of talent, providing trained, high-potential urban young adults with internship opportunities. She will provide strategic direction, collaborating with colleagues at the national and site levels across the Year Up network.

 

Willow joins Year Up from Miller Heiman Group, where she has worked in both enterprise and global sales, most recently as Sales Director. Prior, Willow held the roles of Director of Sales Operations, Sales Training Manager, and Business Development Manager with M Squared Consulting. Earlier in her career, Willow served in a variety of sales and sales management positions with Apple and Xerox. In addition to her impressive sales career, Willow held fundraising roles with schools in California and Australia. Willow is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

 

Hire the best! With personalized service and proven results, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides retained executive search services for exceptional non-profits and socially responsible for-profit firms. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on the national level. To learn more about how Pillar can assist with your search needs, please contact Cindy Joyce at cindy@pillarsearch.com.

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New Search Announcement! Sales Director, West Coast for Year Up!

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Pillar's New Search

Pillar Search is pleased to have been selected by Year Up to manage their search for the Sales Director, Western Region.  For more information on this excited opportunity, or for immediate consideration, please contact Pillar Search’s Founder, Cindy Joyce, at cjoyce@pillarsearch.com.

 

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION:

Year Up is an award-winning national 501(c)3 organization striving to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults 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, Year Up provides urban young adults ages 18-24 with a unique combination of hands-on technical and professional skills, college credit, and corporate internships.

 

Year Up is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

 

Voted one of the Best NonProfits to Work For in the country by the NonProfit Times, Year Up is a rewarding place to work. The Year Up staff is passionate, supportive, mission-driven, and committed to positive change and continuous learning. Year Up sets high standards for both themselves and their students, and live by a set of core values that reflect an unshakable belief in the talent and full potential of young people. The work they do is life-changing, and Year Up knows that their team is the greatest asset in achieving their mission.

 

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

 

Year Up photo for website

 

POSITION OVERVIEW:  

Year Up seeks an experienced and dynamic Sales Director, Western Region to lead its Corporate Engagement and Internships initiatives for several national accounts. Reporting to the National Director of Corporate Engagement, this individual will lead the effort to expand and broaden our relationships and internship placements in select accounts on a national basis. The Sales Director, Western Region will work with major Fortune 500 corporations in need of entry-level talent to provide trained, high-potential urban young adults with high-quality internships, and will ensure a program of support and professional development for these young adults on their internships. The ideal candidate should desire to leverage his or her demonstrated experience in sales, strategy, and for-profit management practices within our mission-driven social enterprise.

 

To be successful in this role, you will develop and implement a strategic internship sales plan to achieve revenue targets, manage client accounts and relationships, and design robust engagement strategies. You should have the ability to adjust strategies and priorities in response to organizational growth and needs, as well as the demands of the evolving market. In addition, as an ideal candidate you’ll be able to remain flexible within your work, and seek out areas for collaboration across the organization.

 

In keeping with Year Up’s values, the Sales Director, Western Region will also have the opportunity to interact with colleagues and students regularly to help create and sustain a positive educational environment.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:  

 

Leadership and Direction Setting

  • Provide strategic direction in response to market and scaling needs
  • Design plans, set milestones, and oversee implementation and follow through of team projects
  • Leverage influence skills to work effectively within the team and across departments to obtain input, move groups to consensus, and build buy-in
  • Collaborate with colleagues at the National and Site levels, as well as across the Year Up network

 

Revenue Generation

  • Develop and implement annual business goals; analyze trends and outcomes against revenue goals
  • Drive new business acquisition plans in response to market trends and relevancy to Year Up
  • Lead internship sales forecasting activities for existing and prospective accounts
  • Review and deliver effective proposals that feature Year Up’s innovative model and past successes for solving corporate entry-level talent needs
  • Regularly prepare reports showing internship volume, potential internship sales, and areas of proposed expansion
  • Utilize Salesforce.com to maintain accurate records of all sales and prospecting activities including sales calls, presentations, closed sales, and follow-up activities

 

Internship Program Management

  • Sustain a strong internship program that meets the business needs of corporate partners and affords Year Up interns the opportunity to apply their learning in a supportive, professional environment
  • Promote internship retention strategies that result in increased completion and satisfaction levels for both partners and young adults
  • Drive cross-functionality with dexterity and flexibility in support of the internship program
  • Ensure knowledge transfer and management over internship program for data capture and quality assurance, including internship readiness assessments, matching processes, on-boarding, announcements, etc.
  • Set benchmarks for increased internship to hire rates across network of corporate partners

 

Relationship Management

  • Design and implement effective strategies for driving engagement with your assigned accounts
  • Set and meet targets for increasing corporate partner status from partner to advocate and advocate to champion  Lead the team to effectively manage all aspects of corporate relationships, interfacing with partners, students, and staff members as needed
  • Establish and maintain relationships with industry influencers and key strategic partners
  • Engage with C-level executives and decision makers in a variety of formal and informal settings
  • Serve as a lead on high-level and/or critically sensitive corporate engagement situations that arise

 

 

Community Member

  • Demonstrate genuine commitment to the mission, vision, values and culture of Year Up
  • Ensure collaboration across departments
  • Work closely with Program, Academic, and Career and Alumni Success leadership to ensure that student learning and development strategically aligns to corporate partners needs

 

year up 2

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • At least 7+ years professional experience in strategic account management and/or sales to enterprise level accounts (e.g. sales, client service, development)
  • Consultative sales approach and background in technology or technology enabled solutions preferred 
  • Demonstrated ability to generate leads, close business, and manage annual sales targets of $5M+
  • Proven ability to influence, develop, manage, support and empower employees to achieve objectives within a team
  • Documented strengths in meaningful relationship building, management and growth to scale
  • Demonstrated ability to set direction and manage complex teams, projects, and processes
  • Strong organizational and time management skills with exceptional attention to detail
  • A professional and resourceful style with the ability to work independently and as a team player, to take initiative, and to manage multiple tasks and projects at a time
  • Ability to collaborate across teams, facilitate difficult conversations, and resolve issues
  • Ability to lead, willingness to be led, and comfort with situational leadership
  • Consummate networking skills with an ability to move comfortably and credibly in the community
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office and development databases; Salesforce.com experience preferred
  • A commitment to diversity and inclusion
  • A willingness to travel at least 50% of the time, as needed
  • A passion for working with urban young adults, an unshakable belief in their potential and a strong commitment to the mission of Year Up
  • Understanding of the Opportunity Divide and its drivers
  • Commitment to diversity and inclusion

 

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

Salary: Competitive and commensurate with education and experience

Benefits:

  • Competitive package including 100% healthcare coverage, dental, and 401(k) match
  • Vacation: Three weeks paid vacation in first year of employment; four weeks after initial year
  • Professional development: Funds available to support staff in achieving career objectives

 

TO APPLY:

Please submit a thoughtful cover letter and resume to Cindy Joyce at cindy@pillarsearch.com. Note that applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

 

Year Up photo

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They’re Just Not That Into You

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Breaking up is hard to do. The old song is as true for romantic relationships as it is for candidates interviewing for a plum role with a great company. Even if it is a brief courting period/interview process, you have invested time, energy and significant effort. You’ve started getting excited for the future. And then, suddenly, you find that the feelings are not reciprocated.  The hiring manager or recruiter delivers the bad news, with something like “we’re moving in a different direction“, or “we’ve filled the position internally”, otherwise known as “It’s not you, it’s me” message. In rare cases, you’ll actually find out it was you and get some meaningful feedback. Either way, it’s clear, what you thought was the beginning of a meaningful, long term relationship is over, done, caput, finished. Time to take a breath and exit nicely, else you scorch the earth by becoming the stage five clinger* candidate.

I am an Executive Recruiter who works on high level searches for my clients, and have to let candidates know of tough decisions in the recruiting process on a regular basis. Very recently, I have had two candidates in separate searches who handled the news of “the breakup” quite differently.

The first candidate, who we will call Jack**, interviewed with me for a role with Company A. I liked Jack’s skills and experience, and believed that he could be a fit for the role. I presented him to my client, who did a phone interview with him. The feedback was that he had highly relevant experience, but came across as arrogant, talked over the client throughout the interview, and spoke ill of former coworkers (all things he did not display in his interview with me). The client, understandably, felt that this was not the best fit for their culture. When I called Jack to explain, he went ballistic. He told me that the client and I did not know what we were doing, he would find someone more important than us at the organization who would understand how great he was, and that the client did not give him enough time to explain his experience. A few days later, he sent a scathing email to the client. Five paragraphs of how we had made an egregious mistake by not hiring him. Thankfully, my client and I have an open and honest relationship, and she forwarded it to me. How embarrassing for me and how uncomfortable for my client. We decided to go ahead and hire him. I kid! We clearly are moving on to candidates who are a better fit for the job and the organization.

I was then understandably gun shy when I had to share news with a candidate interviewing with another client, Company B. They had decided to move forward with other candidates. This candidate, who we will call Sonny***, interviewed for a role of a similar level as Jack had with my other client. When I called him, he listened, asked for feedback, and though I could hear the surprise in his voice at the news and he was quieter than usual, he thanked me for the consideration. Within an hour, he emailed me to say that he was sorry if he seemed short with me. He had been surprised by the news, but upon reflection understood the client’s decision and wished them well. He further thanked me for the feedback, and said that it was great working with me and he hoped that we would have a chance to work together again.

Regardless of the reasoning, shock and bruised feelings are inevitable when someone finds out that they are not “the one”, and there will be a period of mourning while the dreams and excitement of the future fade away. The difference between Jack and Sonny is obvious. One burned a bridge, and one was a true professional, which left a lasting positive impression. Guess who I will call to play matchmaker for the next time I have a great catch of a job?

 

*Thank you, Wedding Crashers, for this gem!

**Name has been changed to protect the guilty

***Name has been changed to protect the rock star candidate who handled the situation with elegance and grace.

 

Cindy Joyce is the CEO of Pillar Search & HR Consulting. With over 20 years of experience, Pillar provides national retained search services for exceptional non-profits and foundations and early-stage or rapid growth for-profit firms. All share the characteristic of desiring top talent who want an occupassion, not just an occupation.     In addition, Pillar offers human resources consulting services, which was born of clients requesting help on projects beyond executive search, and includes leadership coaching, human resources audits, handbooks, assessing organizational design, training, team building, and employee communications. A woman-owned business, Pillar is based in Boston, MA, and works on both a local and national level. For more information, please visit www.pillarsearch.com.

 

 

 

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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.