Director

The Opportunity

Commonwealth is seeking a dynamic Director to join its mission-driven team.  Partnering closely with clients in the private, nonprofit, and government sector, the Director will create and execute on innovative and high-impact solutions addressing the LMI community.  

Working within a matrixed structure, the Director will lead a talented team of two-four direct reports while overseeing a diverse portfolio of projects led by passionate leaders across the organization. Collaborating closely with the executive team, the Director will foster a collaborative environment that drives project success and empowers innovation. Serving as a key force in shaping the organization’s project leadership, the Director will demonstrate exceptional project management skills and inspire others to excel. Their leadership will be crucial in advancing Commonwealth’s mission to scale innovative solutions that help financially vulnerable individuals build lasting financial security and opportunities for a brighter future.

 As a strong project manager, the Director will take the helm in steering multiple high-impact initiatives while building strong relationships with external partners such as employers, workplace benefit providers, financial institutions, and fintech companies. In this role, the Director will be pivotal in aligning resources, fostering collaboration, and ensuring that each initiative delivers meaningful results in support of our mission.

Candidate Profile

We recognize that there is a spectrum of lived and professional experience that will set candidates up for success in this role. While no one candidate will have every experience outlined in the position description, ideal candidates will display the following professional and personal qualities, skills, and characteristics:

Strategic Leadership

• Leverage both strategic thinking and project execution skills to drive organizational goals, Commonwealth calls this “stratecution.”
• Lead teams within a matrixed environment with a focus on fostering a collaborative culture centered on impact, outcomes, and excellence.
• Collaborate with Executive Sponsors to ensure strategic alignment, support, and the overall success of projects under your leadership.
• Proactively seek opportunities to enhance the organization’s leadership profile within the industry and community
• Establish and manage project team budgets, while contributing to the overall organizational budget process.

Project Management

• Oversee the creation and execution of detailed work plans from project inception to completion, ensuring alignment with overall objectives.
• Direct the development and adjustment of project goals and strategies, responding proactively to shifts in organizational priorities and external environment.
• Track, monitor, and align budgets across organization, team, and project levels to ensure financial efficiency and meet goals.
• Develop and secure strategic partnerships with external partners and funders, making critical decisions regarding reporting and collaboration to maximize project success.
• Engage directly with funders, including making strategic decisions on how/what to report to funders in both grant reports and meetings with funders.

Research Oversight

• Ability to take data, numbers, and create qualitative narratives to advise the team on how to best incorporate research.
• Experience with and knowledge of research and analytics along with an ability to enable and facilitate access to impact data for a wide range of constituents.
• Demonstrated understanding using quantitative and/or qualitative methods.
• Provide insights and leadership to measure the impact of initiatives, bringing both macro- and micro-level insights to inform strategic decision-making.

People Leadership

• Manage a diverse team, including supervisors and project leads, by offering regular guidance on task execution, professional growth, and work planning.
• Collaborate with Senior Innovation Managers (SIMs) to review and allocate staff resources effectively across multiple projects.
• Assess and plan for team needs, ensuring alignment of staff skills and capacity   with project and organizational goals.
• Lead the annual performance review process for direct reports, gathering peer feedback, recommending promotions, giving progressive feedback, and supporting professional development plans.
• Partner with HR to recruit, interview, and onboard new talent, ensuring the team is equipped for both current and future organizational needs.

Relationship Building and External Engagement

• Cultivate and strengthen relationships to create opportunities for Commonwealth to engage with external audiences at key events.
• Serve as an engaging and knowledgeable speaker on topics related to all Commonwealth programs, representing the organization at conferences and events.
• Craft compelling content, as needed, across various formats, tailored to resonate with diverse audiences.
• Author original thought pieces that contribute to industry conversations and elevate Commonwealth's voice and visibility in the market.

In addition, strong candidates will offer:

• A passion for Commonwealth's mission and driving change through promoting financial security and opportunity, with a focus on income, race, and gender equity.
• A results-oriented mindset with the ability to drive outcomes independently and collaboratively.
• Exceptional skills in managing complex, concurrent projects, with strong organization, attention to detail, and flexibility.
• Proven experience in establishing and managing successful projects in partnership with external collaborators.
• Demonstrated strategic thinking skills that advance organizational goals and priorities.
• Access to a personal network of colleagues and expertise in the fields of financial wellness, financial inclusion, financial health, financial security, and other related areas (strongly preferred).
• A strong understanding of the financial challenges faced by lower-income households (strongly preferred).
• Knowledge of financial services, asset building, employer-offered benefits, relevant public policies, and/or the application of emerging technologies in these areas (strongly preferred).
• Prior consulting experience or experience working in a business-to-business (B2B) environment is a plus.

Compensation & Benefits

Our staff are the key to our success. The salary range for this role is $100,000 - $120,000.

Commonwealth offers a generous compensation and benefits package that includes a focus on a wide range of professional development opportunities.

About Commonwealth

Tens of millions of people in the U.S. live with chronic financial insecurity, inadequate savings, and no meaningful wealth, with deeply harmful consequences for themselves, their children, families, communities, employers, and the economy.  

Additionally, Commonwealth understands that Black, Latinx, and women-led households disproportionately experience financial insecurity due in large part to longstanding, systemic racism and gender discrimination. Addressing these issues is critical to Commonwealth’s work of making wealth possible for all.  

For over two decades, Commonwealth’s fundamental purpose has remained to create a stronger and more prosperous society where everyone has financial opportunity. Our work has enabled over two million people to save nearly $8 billion on a path to greater financial security and wealth. We are now embarking on a new four-year strategic plan that seeks greater impact and builds on our systems-focus to expand workplace benefits, strengthening partnerships with financial institutions and fintech partners, and exploring new frontiers like climate and generative AI.

Commonwealth strengthens the financial opportunity and security of financially vulnerable people by discovering ideas, piloting solutions, and driving innovations to scale. We understand broad changes require market players to act. That’s why we take a unique approach to collaborate with consumers, the financial services industry, employers, policymakers, and mission-driven organizations. The solutions we build are grounded in real life, based on our deep understanding of people who are financially vulnerable and how businesses can best serve them. Through this work, Commonwealth better understands the needs of families living on low to moderate-income (LMI), drives innovation, inspires action, and informs systemic change.

For more information on Commonwealth, please visit https://buildcommonwealth.org/.