Director of St. Louis

Venture For America is changing the face of entrepreneurship. We search the country for talented recent college grads who are eager to make a meaningful impact in their careers and in the community. We help them find jobs at startups in one of our thirteen U.S. cities across industries from edtech and clean energy to consumer goods. Then we help unlock their limitless potential as creators and builders by providing access to programming, funding resources, and an expansive network. Visit our website to learn more.

This is an exciting opportunity to drive continued growth for Venture For America in St. Louis. We’re looking for someone who is a partnerships/fundraising/sales professional interested in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive community. This person is passionate about inclusive innovation, startups, and entrepreneurship, and approaches challenges with a can-do attitude.

As the Director of St. Louis, you will be the face of Venture For America in the city. You will help build awareness and excitement within and around the local community, and support our Fellows in their professional journeys. You will cultivate an active and engaged community for the St. Louis Fellows, identify and foster relationships with Company Partners, and be responsible for maintaining and building donor relations.

Salary Range: $68,000 – $78,000

Location Requirement: St. Louis, Mo.

Start Date: July 2022

What you’ll do:

Fundraising 

• Develop the VFA donor pipeline in St. Louis and grow relationships to secure $225k+ on an annual basis, including new and renewal funding
• Cultivate, solicit, and steward a corporate, foundation, and individual giving portfolio with support from the VFA Development Team
• Engage and expand the Regional Advisory Board; identify and recruit new, diverse members to help determine VFA’s strategic direction in St. Louis; and more deeply connect VFA and the local community

Company Partnerships 

• Connect with more than 50 startup leaders annually to identify, evaluate, and onboard Company Partners to hire VFA Fellows
• Help Company Partners identify talent needs and advise them throughout the VFA hiring process
• Work directly with incoming VFA Fellows to identify ideal roles based on their skills and industry interests
• Help bring an annual cohort of 10+ Fellows to work for St. Louis Company Partners

Programs and Fellow Support 

• Meet regularly with Fellows and serve as a sounding board in their career progression
• Develop and lead programs for Fellows to connect with the St. Louis  community and each other, including panel discussions and cohort-bonding activities
• Work closely with the Fellow City Leadership Council to strengthen the program
• Recruit new mentors and volunteers to support VFA programming

Fellow Recruitment and Selection and Other Internal Projects 

In addition to the responsibilities unique to Community Directors described above, all VFA team members devote a portion of their time to Fellow recruitment and Selection, which occurs on an ongoing basis between August and April, as well as other internal strategic projects. Activities include:

• Participating in local recruitment events, relationship building, and partnerships
• Evaluating written Fellowship applications, conducting candidate interviews, and traveling for and facilitating Selection Days
• Hosting Selection Days in St. Louis as necessary, including fundraising for the event, securing a venue, and recruiting Selection Day judges (for both in-person and virtual Selection Days)
• You will also support VFA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, as is expected of all Team members
• Taking part in additional organizational initiatives, priorities, and responsibilities, as needed

What you may have already done:

• Worked for 5+ years and have a proven track record of growing an organization/company through fundraising, partnerships, hiring and/or sales
• Developed a working knowledge of the St. Louis philanthropic and/or startup community
• Achieved results while working autonomously with limited direction
• Coached diverse young professionals to navigate work and career challenges
• Written grant proposals to foundations and corporate donors
• Worked for a startup or organization supporting startups and/or have experience supporting diverse entrepreneurs

The good stuff:

• High performers at VFA are given substantial opportunity to grow and develop
• You’ll participate in a robust performance management system that will support in annual personal and professional goal setting
• You’ll earn a competitive salary, commensurate with experience
• We offer inclusive benefit packages with VFA covering majority employee premiums in medical, dental and vision with FSA and HSA eligibility, wellness  and professional development stipends
• We have a generous vacation policy, plenty of paid holidays, expansive parental leave policy and a remote work environment
• VFA is a dynamic mission-driven environment with varied responsibilities and a different challenge each day (we mean it – always plenty of interesting problems to work on!)
• You’ll work alongside an inclusive team of exceptionally motivated, high-caliber people

Work Demands:

• Working with colleagues across the country leveraging remote technologies
• Occasional nights and weekends as necessary for programming implementation and networking
• Travel to VFA cities to lead or participate in VFA Programing including: occasional Selection Day participation (~2 days per trip, up to 3 times per year); occasional team retreats (dates and duration vary); occasional nights and weekends as necessary
• Staff members work remotely from a home office and collaborate with colleagues working remotely in each of our 13 cities. Limited co-working arrangements may be possible in the future starting in 2023. We provide a $750 tech stipend (renewed every three years) and a monthly $25 internet stipend to support staff members’ technology needs in their home offices

Application Instructions:

To apply, please fill out our application at this link. If your experience is in alignment with our needs, we will contact you with next steps.