Executive Director Opportunity
RAIL CDC seeks a competent, experienced, and affable executive director to partner with the board of directors and lead the work to implement our goals and strategies.
Will you be the leader RAIL CDC needs to take RAIL CDC to the next level?
About RAIL CDC:
RAIL CDC is a place-based community development corporation that offers corridor development, small business technical assistance, and neighborhood organizing in LMI census tracts around public transit. We work with businesses and residents in commercial corridor committees to plan and implement programs to improve the Distrito Latino, the Asian District, and Downtown/West Main in Mesa, Apache Boulevard in Tempe, and McDowell Road in Phoenix.
In 2022 and 2023 RAIL CDC saw significant growth and underwent a strategic planning process to focus our program and operational goals and strategies for the next few years.
RAIL CDC works by:
engaging residents and business owners to participate actively in planning their community, improving their quality of life, and securing a better future for themselves and their families;
assisting residents in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to participate in the workforce, access economic opportunity, and achieve financial stability for themselves and their families, and;
supporting local businesses through technical assistance, collaboration, and financial resources to create vibrant commercial corridors, and successful businesses that will stay in the community, grow, and thrive.
What We’re Looking For:
Required Qualifications:
Demonstrated ability to lead and grow organizations to achieve existing goals;
Demonstrated ability to connect, develop, and manage relationships, including boards, staff, funders, volunteers, business owners, and residents;
Demonstrated grant writing/fundraising experience, particularly CRA, private donations, and federal funding administered by participating jurisdictions;
Experience engaging communities with a social and economic justice lens and proffering equal opportunities for all persons;
Experience in non-profit program design, implementation, and evaluation, budgeting, fundraising and development, volunteer development, and organizational problem-solving;
Excellent communication, analytical, administrative, financial, and interpersonal skills;
Demonstrated knowledge of equitable community development, such as sustainability, urban planning, public policy, transit-oriented development, affordable housing, public health, or other similar areas;
Bilingual English/Spanish.
Desired Qualifications
Demonstrated understanding of the role of emerging technology in not-for-profit organizations;
Experience successfully implementing placemaking initiatives in comparable communities;
Experience providing or managing technical assistance to small businesses;
Demonstrated knowledge of social media in non-profit, community, and economic development efforts;
Demonstrated expertise in a wide range of social services and community development strategies;
Education or equivalent experience (5+ years) in social science, planning, public administration, community economic development, economic development or related fields, or other appropriate combination of education and experience.
How to Apply:
Interested applicants should submit their resume and a letter of interest that tells us why they’re the right person for the job through the link to the right.
Resumes and letters of interest should be in PDF format.
The applications will be reviewed starting March 7th. We will then review applications on an ongoing basis.
Initial interviews will be held via phone or video conference. Those individuals selected to proceed to the next interview stage will meet with us in person, which may include a tour of our program areas meeting community members and other stakeholders prior to the final selection being made.
The position will remain open until a qualified candidate has been hired. Please note that this position requires the successful candidate to live and work in or nearby Mesa, Arizona. Relocation expenses will not be paid.
The position is expected to begin on or before June 23rd, 2025.
