Regional Engagement Director Mason Hillel Role Overview
Make your mark on Jewish life in Northern Virginia by joining Mason Hillel as its first ever Regional Engagement Director (RED). You will bring your entrepreneurial thinking, interpersonal skills, and organizational savvy to create and oversee our new NOVA Hillel brand. As Mason Hillel continues to expand its reach and implement a strategic plan that focuses on engaging all college-age/stage individuals in Northern Virginia, you will be a key partner in thinking boldly about how to inspire and engage these young adults and co-create vibrant and meaningful Jewish experiences.
The RED will work directly with the Executive Director to build out an engagement and programming model that reaches Northern Virginia Community College Jewish students, GMU Grad Students, and college-age/stage individuals not currently enrolled in University or enrolled at other institutions but still call Northern Virginia home at various points in the year. The RED will complement the work of Mason Hillel’s Director of Jewish Student Life who focuses on the George Mason University (GMU) on-campus population.
We estimate that there are more than 10,000 Jewish college-age/stage individuals in Northern Virginia. You will be the key relationship-builder and experience-creator to help them cultivate their Jewish identities and create a new model for regional Hillel work that will help us act as a key network bridge of the Northern Virginia Jewish Community.
What You’ll Do
Relationship-building and Engagement
- Develop one-on-one relationships with Jewish college-age/stage individuals by meeting them where they live, work and/or study, utilizing creative methods to reach and interest them. Identify who they are, where they are, and get to know them and connect them to opportunities to help cultivate their Jewish identities.
- Create an engagement strategy that focuses on the core NOVA Hillel target populations: Northern Virginia Community College Students, non-matriculated college-age/stage individuals, Northern Virginia Jewish students attending other institutions, and GMU Grad Students.
- Dream and develop new and creative ways to meet Jewish college-age/stage individuals across Northern Virginia.
- Utilize our CRM software and data tracking efforts to inform strategies and decisions. Build from scratch engagement and prospect lists through community partnerships and other data gathering methodologies.
Regional-Focused Initiatives and Innovation
- Plan, recruit for, and execute our award-winning NOVA Summer Network professional development program, connecting participants with mentors and providing professional development and social opportunities for college-age/stage individuals during the summer months.
- Use innovative methodologies to come up with new initiatives to provide support for the Northern Virginia Jewish community and the college-age/stage individual population, such as a Winter Break Job Fair or Shabbat Dinner Series.
- Collaborate with local synagogues on college-student outreach and offer support to engage those individuals
- Plan, recruit for, and staff our first Regional Birthright Israel Trip
- Build relationships with Jewish community partners throughout the region and produce collaborative initiatives to effectively implement engagement strategies.
On a day to day basis you might
- Table on the Northern Virginia Community College Loudoun campus to meet Jewish students.
- Work from coffee shops throughout the Northern Virginia region to make it easier to meet with college-age/stage individuals. Grab coffee with them. Lots and lots of coffee.
- Meet with a local synagogue to understand their college student population and to brainstorm partnerships to best engage them in meaningful Jewish opportunities.
- Meet with a local stakeholder to brainstorm a list of potential mentors for our NOVA Summer Network participants.
- Plan an upcoming Grad student Shabbat dinner in Reston.
- Collaborate with the Mason Hillel Director of Jewish Student Life to ensure all populations are being engaged appropriately given the new structure of the organization.
You, our Regional Engagement Director, must be:
- A Relationship-Builder- capable of building rapport and developing meaningful relationships with a wide variety of individuals. This includes excellent verbal and nonverbal communication skills that enable relationship-building.
- An Entrepreneur and Innovator- maximizing an entrepreneurial spirit and having the ability to view challenges as opportunities as you help set and execute our NOVA Hillel brand and vision; You are highly motivated, driven to succeed, and have a strong willingness to take risks.
- An Authentic Jewish role-model- your commitment to dynamic and diverse Jewish practices is reflected in the warmth, energy, and joy you exude; you will act as a model for others on how to own your Jewish journey, whatever it may be.
- Detail and Big Picture Oriented- you have proven success in managing multiple projects at once, staying organized and helping others do the same, and managing students + time in the spirit of a team being successful.
- Curious and Vulnerable- curiosity and vulnerability is present in all facets of your work; you will ask questions of yourself and others in order to create a Hillel that is continuously evolving and thriving. Your vulnerability and willingness to say when you need help or don’t have all the answers will serve as a strength in helping create a vibrant Jewish community.
You, the Regional Engagement Director, will have:
- 5+ years professional experience in a space that has encouraged your creative thinking and educational vision; expertise may include leadership development, social entrepreneurship, or student engagement + program development
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Energy, vision, and a positive attitude
- Knowledge of the Northern Virginia Jewish landscape (preferred)
- Access to transportation to drive throughout Northern Virginia
What You’ll Receive
- Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary range for this role is $68,000-75,000.
- A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, generous vacation/medical time, retirement plan and parental leave.
- Great professional development, mentoring, networking and skill building opportunities.
- A work culture that prioritizes the well-being of its employees, including openness to conversations about flexible work hours.
- Unlimited paid coffee conversations!
About Mason Hillel
For over 30 years, Mason Hillel has been serving the 1,000 Jewish students at and affiliated with George Mason University and providing a safe, welcoming, and exciting community full of Jewish life, joy, exploration, learning, and Israel. We strive toward building a Hillel where every Jewish student feels seen and heard and connected. Mason Hillel has embarked on a mission to implement a strategic plan that focuses on supporting two distinct yet complementary brands (Mason Hillel and NOVA Hillel) to support GMU students, Northern Virginia Community College students, and all Jewish college-age/stage individuals in Northern Virginia. The Jewish community of Northern Virginia is the largest and fastest growing in the Washington, DC metro area.
Mason Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.
About Hillel International
In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.
Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.
