Director, Jewish Resilience

POSITION TITLE: Director, Jewish Resilience

SUPERVISOR:  Vice President, Advocacy

SUPERVISION EXERCISED: Consultants, interns

LOCATION: Anywhere ADL has an office

GRADE/CLASS: Grade H, Exempt, PSA Eligible

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION:

ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. Founded in 1913, its timeless mission is “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism, and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to ensure a just and inclusive society for all.

Overview of the Initiative:

ADL is evolving a national effort focused on strengthening sector specific capacity to confront antisemitism. This effort empowers a diverse mix of community-based organizations, congregations, and sector partners by providing fit-for-purpose tools, guidance, and connections to combat antisemitism tailored to sector specific needs.

Primary Function:

The Director will lead the design, execution, and growth of a capacity-building initiative that helps provide resilience to sector specific Jewish organizations and movements to counter antisemitism with durable programs and operations. The role requires entrepreneurial leadership, structured program design, and deep collaboration across ADL teams and external partners. The Director will be responsible for stewarding relationships, building support systems, and measuring impact in ways that strengthen communal sustainability and scale.

Primary:

• Build and execute a phased, cohort-oriented capacity-building program for sector specific groups and movements, with clear selection criteria, milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Support partners in responding to incidents of antisemitism, leveraging community relationships and sector-specific knowledge to accelerate effective responses.
• Lead and expand Kulanu, Synagogues in Action Against Antisemitism (e.g., convenings, toolkits, training), partnering with denominational bodies and congregational leaders to strengthen institutional capacity to fight antisemitism delivery.
• Design modular support infrastructure (e.g., resource libraries, training curricula, mentorship networks, and on-demand access to ADL expertise, data, research, and policy insights) that can be tailored to organizational maturity and sector specific context.
• Develop an alumni network to enable peer mentoring, resource-sharing, and continued organizational strengthening.
• Recruit and engage an advisory group of practitioners (e.g., experienced operators, communal leaders, program directors) and a mentor council to provide practical guidance to participating organizations.
• Convene and coordinate cross-functional ADL teams (Legal, Empowerment, Brand and Marketing, Regional Offices, Impact Centers, and others) to align resources to support partners.
• Represent ADL in appropriate partner events, sector convenings, synagogue gatherings, and conferences to build trust, surface insights, and elevate best practices.

Secondary:

• Monitor developments across priority sectors and provide leadership with actionable intelligence on emergent antisemitism trends and community responses.

This job description provides a general overview of the role and its key responsibilities. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties, and ADL reserves the right to assign additional tasks as needed.

Skills:

• Exceptional networking, public speaking, and written communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal acumen; ability to build trust with grassroots leaders, clergy, denominational bodies, and institutional partners across diverse communities.
• Entrepreneurial, proactive, and adaptable; comfortable iterating in ambiguous, fast-changing environments and making decisions with incomplete information.
• Skilled at navigating inter-organizational and intra-communal dynamics; able to broker collaboration with distributed leadership models and diverse denominational structures.
• Strong program design and project management for complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives; able to move from concept to execution with minimal supervision.
• Data-informed decision-making; able to define metrics and evaluate organizational capacity improvements and program outcomes.
• Strategic thinking coupled with change management experience in mission-driven settings.

Attributes:

• Committed to building a culture where everyone thrives.
• Collaborative team player who excels in matrixed organizations.
• Creative and innovative; takes initiative and ownership.
• Results-oriented problem solver with resilience under pressure.
• Dedicated to empowerment-based approaches that prioritize local ownership and authenticity.
• Comfort managing multiple priorities across cohorts and partners.
• Energized by ADL’s mission and work; able to articulate alignment with ADL’s positions on Israel and antisemitism through a centrist, pragmatic lens.

Work Experience:

• Required: Significant progressively responsible experience in nonprofit management, entrepreneurship, and/or business consulting with a demonstrated success strengthening organizations, institutions, or businesses, including improvements to programs, governance, operations, and leadership pipelines; evidence of measurable impact on sustainability or scale.
• Proven track record launching or innovating new initiatives and adapting in uncertain environments; comfort advocating for institutions and causes.
• Preferred: Professional history working with Jewish synagogues and denominational/community organizations, including convening, program execution, service delivery (e.g., education, antisemitism prevention, Jewish religious programming), and fluency in denominational structures and sensitivities.
• Preferred: Knowledge of sectors where antisemitism has surfaced (e.g., education, healthcare, labor, professional associations) and/or experience with Jewish identity-based advocacy.
• Preferred: Experience managing advisory groups, volunteer leadership structures, and high-level stakeholder relationships.

Education:

• BA/BS degree or equivalent experience required;
• Advanced degree in nonprofit management, public policy, or related field preferred.

Work Environment:

• Flexibility to work extended hours or weekends, as needed.
• Significant travel required (approximately 25-40%) to attend meetings, conferences, cohort sessions, and connect with grassroots partners nationwide.
• ADL maintains a hybrid work environment; this role may require up to three days in person per week.

Compensation:

• This position has a salary range of $120,000 to $135,000. This salary range is reflective of a position based in New York, New York. Please note that actual salaries are commensurate with experience and reflect the budget for a given position, and since ADL has a location-based compensation structure, there may be a different range for candidates in other locations. For an overview of our total rewards package, please visit https://www.adl.org/about/careers.
  

ADL aims to create a working environment where every employee can thrive professionally.  Our mission-driven work is best accomplished in an environment that supports belonging. ADL values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages people of all races, religions, nationalities, genders, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and veterans to apply. ADL is an equal opportunity employer. Recruitment, hiring, promotions and other terms, conditions and privileges of employment shall be maintained in a manner which does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, marital status, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or military status, or in violation of any applicable Federal, state or local laws.    

ADL will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. For individuals with disabilities who would like to request an accommodation to support the interview process, please contact the People & Culture department at talentacquisition@adl.org.    

ADL will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and all other applicable State, Local, and Federal laws. 

The information in this job description indicates the general nature and level of work expected of employees in this classification. It is not designed to contain, or be interpreted as, a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications and objectives required of employees assigned to this job, nor is it to be interpreted as a contract for employment.