President / CEO Job Description

Organization Overview

United Way of Southeast Mississippi is a local non-profit organization that strives to make a positive impact in Forrest, Lamar, Marion, and Perry counties.  By providing funds to partner agencies, United Way of Southeast Mississippi addresses community issues in four impact areas: healthy community, youth opportunity, financial security, and community resiliency.

With the help of many dedicated volunteers, the United Way of Southeast Mississippi works to connect people with needs, to the resources available to meet those needs, for the purpose of creating positive change across Southeast Mississippi.

Our mission: Cultivate partnerships in our community to improve lives through education, economic mobility and healthy living.

Overview of Responsibilities

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) reports to, and is programmatically responsible to, the Board of Directors of the United Way of Southeast Mississippi. The CEO is the leader of the organization, maintaining the vision for Community Impact that is achieved through the efforts of a diverse team of volunteers, staff and community partners. The CEO leads the effort to mobilize voluntary and financial resources from corporate, individual, and public sectors in support of the organization’s Community Impact Agenda. The CEO possesses a high level of broad business skills to effectively and efficiently deploy and manage the organization’s human and financial resources. The CEO is the steward of the United Way Brand in Southeast Mississippi and seeks to protect and enhance the reputation of United Way.

Key Performance Areas/Essential Functions:

As guided by UWSEMS’s strategic business plan the CEO’s key performance areas and essential functions include, but are not limited to:

●   Community Impact

The CEO is responsible for the overall impact that United Way has in Southeast Mississippi, with particular emphasis on steering and increasing the capacity of the Community.

●   Impact Agenda

The CEO works closely with the Board, other volunteers and staff to craft and implement strategy to achieve measurable and sustainable results within defined target areas. The CEO ensures that community leaders, donors and agency partners are aware of United Way’s programs, processes and outcomes - and that they have the opportunity to provide input to how United Way can improve the results being achieved.

●   Resource Development

The CEO leads the effort to assemble and deploy the voluntary resources needed to conduct an annual campaign that achieves the targets in the strategic plan. The CEO works to identify, cultivate and solicit prospective donors and key leaders; leverages personal and professional contacts and relationships into fundraising opportunities; and promotes a resource development culture among staff and volunteers.

●   Strategic Management

The CEO serves as the principal resource to the Board of Directors and its key committees    and gives strong direction in policy formation and interpretation. The CEO works with the Board to assess the performance of the organization against established goals and works with the Board to craft future goals and strategies.

●   Organizational Management

The CEO ensures that the fiscal integrity of the organization is being maintained within approved parameters established by the Board of Directors. The CEO supervises the staff within the organization and establishes individual goals and development plans for the staff.

Experience/Position Requirements

Successful CEO candidates will be able to demonstrate a prior career path that includes:

• A combination of education and experience normally represented by a Bachelor’s degree is required but a master’s degree is preferred. 

•  Substantial experience working as a manager (or leadership level volunteer) of a nonprofit organization (United Way experience is desirable). Alternatively, candidates may demonstrate substantial experience in leadership and management of similar or larger sized for-profit organizations along with a personal commitment to human services in a voluntary capacity.

• Expertise in areas relevant to UWSEMS.

• Ability to command the confidence and respect of stakeholders.

• A demonstrated track record of promoting and building collaborative ventures for community projects.   

• Experience in building teams, developing partnerships and conflict management

• Experience in budget management and preparation.

• Experience in building revenue and increasing philanthropic support. Demonstrates a high level of intelligence and intellectual willingness to explore new ideas and innovative approaches to solving problems.

Technical Proficiency Requirements:

•  Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

• Experience using Google Workspace tools, including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Gmail, and Google Drive.

•  Ability to create, edit, and manage documents, spreadsheets, and presentations across both platforms.

• Comfortable working in both cloud-based and desktop environments.

The successful CEO will possess unquestioned integrity; a long-term perspective; a strong sense of accountability; a willingness to work hard to get things done right and on schedule; the confidence to ask and close financial contributions; wisdom and good judgment; the ability to shift directions when needed; excellent written and verbal communication skills; and a sense of fairness.

The position requires access to personal transportation, the ability to work evenings and weekends upon occasion and the ability to perform moderate level physical tasks including, but not limited to, lifting, working at a desk and standing for periods of time. 

A criminal background check will be required for the successful candidate, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.