Chief Operating Officer

Salary Range:$ To $ Annually

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC) is hiring a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead the organization’s internal management and serve as second in command. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) sets direction and the standard for the organization and leads it externally. The COO makes that direction and standard real inside the organization by managing the six department leads, running the operating rhythm, leading executive-level projects, and translating where DBEDC is going into what it means for each department and for staff day-to-day.

The COO joins an Executive Leadership Team with two peers: the Chief Real Estate Officer, who leads real estate development and asset management, and the Chief Development and Communications Officer, who leads resource development and communications. The three Chiefs work as equals and as thought partners to one another and to the CEO. Much of DBEDC’s most important work sits where their areas meet, and the COO is expected to build strong working relationships with both from the start.

Dorchester Bay is a dual-certified community development corporation and community development financial institution serving Dorchester, Roxbury, and nearby neighborhoods. We have about 30 staff, a roughly $10 million operating budget, more than 1000 units of affordable housing, and a community loan fund that finances small businesses and real estate in our neighborhoods. We are a small organization with a large footprint, and our management structure needs to catch up to our complexity.

The Board recently adopted three strategic priorities:
Expand Community Ownership and Wealth;
Advance Housing as a Platform for Health; and Reframe Education as a Wealth and Power Building Tool and Prepare Residents for the Future Economy. Delivering on them requires an internal leader who can turn priorities into operating plans and hold the organization to them.

Community Engagement, Workforce Development, and Community Lending need to function as one economic stabilization and mobility engine for our neighborhoods rather than as separate lines of work.

Every senior leader currently reports to the CEO. That is too many direct reports for one person to manage well while also leading strategy, policy, the Board, enterprise finance, and external relationships. Our department leads deserve consistent executive management: clear expectations, practical coaching, direct feedback, and support in delivering results.

DBEDC is a technology-forward organization. We expect our leaders to use technology and data to work more effectively, to adopt new tools quickly, and to bring their teams along.

• The department leads.The COO manages, coaches, and develops the six department leads. Every lead has outcome goals, a development plan, and a manager who follows through. The COO raises the standard of leadership across the group and works with the CEO to make the decisions necessary to ensure every department is led at the level our residents and partners deserve.
• The operating rhythm and executive-level projects.The COO runs the weekly, monthly, and quarterly management cadence, makes sure decisions get made and carried out, and leads the cross-department projects that require executive ownership, including those shared with real estate and development.
• Translating direction into practice.The COO turns the direction the CEO sets and the priorities the Board has adopted into practical operating expectations for each department: what each team is expected to deliver, how the work is organized, and how the three program departments work together as one engine.

Department leads own their departments. The…