Executive Director- Windsor

Organization: Windsor Jewish Federation & Community Centre

The Windsor Jewish Federation & Community Centre is seeking a passionate, dynamic, visionary professional to lead it through its next stage of organizational development, building on a period of exceptional transformation and creativity of the past few years.

Key to the success of this opportunity is continuing to galvanize and leverage the full organizational and philanthropic potential of Windsor Jewish community, to continue to inspire and strengthen all members of the community.

Also critical to the success of this opportunity is the sustenance of important partnerships and relationships with the broader Windsor community including all relevant government bodies, faith-based and cultural organizations and law enforcement, in a post October 7 environment.

The Windsor Jewish Federation & Community Centre encompasses the Windsor Jewish Federation (WJF), Windsor Jewish Community Centre (WJCC), Windsor Jewish Communal Projects (WJCP), United Jewish Appeal of Windsor Trust (UJA), and I.L. Peretz Senior Citizen Corporation (ILPH).

The Organization & Community

Windsor has a small but vibrant Jewish community composed of approximately 1,200 members. The Windsor Jewish Federation & Community Centre serves as a central hub to share in the richness and culture of Jewish life through social, recreational, educational and cultural activities. Windsor Jewish Federation & Community Centre works in coordination with but independent from the community’s three Jewish religious institutions. Our goal is to offer activities and programs based on Jewish values to enrich life for the Jewish and greater Windsor communities, offering support, programming and enrichment.

Windsor, with a population of roughly 250,000, borders Detroit, Michigan, which has a large and well‑organized Jewish community of approximately 70,000 members and affords ready access to resources that are not plentiful in our smaller community.

This is an extremely important moment in the community’s history, as it works to strengthen the impact and position of the Jewish community and represent the Jewish community’s interests and concerns in the broader Windsor community.

The Executive Director Position:

The Executive Director serves as the chief professional officer and provides the overall leadership to, and management of, the organization.

This includes: all aspects of financial oversight and resource development; organizational representation locally, nationally and internationally; community relations and advocacy; management of human and financial resources including the professional team; budgets and allocations; community programming; and lay participation and governance.

The Executive Director will report to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors through the (lay) President. The Executive Director will oversee all staff.

Success in this role will be a function of the candidate’s ability to marshal the full organizational and philanthropic potential of Windsor’s Jewish community, to inspire and strengthen all members of the community and to represent the Jewish community in the broader Windsor community.

The scope and responsibility of the role of Executive Director includes, but is not limited to the following:

• Provide ongoing strategic direction and professional leadership to the organization.
• Collaborate with the professional and volunteer teams to ensure sound implementation of these plans and evaluation of impact.
• Be the public face and ambassador of the Federation to represent and advocate on its behalf with community partners and government organizations.
• Build and diversify the fund development strategy with a particular focus on the Annual UJA Campaign.
• Develop and actualize plans to enhance donor relations, increase and diversify giving, inspire and engage volunteers.
• Assure the management of all administrative aspects of the campaign including ongoing maintenance of the campaign data base.
• Grow the planned giving program, endowments and bequests, harnessing the generational transfer of wealth.
• Diversify the funding streams including grants and other potential revenue streams.
• Board of Directors/Executive Committee relations.
• Inspire, engage and manage lay leadership’s continual and dynamic involvement and oversee a plan for succession, as appropriate.
• Ensure that the committees, the Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee are provided with timely and appropriate resources, support and information to maximize their ability to contribute to and direct the organization.
• Understand and strengthen the relevance of the collaborative lay/professional partnership in providing strong leadership to the organization.

Programs & Services

• Oversee the creation of an annual programming calendar that increases community engagement and is executed in coordination with WJF’s fellow community stakeholders.
• Supervise all programmatic initiatives.
• Cultivate and expand good relationships with all local community partners.
• Reassess and realign the programmatic initiatives to meet the changing needs of the community.

Internal Management & Operations

• An early agenda following placement of the successful candidate will be the undertaking of a new Strategic Plan in collaboration with the lay leadership.
• Once the new Strategic Plan has been crafted and adopted, the Executive Director will create an organizational structure that responds to its requirements.
• Recruit, train, supervise & mentor staff.
• Develop and manage the operating budget.
• Liaise with appropriate national/continental and international organizations to maximize access to services and entitlements and ensure that Windsor’s voice is heard.

Candidate Qualifications:

The Executive Director must be a passionate, strategic, energetic, visionary leader committed to all aspects of community development and to building the capacities and position of the Windsor Jewish Federation & Community Centre.

Experience And Technical Competencies:

• A minimum of three years’ experience in a senior management position.
• Proven expertise and track record in fundraising.
• Combination of business/managerial experience and exposure to or working within a not-for-profit organization in a lay or professional role preferably in the Jewish community.
• Appreciation of, and commitment to, Israel, Jewish values and Jewish life.
• Superior and proactive interpersonal, management and organizational skills.
• A proven track record of effective staff management and development.

Personal Characteristics:

• Keen ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a complex array of stakeholders – donors, colleagues, volunteers, civic leaders, law enforcement.
• A team builder, able to inspire, influence, and build credibility ensuring accountability and organizational excellence.
• Strong collaboration and consensus-building skills.
• Diplomatic, respectful, and able to manage conflict without compromising stated objectives.
• Extremely organized and capable of multi-tasking.
• Dedication to completion of tasks within agreed-upon timelines.
• Outstanding communication skills, both oral and written.
• Energetic, proactive, flexible, decisive with an ability to sustain a positive organizational culture.
• Sound analytical and problem-solving abilities, with an ability to make decisions quickly.
• Ability to lead and manage in a crisis.
• Ability to lead change initiatives, developing support and buy in.
• Intimate knowledge of the Windsor Jewish community.

Education Requirements:

• Degree/Diploma or equivalent in Education, Social Work, Business, Marketing or other related fields.
• Salary range for this position is $110,000 to $135,000 (Canadian dollars, commensurate with experience) plus benefits.

Residency:

• This is an “on the ground” position and will require the successful candidate to be a resident of the greater Windsor area. WJF will work with any successful candidate that is not a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident of Canada to achieve such status. Absence of such status should not be a barrier to applying for this position.

Timeline:

• Ideally, the Search Committee will have identified and placed a successful candidate in this role by October 31, 2026. Accordingly, priority will be extended to candidates whose applications have been received by August 31, 2026.

Thank you for your interest in this role and the bright future of Windsor’s Jewish community. We look forward to a fair, transparent and productive search process that will bring forward a great next leader of our organization and community.

#J-18808-Ljbffr