Assistant Director, Talent Engagement

Location: NY or DC Preferred, Open to Remote Candidates

Reports to: Director, Talent Development (Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence)

Position Overview

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) is seeking an Assistant Director, Talent Engagement to help build and scale a proactive, relationship-driven talent strategy across the Federation system.

This role will lead efforts to develop and sustain meaningful relationships with Jewish communal professionals across North America, strengthening talent pipelines, supporting career growth, and enabling Federations to more effectively identify and connect with high-quality candidates.

The Assistant Director will help shape and advance JFNA’s Talent Engagement model, developing an ongoing, systemwide approach to talent engagement, relationship management, tracking, and mapping. The role will bring together talent intelligence and strategic execution to strengthen JFNA’s ability to understand, engage, and connect talent across the field.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Engagement & Relationship Building

• Develop and cultivate a diverse network of professionals across functional areas and career stages, including both active and passive job seekers.
• Lead proactive outreach strategies to identify and engage high-potential talent.
• Serve as a trusted resource for professionals exploring career pathways within the Federation system and broader Jewish communal field.

Talent Pipeline Development

• Create and manage a dynamic, systemwide pipeline of candidates for roles across Federations and partner organizations.
• Develop and sustain engagement with high-potential talent, gaining insight into evolving career interests, readiness, mobility, and long-term goals.
• Partner with the search team to identify and surface aligned candidates for active searches.
• Facilitate connections between professionals and relevant career opportunities across the Federation system and broader field.

Talent Tracking & Systems Management

• Develop and implement best practices for talent data management and engagement tracking.
• Leverage and enhance existing recruitment and talent systems, including Greenhouse and LinkedIn Recruiter, to track talent data, including:
• Geographic preferences and relocation openness
• Readiness for and interest in various role types, functions, and levels
• Career interests and long-term goals
• Manage consistent data entry, tagging, and maintenance to build searchable, actionable talent pools.

Talent Mapping & Insights

• Develop and advance talent snapshots across communities, identifying:
• Talent distribution by geography, function, and level
• Emerging leadership pipelines
• Gaps and opportunities across the system
• Translate talent data and relationship insights into information that can inform search strategy, workforce planning, and field-wide talent development.

Field Engagement & Collaboration

• Connect professionals to career opportunities across communities through a thoughtful, relationship-driven approach.
• Build rapport with Federation and communal partners to understand evolving talent needs and opportunities.
• Strengthen JFNA’s position as a trusted partner in talent strategy and career development.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in talent acquisition, recruitment, career coaching, relationship management, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain relationships with professionals across career stages and functional areas.
• Experience leveraging CRM, applicant tracking, or recruitment systems; Greenhouse and LinkedIn Recruiter preferred.
• Strong strategic and organizational skills, with the ability to translate relationships and data into actionable insights.
• Ability to independently build and execute new processes, partnerships, and engagement strategies.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and professionalism when working with confidential candidate and career information.
• Familiarity with the Jewish nonprofit sector strongly preferred.

Core Competencies

• Relationship-driven mindset with a strong focus on candidate experience
• Strategic thinking paired with strong execution
• High level of discretion and professionalism
• Ability to identify patterns and trends across career conversations and talent data
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills
• Curiosity, initiative, and sound judgment

As an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer, Jewish Federations celebrates and welcomes people of all identities and backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Compensation and Benefits

Jewish Federations offers a comprehensive benefits package (medical, dental, vision, FSA), including a defined contribution plan, generous vacation policy, paid legal and Jewish holidays, life insurance, generous parental leave policies, and flexible remote work practices. Our compensation philosophy strives to be externally competitive and internally fair. Additionally, we offer voluntary learning programs throughout the year in subjects of interest to our staff.

Salary Range

$80,000 - $90,000

Federation Applicants: Jewish Federations of North America is committed to supporting local Jewish Federations and to identifying the best talent for the system. If a current Federation employee is hired for this role, we will work with the local Federation to ensure an appropriate timeline and communications strategy. We welcome confidential initial inquiries to learn more about the role; however, current Federation employees who move to a finalist round of interviews will be asked to communicate with the Federation about their candidacy.