Little Kids Rock

Position: National Program Director (Full Time)

Location: Cedar Grove, New Jersey (located in Essex County, 20 mi northwest of New York City)

Organization Overview:
Little Kids Rock (LKR) is a non-profit organization which has grown to become one of the leading free instrumental music programs in the country, serving public schools with high concentrations of low-income students. Since its founding in 2002, the organization has brought modern rock music instruction programs and instruments to more than 160,000 underserved public school kids across the U.S. It currently operates programs in eleven states, reaching more than 83,000 elementary, middle school and high school students per year, providing a modern-band curriculum, teacher training, and instruments.

At the heart of the LKR program are its beliefs that everyone, young and old, can learn and love to create music and that the experience of learning to play a musical instrument can be a transformative one in a young person's life. Through partnerships with school districts, LKR is able to work with teachers to train them in its innovative curriculum - which is built around the rock, pop, rap, hip-hop, funk, blues, and reggae that children already listen to and enjoy every day - and supply them with the instruments and curricular support they need to establish successful, meaningful music programs, which inspire underprivileged young people and support their self-expression, self-confidence, and creativity.

Position Overview:
The National Program Director will be a dynamic and charismatic leader who is responsible for bringing a popular, modern music curriculum, teacher training and free instruments to public schools through LKR's extraordinary rock and roll music program. He/she will bring a high degree of credibility, intellect and gravitas enabling him/her to successfully foster new, strategically valuable relationships with various members of school boards, districts, and other officials nationwide. He/she will be responsible for planning programmatic activities, creating strategies for organizational growth, maintaining and nurturing existing high-level district relationships, and creating and managing the program budget. In addition, the National Program Director will oversee a team responsible for providing teacher training and support across all LKR sites, developing highly engaging and accessible curricular materials for music instruction, data collection and assessment, teacher evaluation, teacher and community communications and recruitment. He/she will bring the sort of passion and mission-driven motivation that inspired the formation of the LKR organization and combine it with the managerial savvy and operational efficiency skills which are essential to LKR's continued growth and evolution. This is a highly dynamic role in a social entrepreneurial organization that is transforming kids' lives.

Reports To:
Chief Operating Officer for day-to-day issues with direct access to the Founder/ED for fundraising purposes

Core Responsibilities:
* Together with the CEO, COO and their designated senior management team, participate in setting the overall strategy and specific annual goals and targets for expanding the LKR program into more schools and states

* Nurture existing and establish new high-level relationships within school districts and at the individual school building level to ensure ongoing support for LKR programs that are in place, and to build support for new program agreements

* Proactively dialogue with partner school districts to foster program growth and improvement of existing programs

* Create and manage the budget for programmatic activities, including restricted and non-restricted funds

* Establish clear goals and objectives for the Director of Training, Program Managers and Director of Curriculum that are in sync with meeting the needs of existing programs and with meeting the growth expectations as agreed with the CEO and COO

* As one of the key ambassadors of LKR, espouse the organization's extraordinary value and accomplishments at every opportunity

* As necessary, serve as proxy to the CEO in matters of external communication with key stakeholders and partners

* Establish, maintain and continuously review systems, processes and procedures to ensure that the programs are run efficiently, effectively, safely and in accordance with the terms of the agreements with each school

* Together with the Director of Training, set the vision and action plan for the training of teachers nationwide and provide guidance, as necessary, for its implementation by the Director of Training and regional Program Directors

* Ensure that the LKR curriculum is effectively conveyed to new and existing teachers in terms of clarity, training, and training refreshment

* Establish criteria for data collection and assessment to provide metrics with respect to the efficacy of the program as well as the resulting satisfaction-level of participating school districts, schools, teachers and students

* Nurture relationships with existing vendors and establish new vendor relationships for the benefit of purchasing instruments at optimal prices for the program

* Regularly provide coaching and reviews to LKR program staff

* Continuously seek to retain, hire and mentor full and part-time program staff who share the mission and values of LKR and who bring intelligence, innovation, and integrity that enhance the organization's ability to positively impact the lives of children.

Position: National Development Director (Full Time)

Location: Cedar Grove, New Jersey (located in Essex County, 20 mi northwest of New York City)

Organization Overview:
Little Kids Rock (LKR) is a non-profit organization which has grown to become one of the leading free instrumental music programs in the country, serving public schools with high concentrations of low-income students. Since its founding in 2002, the organization has brought modern rock music instruction programs and instruments to more than 160,000 underserved public school kids across the U.S. It currently operates programs in eleven states, reaching more than 83,000 elementary, middle school and high school students per year, providing a modern-band curriculum, teacher training, and instruments.

At the heart of the LKR program are its beliefs that everyone, young and old, can learn and love to create music and that the experience of learning to play a musical instrument can be a transformative one in a young person's life. Through partnerships with school districts, LKR is able to work with teachers to train them in its innovative curriculum - which is built around the rock, pop, rap, hip-hop, funk, blues, and reggae that children already listen to and enjoy every day - and supply them with the instruments and curricular support they need to establish successful, meaningful music programs, which inspire underprivileged young people and support their self-expression, self-confidence, and creativity.

Position Overview:
The National Development Director serves as a critical member of the senior management team and is inspired by the opportunity to assist donors across all funding streams to achieve maximum impact with their giving. The director is the thought leader for all fundraising initiatives. S/he crafts the annual fundraising plan and budget and sets the organization's strategy for meeting aggressive fundraising goals. S/he works with development staff to set clear revenue targets and holds them accountable for reaching them. In addition, s/he drives activity up to the founder/executive director and the national and local boards of directors, ensuring they are supported in their substantial fundraising efforts and that their limited time is leveraged to generate maximum revenue. Finally, s/he identifies, cultivates and closes new prospects and stewards existing donors with a goal of increasing donation levels over time. While this is a comprehensive fundraising position, the director will concentrate on activities much like a major gift officer, soliciting/closing outright gifts of $10,000 or more, with special emphasis on six and seven figure gifts. Additionally, the candidate must have the leadership and managerial skills to maximize an array of assets like an enthusiastic and well-connected board of directors, a charismatic founder and executive director who is an award winning social entrepreneur, and an intelligent and eager development team consisting of a development officer, a grants manager, a communications and outreach coordinator, and a development assistant.

Reports To:
Chief Operating Officer for day-to-day issues with direct access to the Founder/ED for fundraising purposes

Core Responsibilities:
The national development director is the primary strategist and thought leader for all fundraising activities.

Specifically, the development director will:
* Development and implement the annual fundraising plan, ensuring that all development activities are consistent with meeting aggressive fundraising goals

* Along with the founder/ED, be an external "face" of Little Kids Rock, building strong and productive relationships with donors across all revenue streams

* Work closely with the founder/ED to maximize the impact of his fundraising efforts

* Build strong relationships with the national and locals boards of directors so that s/he becomes their trusted partner in fundraising

* Manage the development staff, holding them accountable for meeting clear fundraising goals while ensuring they have ample opportunity for professional growth

* Work closely with the deputy director/COO to assess current fundraising systems and structures, ensuring the development department is operating at the highest level of efficiency and effectiveness

* Establish and implement a robust program to expand current fundraising and cultivation events, direct mail campaigns, and social media fundraising

* Develop and manage all departmental budgets

Position: COO / Deputy Director (Full Time)

Location: Cedar Grove, New Jersey (located in Essex County, 20 mi northwest of New York City)

Organization Overview:
Little Kids Rock (LKR) is a non-profit organization which has grown to become one of the leading free instrumental music programs in the country, serving public schools with high concentrations of low-income students. Since its founding in 2002, the organization has brought modern rock music instruction programs and instruments to more than 160,000 underserved public school kids across the U.S. It currently operates programs in eleven states, reaching more than 83,000 elementary, middle school and high school students per year, providing a modern-band curriculum, teacher training, and instruments.

At the heart of the LKR program are its beliefs that everyone, young and old, can learn and love to create music and that the experience of learning to play a musical instrument can be a transformative one in a young person's life. Through partnerships with school districts, LKR is able to work with teachers to train them in its innovative curriculum - which is built around the rock, pop, rap, hip-hop, funk, blues, and reggae that children already listen to and enjoy every day - and supply them with the instruments and curricular support they need to establish successful, meaningful music programs, which inspire underprivileged young people and support their self-expression, self-confidence, and creativity.

Position Overview:

Because of its significant growth, Little Kids Rock seeks a dynamic and experienced deputy director/COO who will be responsible for leading and managing all day-to-day functions of the organization, freeing the founder/executive director to move into a more purely external role focused on promoting the Little Kids Rock brand and building support for Little Kids Rock's work. The deputy director/COO will work closely with the founder/ED to develop, implement, and measure the success of a robust strategic plan that includes goals for aggressive growth. In addition to leading, inspiring and managing all staff (program, development , office management), the deputy director/COO will assess and improve upon all internal systems, structures, and operational platforms, ensuring that the organization is functioning at the highest possible level of professionalism, effectiveness and efficiency. This is an exciting opportunity to collaborate with a charismatic founder/ED who is an award winning social entrepreneur, have tremendous impact on a growing organization, and help bring music education to students across the country.

Reports To:
Founder/Executive Director

Core Responsibilities:
* Serve as a trusted partner to the founder/ED, working closely with him to establish the strategy for organizational growth and ensuring that the quality of the program remains exceptionally high

* Lead, inspire and manage all staff (development officer, program director, director of training, director of curriculum, program manager, communications & outreach coordinator, program specialist, grant writer, development assistant, office manager and additional support staff to be hired) ensuring they have the support, training and resources to do their jobs effectively and joyfully

* Work especially closely with the national program director and national development director to ensure that their activities support programmatic and financial growth objectives

* Develop, implement and oversee appropriate processes for all aspects of a growing human resources function

* Oversee the strategic development of effective financial processes, including the day-to-day management of all financial functions of the organization

* Develop, implement, and manage efficient processes in the areas of legal and compliance, IT support and maintenance, and physical plant.