Job Openings

Title: Regional Director

Team: Guitars Over Guns Organization—Miami

Start Date: August-September 2018

Guitars Over Guns is a nationally recognized, award-winning non-profit organization that is challenging the perception of what is possible for youth that experience the transformative power of music-based mentorship.

Led by co-founder and CNN Hero, Dr. Chad Bernstein, Guitars Over Guns is a fast-paced, technology-driven organization with a respected brand and a strong presence in the community. We are looking for a charismatic leader with the desire to be an integral part of an organization that has great culture and incredible momentum. In the last five years, we have doubled our operational budget twice, been internationally recognized in our field, and attracted major institutional partners.

Guitars Over Guns is a lean operation with five full-time staff and a part-time accountant. In Miami, we are in the midst of accelerated growth. In the 2018-19 school year, we will be serving nearly 400 students with 40 mentors and eight site coordinators who cooperate with self-selecting, invested teachers at each of our 15 school-based sites. We all work hard and collectively have a great time doing it.

Overview

The primary roles of the Regional Director (RD) are to maintain the organization’s culture, program quality, and sustainable growth in the region, and to serve as a local expert and spokesperson for Guitars Over Guns.

Internally, the RD serves an integral role on Guitars Over Guns’ leadership team, working directly with Guitars Over Guns’ administrative team, mentors, and partners to ensure the organization meets student achievement, mentor satisfaction, and quality control goals, in pursuit of the larger organization’s goals. Externally, the RD serves as a local voice in the public eye, seeking out and fulfilling opportunities for public engagement.

This is not a desk job. This position is all about relationships, both internally and in the community. We are seeking a dynamic individual who is passionate about the work and the opportunity to have a huge impact on the organization. This role will require a self-starter that can be public facing and autonomous and desires a seat at the leadership table. There will be opportunities and incentives for professional growth, both in the position and in building a team. Our work environment is fast-paced but fun, casual but professional, and very upbeat. We do serious work but having a sense of humor and a genuine desire to find joy in what we do lies at the core of our values.  

The Role – Broadly

  • Grow and maintain the on-the-ground programming for Guitars Over Guns Miami
  • Be a steward of the vision and mission of organization while making the necessary adjustments to meet the needs of students, communities, and mentors
  • Plan and execute mentor and staff development
  • Lead each program site to ambitious musical, social-emotional, and academic outcomes.
  • Collaborate with program site coordinators to liaise with Guitars Over Guns leadership, establish and maintain organizational culture, and ensure high quality programming at all sites.

Day-to-day Responsibilities:

Management of Mentor Leadership Continuum: Preparation, Support, Development, and Leadership – supporting mentors to become effective teachers and strong leaders

  • Mentor Recruitment, Placement, & Development: Ensuring the appropriate placement of mentors based on best musical fit, ability to build relationships quickly and effectively, classroom management skills, professionalism and overall experience in low-income communities
  • Curricular Development: RD will play a critical role in the development & roll-out of a curricular plan with each site director, which will be maintained through specific milestones and assessment during the school year
  • Peer Mentor Development – Engage, develop and support students to become mentors upon reaching age eligibility

 Maintenance of Regional Program Quality, Culture & Vision

  • RD is responsible for maintaining excellent program quality through effective and consistent communication with site coordinators, teachers, principals, families & other stakeholders to ensure the mission of the program is being lived out in each school site   

Management of Local Partners: Support in Strategic Partnerships

  • Identify and facilitate opportunities: Working in collaboration with organizational & staff support to identify and facilitate opportunities for Guitars Over Guns to partner with schools, networks, and education organizations; building a strong network of relationships and coalitions that are mission-aligned
  • Build regional network: Research, cultivate, and steward relationships with strong, mission-aligned entities (such as current partners Spotify, Carnival Cruise Lines Entertainment, Teach For America, and Communities in Schools)
  • Development Support: Ensuring the financial strength and sustainability of the region by building and deepening partnerships with a diverse portfolio of public and private supporters and ensuring a strong, diverse local board is driving these efforts

Collective Responsibility: Regional Projects

  • Participation in Internal Affairs: working closely with the administrative team to evolve best practices for high-level talent recruitment, engagement, and development to foster a thriving, diverse, and inclusive regional team
  • Regional Identity Development: RD will define and maintain the region-specific impact plan and make sure that all decisions are appropriately informed by that plan

Pre-Requisites

  • Strong commitment to Guitars Over Guns’ core values and mission
  • Functional understanding of music/the arts to support our mentors (teaching artists)
  • Displays a sophisticated level of cultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence
  • Ability to motivate and influence others and build relationships across cultural lines of difference in order to achieve a shared vision
  • Exceptional communication skills, including through various media channels, in an engaging, clear and concise way
  • Analytical – able to draw informed conclusions from statistically meaningful data
  • Operates with a sense of urgency and imagination to achieve ambitious, measurable results

Preferred

  • Bachelor’s degree
  • Prior musical experience as a performer or with an arts organization
  • At least two years of classroom teaching experience preferred
  • At least one year of achieving ambitious outcomes in a previous leadership position
  • Experience working with underserved communities

Work Demands

  • Willingness to work some weekends and evenings as needed based on program schedules, events, and partnership opportunities
  • Ability to travel independently to various school sites around Miami frequently during work hours
  • Commitment to professionalism in all public and social settings as the regional Guitars Over Guns brand ambassador

The RD will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer. Salary is $50,000-60,000 and will include health care coverage. Position will be based in Miami.

About Guitars Over Guns:

We believe that all young people should have the opportunity to reach their full potential through the transformative nature of music and the arts and the power of mentorship. Guitars Over Guns delivers high impact arts-based youth development to at-risk youth as an alternative to the negative and harmful influences that typically dominate their environments. Since 2008, Guitars Over Guns has increased the academic achievement and engagement for nearly 3,000 students. 

The Guitars Over Guns program is designed to engage youth through culturally relevant artistic mediums, using a hands-on approach to learn music, dance, and visual arts. Professional artists are paired with small groups of students for the school-year, using Guitars Over Guns’ unique research-based curriculum to build strong mentoring relationships (imagine if your after-school program used the music of The Roots, Ed Sheeran, and Kendrick Lamar to transform your sense of self and connect you to a caring adult). Through this connection, mentors are able to help their students navigate and overcome the obstacles standing between them success. 

 

Contact:

Send resume and cover letter to:

Chad Bernstein

CEO/Founder

chad@guitarsoverguns.org