Executive Director
National Association for Temple Administration
THE POSITION
Executive Director (ED)
Compensation listed is an estimate. Actual compensation will very with experience and credentials.
Location: Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco. In-person with remote work options 1-2 days a week.
Our Executive Director of 11 years is retiring, and we need a dynamic, experienced organizational leader to fill his shoes. The ideal transition point is mid-2026, but the amount of overlap and the specific date will depend on circumstances.
THE ORGANIZATION
Congregation Emanu-El is one of the handful of largest Reform Jewish Congregations in the United States, with 1,900 households and growing, and is the oldest congregation west of the Mississippi (established in 1850 right at the outset of the Gold Rush).
We believe that Judaism guides us on our journey to be better people, create stronger community, and help repair the world. Our historic building (constructed 1925) has just been updated and expanded dramatically as part of a successful $115 million capital campaign, including $18 million to be added to endowment. In every way it is ready to continue to serve as a foundation of community life for Jews and non-Jews, with innovative programs in worship, community, education, and social justice that span the cycles and events of life. Our reach is well beyond the Bay Area and we are widely known as one of the national leaders in Reform Judaism.
We are proud of Emanu-El’s historical and current importance to San Francisco. This is the one major city in the United States where Jews were present at the founding, and many of the Congregation’s founders were major players in the early growth of the city. Descendants of many of these families are congregants today and many of them continue to be leaders in various important organizations, as are many other congregants. The current Mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, is related to those founding families and is the son of a former Emanu-El Rabbi.
POSITION DESCRIPTION
The Executive Director shares leadership with the Senior Rabbi, Ryan Bauer, and reports to the Board of Directors. Together with the Board, they set the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic priorities. The ED also oversees the functional groups which make sure that the vision is implemented operationally and financially.
Direct reports to the ED currently are the CFO, Chief Philanthropy Officer, Senior Director of Operations (including the preschool), Director of Programs, and an Executive Assistant. Clergy are deeply involved in some of these areas (certainly programs and education), but less so in the traditional business areas like finance, IT, Communications, HR, legal, and security.
Currently the organization has about 200 full and part-time employees, and contractors. The new organization’s exact structure will depend, in part, on the new ED’s strengths and experience.
The current Executive Director also plays a role in representing the Congregation to many outside publics, including other local, state, and national Jewish organizations, governmental entities, businesses, and non-Jewish community and religious groups. In this and other roles, the Executive Director works hand-in-hand with the Senior Rabbi, CPO, and other clergy. The Senior Rabbi typically is the public face of the organization.
Beyond the specifics of people and organization, the intangibles are especially important. Ours is a mission-driven organization, and the ED must help create a collaborative environment where you get to work with a wide range of highly skilled and extremely competent people who want to make a difference, not to enrich themselves. Many readers of this document will recall what Steve Jobs said to John Sculley when recruiting him to Apple from Pepsi: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” The work being done at Emanu-El has and will continue to influence the country and the world, not just our congregation or the greater Bay Area.
A former President of the Board said that “the best thing about this job is the people you’ll meet and have access to.” She was right. There are interesting puzzles to solve and a real ability to influence the organization.
Specific responsibilities include:
Ø Executive leadership of a large organization as described above.
Ø With the Senior Rabbi, overseeing the development and execution of the strategic plan.
Ø Serving as the primary liaison between the Board, Board committees, and organization management.
Ø Working closely with the Board to support effective governance. This includes attending all Board meetings and helping to set the agenda.
Ø Personal involvement in fundraising as well as management of Philanthropy strategy and staff.
Ø Involvement in career and management development for managerial/supervisory personnel.
BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE
The Executive Director could come from a variety of past experiences. The current ED, David Goldman, was an Emanu-El congregant and Board member and professionally a senior law firm executive. The new ED also could come from the business or non-profit worlds.
At least as important as the specific work experience are proven senior management skills over complex organizations, and a verifiable reputation of absolutely outstanding interpersonal skills. EQ is every bit as important as IQ. The well-being and motivation of the non-clergy staff, who make up over 90% of Emanu-El’s employees, is an essential part of the job.
Although all functional areas are relevant, a strong understanding of finance, budgeting, and accounting is probably near the top of the list. Emanu-El has and will always have a strong CFO, but the financial health of the organization is a core part of the ED’s responsibility. There are a limitless number of ways to spend money; the ED must be the counterbalance to help weigh these ways against revenues and existing financial assets.
Also important in terms of experience, even if not all of these are available in one person, are experiences like these:
Knowledge of San Francisco Jewish community and life.
Working with a Board on all the kinds of issues that have been mentioned.
Annual fundraising.
California HR/employment issues.
Marketing/social media/communications.
CRM/AI/customer data.
Property management and real estate generally.
General legal.
This person must be comfortable ranging from the highly strategic to the deeply operational, often in the same day and even the same hour. We understand that many people are great at one of these and weaker at the other; we want someone strong at both.
All other things being equal, we would prefer someone already in the Bay Area. However, a spectacular candidate from elsewhere absolutely would be considered.
This person will have at least an undergraduate degree and ideally a professional advanced degree/certification (MBA, JD, CPA). But experience is more important than specific education.
PERSONAL FACTORS
As with any senior executive, this person must have high intellect and absolutely unquestioned personal and professional integrity, verifiable by references.
Beyond this, the new ED must embrace the mission and values of the Congregation.
He or she must be able to partner with a dynamic Senior Rabbi with whom there will be very frequent collaboration, and understand that they’re both in the same boat together. And that the boat will sink if their relationship doesn’t work. In a number of areas (programs and education for sure) they have shared responsibility.
In some Jewish congregations the ED is just an inside role, rarely interacting with congregants or the community, kind of a Chief Operating Officer type. That would be an acceptable outcome, but we are used to an ED with strong outward facing skills to go with his inside ones. To find someone like that again would be our ideal.