JOB SUMMARY

The Vice President/Executive Director is responsible for leading strategies and meeting goals set by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This includes oversight and operation of the Minority Business Accelerator, and the growth and development of the Chamber’s DE&I programming. The Vice President/Executive Director will play a significant role publicly in building community-based partnerships and serve as a resource to the business community to advance the ecosystem for minority-owned enterprises. The Vice President/Executive Director will balance a portfolio of collaboratively developing strategies while developing and leading programming across the Chamber’s various platforms.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Provide planning, vision and operation of the Chamber’s minority business accelerator, including cohort recruitment, volunteer management, and investor cultivation and retention.
2. Collaborate with regional stakeholders to enhance the ecosystem for minority owned enterprises.  
3. Oversee strategic vision, leadership and operation of the Chamber’s DEI platform, including programmatic design and delivery, direct supervision of Sr Manager for DEI, the growth of the minority business directory and Chamber’s DEI resource offerings.
4. Build relationships of trust and respect with internal and external partners to amplify DEI practices within the tri-county region.
5. Leverage and support connectivity to resources for businesses working to expand their DEI efforts.
6. Represent the Chamber on community boards and committees that directly impact the work of the Chamber’s DEI efforts.
7. Exercise budgetary responsibilities over DEI Budget and hold primary responsibility for building a sustainable set of resources and programmatic offerings. Play a critical role in developing annual revenue goals and lead DEI investor retention efforts.
8. Actively collaborate with Marketing and Communications to develop thoughtful and relevant strategies and approaches that represent the Chamber’s DEI brand to the broader community.
9. Perform other incidental and related duties as assigned and required.

OTHER RELEVANT ATTRIBUTES NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS

• Self-starter who can anticipate the next thing, move, etc. and can help see where Chamber should or shouldn’t weigh in.
• A strategic thinker, who can see the big picture
• Understands the Chamber and has buy-in into our mission
• A hard worker, not a clock watcher and someone who will work to get the project done.
• A professional who is an excellent representative of our organization.
• Team oriented. Not an “I”, but a “we” person.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Senior Manager of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Grecia Hamilton
• Minority Business Accelerator Instructor

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or ability required. Also listed below are the physical demands that must be met by the employee and the work environment that the employee will encounter while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in business or other related field or comparable experience in education, nonprofit industry or related diversity, equity, and inclusion

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Excellent team management skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with extensive knowledge of grammar.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and objectives simultaneously and work under deadlines.
• Skilled in working with volunteer leaders and in building relationships at all levels of an organization.
• Extensive knowledge of Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced team environment with eye for detail.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule as needed.

COMPETENCIES

• Analytical skills – develops all types of reports useful to management.
• Analytical skills- analyzes client requirements and seeks creative solutions
• Problem solving skills – identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner and gathers and analyzes information skillfully.
• Communication skills – conveys information persuasively in a positive or negative situation and demonstrates excellent interpersonal skills.
• Management skills – exhibits the ability to get along well with others, is open to new ideas, is available to staff, accepts authority and responsibility and is customer-service oriented.
• Quality management – continuously looks for ways to improve and promote quality and demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness.
• Judgment – displays willingness to make independent decisions, exhibits sound judgment, makes timely decisions, and accepts responsibility for results.
• Planning/organizing – prioritizes and plans work activities without supervision, uses time efficiently and develops realistic action plans.
• Safety and security – actively promotes and personally observes safety, security and confidentiality procedures, and uses materials and equipment responsibly.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

While performing the duties of this job, the employee uses hands to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit and/or stand. The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and depth perception. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions

WORK ENVIRONMENT

While performing the duties of this job, the employee will normally work in a climate-controlled office environment.  The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.