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Stephen Wise Free Synagogue

SWFS

Employment

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If you are committed to advancing Jewish life in New York City and helping others embrace their heritage, consider joining our staff.

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a 501(c)(3) religious organization, employs full-time and part-time staff who support the values and principles of the synagogue. If you are committed to advancing Jewish life in New York City and helping others to embrace their heritage, consider joining our staff. Career opportunities for Jewish educators, nursery school teachers, administrative, facilities, and marketing staff, and other positions are listed as they become available.

Director of Admissions

Since its founding, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue has been at the forefront of American Judaism, taking bold and innovative stances on the issues of the times. Under the leadership of Rabbi Ammi Hirsch, a leading voice of the Reform movement, Stephen Wise serves as a catalyst for progressive Jewish thought, committed social action in the local community and beyond, and support for Israel. The synagogue seeks a director of admissions to lead recruitment and engagement efforts with families who seek to impart the joy and values of Reform Judaism in their children through its Early Childhood Center and Religious School.

OVERVIEW

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is a welcoming progressive Reform Jewish congregation on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Guided by the core pillars of Torah, avodah (worship), and g’milut chasadim (acts of loving kindness), Stephen Wise forges proud Jewish identities through worship, education, and activism at every age. The engagement of young families is a central component of the synagogue’s mission to provide a relevant, contemporary, Jewish experience for busy involved New York City Jewish families.

The synagogue’s staff, together with its world-class team of clergy and educators serve a membership of nearly 750 households. Stephen Wise has a long history of engaging families and forming Jewish identity at the youngest age, instilling a strong foundation for years to come. Based on the world-renowned schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, the Early Childhood Center (ECC) nurtures the whole child, infusing joy and love into our teaching practices. The ECC is a professionally run school, with exceptionally trained and qualified educators, an active parent community, and a track record of graduates moving on to success in the full range of New York’s finest kindergarten and elementary school programs. Stephen Wise’s Religious School builds and intensifies Jewish identity by providing meaningful opportunities for Jewish learning for children ages five to 18. In turn, these schools create deep and engaging long-term relationships for the synagogue with families who organically become active members and leaders long into the future.

THE ROLE

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is searching for a creative and entrepreneurial Director of Admissions to maximize the synagogue’s ability to attract, engage, and enroll young families in its ECC and Religious School.

Reporting to the senior rabbi, the director of admissions will work closely with the synagogue’s executive director, ECC and Religious School directors, senior staff and lay leaders to develop and execute a comprehensive strategy to increase enrollment over a multi-year period. The individual will be responsible for creating, leading and managing a comprehensive enrollment program that incorporates best practices in recruitment, admissions, the needs of young families and R&D. The role is significant to the organization’s success and provides an extraordinary opportunity for the right person to join in setting a course for growth and advancement professionally.

Salary Range: $100,000–$120,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

Benefits include vacation/paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick days, and parental leave); full health insurance coverage; eligibility to participate in vision/dental plans, flexible spending accounts for commuter, dependent care, and medical expenses, and 403(b) retirement plan; and long-term disability and life insurance coverage.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • In consultation with school leaders and colleagues, develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for increasing enrollment over a multi-year period.
  • Serve as the outward facing representative of both of Stephen Wise schools to prospective families, school advisors, area extra-curricular programs, etc.
  • Execute a seamless handoff to respective ECC and religious school teams once enrolled.
  • Initiate new contacts and maintain established contacts with ISAAGNY, Jewish Education Project, Parent’s League, etc. 
  • Increase Stephen Wise name recognition and suggest events, publications that would be useful for clergy and school/administrative staff to attend.
  • Review, assess and revise all outreach and communication efforts: marketing, PR, prospective family tours of schools, family events, follow-up from initial family contact to student acceptance.
  • Develop and support a seamless bridge between a child’s ECC graduation and Religious School enrollment.
  • Develop and regularly report on key performance indicators that will demonstrate the effectiveness of our recruitment, marketing and other efforts.
  • Coordinate with clergy and senior staff to ensure that efforts are supported by the synagogue.
  • Organize focus groups, surveys, etc. of neighborhood young parents to determine needs and interests.
  • Devise outreach plan for parents who have children enrolled in daycare/preschool alternatives to familiarize them with synagogue offerings beyond the ECC and Religious School.
  • Represent Stephen Wise at all relevant school fairs, meetings, and panels (some evenings and weekend days required) and regularly attend synagogue family programing including Tot Shabbat and Family Shabbat programming.
  • Other responsibilities as required to accomplish goals.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Strong related experience and a commitment to advancing Jewish life, ideally having worked in an exceptionally busy nonprofit environment.
  • Strong interpersonal skills to engage with young families as well as teachers, administrators and young childhood consultants and program leaders.
  • Collaborative team player.
  • Experience in an admissions or other type of consultative sales role.
  • Strong technical, organizational, and data management skills, with experience adapting and advancing the use of technology, including customer relationship management and data analysis.
  • Commitment to innovation with the ability to implement new approaches for achieving enrollment goals.
  • Deep understanding of the evolving needs, and ability to relate to, parents with young children.
  • Experience as educator or administrator of programs for young children is a plus but not required.
  • Understanding of religious education and its beneficial impact on children, parents and society.
  • Marketing/PR experience is a plus.

Applicants should send their resumes with a cover letter to jobs@swfs.org.

Special Projects + CRM Manager

OVERVIEW

A growing Reform synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is committed to learning, worship, acts of lovingkindness and support for Israel. It was the first synagogue in the world to install a woman rabbi, the first in New York to open an on-site homeless shelter, and one of the earliest adopters of livestreaming technology. Through its nursery/pre-K Early Childhood Center and Religious School, it fosters the Jewish identities of some 300 children every year and it engages congregants of all ages through learning, social action and community service.

 

The special projects and CRM manager will play a crucial role in supporting Stephen Wise’s member retention, engagement and fundraising efforts by working with the membership department and others to acknowledge and provide exceptional customer service to the synagogue’s congregants. In addition, the special projects and CRM manager will focus on the implementation of the Salesforce CRM; manage all board and executive committee meetings; play a key role in administering High Holy Day ticketing; and address inquiries pertaining to special events, rentals, and Westchester Hills Cemetery. This position entails supporting communal events. Attendance at High Holy Days and other holiday events, as well as once-a-month Shabbat services — rewarded by compensatory time-off.

 

Reporting directly to the director of membership engagement, this individual must be an excellent communicator; comfortable working both individually and as part of a team; and able to balance a diverse workload. The ideal candidate must have a commitment to advancing Jewish life, strong written and oral skills, facility with CRM and database technology, agility with Microsoft Office suite, a congenial personality, excellent judgment, and commitment to maintaining a high level of confidentiality. This role is significant to the synagogue’s success and provides an extraordinary opportunity for the right person to join us in setting a course for excellence and advancing professionally.

Salary Range: $60,000–$70,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

 

Benefits include vacation/paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick days, and parental leave); full health insurance coverage; eligibility to participate in vision/dental plans, flexible spending accounts for commuter, dependent care, and medical expenses, and 403(b) retirement plan; and long-term disability and life insurance coverage.

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

 

  • Supports member engagement programs and fundraising efforts.
  • Prepares acknowledgment letters for donations.
  • Responsible for integration of Salesforce CRM in all departments of the synagogue.
  • Maintains database including input of membership applications and profiles.
  • Serves as ticketing manager for High Holy Day services and manages and prepares Memorial Book.
  • Primary manager of administrative matters for board and annual meetings.
  • Event and meeting coordination.
  • Act as liaison between Westchester Hills Cemetery manager and the synagogue.
  • Other duties as assigned. 

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor’s degree required.
  • Strong related experience and a commitment to advancing Jewish life, ideally having worked in an exceptionally busy nonprofit environment.
  • Acute attention to detail and organizational abilities; a collaborative spirit and ability to manage multiple concurrent projects.
  • Knowledge of Salesforce CRM.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
  • A commitment to maintaining strict confidentiality.
  • Willingness to learn.

Applicants should send their resumes with a cover letter to membership@swfs.org.

Marketing Copywriter + Coordinator

OVERVIEW

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is seeking an excellent writer to help craft marketing messaging and execute the organization’s communications strategy.

A growing Reform synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is committed to learning, worship, acts of lovingkindness and support for Israel. It was the first synagogue in the world to install a woman rabbi, the first in New York to open an on-site homeless shelter, and one of the earliest adopters of livestreaming technology. Through its nursery/pre-K Early Childhood Center and Religious School, it fosters the Jewish identities of some 300 children every year and it engages congregants of all ages through learning, social action and community service. The synagogue’s recently launched Amplify Israel initiative seeks to grow support for the Jewish homeland through educational programs, grassroots initiatives, public relations campaigns and new media efforts.

The marketing copywriter + coordinator will be responsible for writing compelling copy to market a variety of synagogue programs and events and helping to execute the synagogue’s communications strategy and marketing campaigns. This in-person position will report directly to and support Stephen Wise’s director of communications, Ryan Greiss, and work very closely with senior staff members, including clergy and educators, and coordinate with vendors and freelancers including graphic designers, video and audio producers, photographers, PR consultants, printers, web developers, and more.

Candidates must be excellent copywriters; comfortable working both individually and as part of a team; and able to balance a diverse workload, while remaining extremely detail oriented. The ideal candidate is a very strong writer and editor; is extremely organized; has some experience with email marketing and social media platforms and is keen to learn valuable new skills; and is excited to tell the Stephen Wise story. Knowledge of Jewish culture and religious traditions and institutions is a plus.

Salary range: $50,000–60,000 per year, commensurate with experience.

Benefits include vacation/paid time off (vacation, holidays, sick days, and parental leave); full health insurance coverage; eligibility to participate in vision/dental plans, flexible spending accounts for commuter, dependent care, and medical expenses, and 403(b) retirement plan; and long-term disability and life insurance coverage.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Compile, edit, and write copy for marketing emails, event blurbs, social media posts, articles and other marketing collateral
  • Coordinate across multiple departments to compile information necessary for marketing
  • Make website updates as necessary and manage web calendar
  • Create and schedule mass emails and social media posts
  • Attend Stephen Wise programs and events as needed
  • Other duties as assigned

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Bachelor’s degree required
  • Exceptional writing skills and a keen eye for editing
  • Meticulous attention to detail, especially for dates and spelling
  • Excellent communication and organizational abilities; a collaborative spirit and ability to manage multiple concurrent projects
  • Experience with MailChimp and WordPress and design sensibility / basic graphic design skills is a plus, but not required
  • Contextual knowledge of Jewish culture and religious traditions, especially surrounding holidays is a plus

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:

  • Cover letter: Applicants should send their resumes with a cover letter to marketing@swfs.org
  • Practical exercise: Applicants will be asked to participate in a short practical exercise to assess their skills

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Stephen Wise is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.

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