The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s mission is to promote the bicycle for everyday transportation. We are seeking a leader – a visionary with the ability to build and execute a robust strategic plan; the capacity to inspire, motivate, and support staff in acting on the organization’s mission and goals; and the acumen to mobilize our members as we strive to make San Francisco an even better city for bicycling.
About the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
For more than 40 years, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has been transforming San Francisco streets and neighborhoods into more livable and safe places by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation. With more than 10,000 dues-paying members, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is the largest city-based bicycle advocacy group in the country, and one of the most effective and well-respected grassroots organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our work has resulted in hundreds of miles of bike routes across the city, approval of protected bikeways on key crosstown streets, open streets and parklets, and some of the highest bike ridership in the country. Thanks to the SF Bicycle Coalition’s decades of advocacy, San Francisco is now one of the best cities for bicycling in the country. For more information, please visit: www.sfbike.org.
Responsibilities
The Executive Director (ED) is responsible for implementing the strategic plan of the organization (sfbike.org/about) and reporting progress to the Board of Directors at its monthly meetings. The ED will work with staff, board members, community partners, government agencies, and an active membership to update our five-year strategic plan in 2016. The ED manages, develops, and empowers a staff of ~20 people to conduct effective bicycle advocacy. The ED is responsible for managing a $2 million budget and fundraising through cultivating individual donor and business partner relationships. The ED must connect and engage with our diverse members, and work to expand our membership base to better reflect all San Francisco bike riders, including underserved groups and communities. The ED is the primary public face of the organization, speaking to media, government agencies, and at public functions. Weekend and evening work will be required to attend board meetings, fundraising events, member programs, etc.
Ideal Experience and Capabilities
- At least five years experience managing people, including a demonstrated ability to hire, develop, and manage talented and committed staff.
- Success leading advocacy work in the area of sustainability, transportation, urban planning, land use, social justice, public health or a related field. Experience with bicycle advocacy is a plus.
- A strong history of effective fundraising.
- A deep commitment to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s mission.
- Experience working in a membership organization.
- Expertise facilitating participatory decision-making in an advocacy organization whose members hold diverse views.
- Skilled at building coalitions.
- Demonstrated ability to prioritize organizational efforts given input from a broad range of stakeholders and multiple competing interests.
- Ability to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences and to maintain composure in challenging situations.
- Strong experience representing organizations with the media and with the public at large.
- An understanding of San Francisco politics, and the ability to work effectively in San Francisco’s political environment.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
Compensation
Salary based upon experience. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition offers a generous benefits package.
How to Apply
Email a cover letter and resume to edsearch@sfbike.org. Your cover letter should specifically address the experience and capabilities identified above. Please include “Executive Director – YOUR NAME” in the subject line, and please mention how you found out about the position.
Schedule
Preferred Deadline for Applications: April 15. Applications received after April 15 will be reviewed, but priority will be given to applications received prior to April 15.
Board members have set aside the weekends of May 7-8, May 21-22, and June 4-5 for interviews, so please hold them on your calendar. These are tentative dates and subject to change.
Equal Opportunity Employment
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is an equal opportunity employer.
Largely catalyzed by our work to make Polk Street safer, your SF Bicycle Coalition has been working hard to address this clear inequity in who is impacted by traffic violence. In collaboration with the community-based Vision Zero Coalition, strong community allies like the Central City SRO Collaborative and our own members, we advocated last year for improved visibility to many of the neighborhood’s intersections through the Tenderloin Daylighting Project, that saw visual barriers removed from 80 intersections to improve visibility.