Join our team of experienced change leaders!

Trellis Partners Term Executives (TEs) embed with the client organization, usually for 9-24 months, serving as COO or in another leadership role, helping to unify staff behind an inclusive culture and build out all of the structures — strategy, programs, funding, human resources, finance, and administration – that enable the organization’s growth. The TE’s work is grounded in a holistic approach practiced in the day-to-day – integrating program design, leadership, management, culture, and business systems for nonprofit resilience — developed and tested over 20 years by Trellis Partners Founder and CEO Anna Prow.

To be effective in this role, TEs must not only have experience serving as a nonprofit executive, but also must have the cultural and emotional intelligence to partner with senior leaders and guide complex organizations through their next stage of evolution. Trellis Partners is looking for TEs with the following capabilities:

Deep Experience and Expertise:

• At least a decade serving as a COO or equivalent at entrepreneurial nonprofits, as well as experience scaling organizations
• Sophisticated understanding of the evolution of organizations and the steps involved in taking an organization from one stage of development to another
• Ability to help an organization clarify its vision and set the cadence for taking the organization there
• Strategic thinker, skilled at managing complexity
• Breadth of expertise from organization development to finance – embodying the unique talent of both fostering an intentional culture/coaching leaders and establishing effective operational structures
• Systems-thinking knowledge a plus

Cultural/Emotional Intelligence:

• Strong alignment with the values that are characteristic of entrepreneurial organizations (commitment to disruptive change, sense of urgency, high risk tolerance, etc.)
• Ability to work with and coach nonprofit founders
• Exceptional capacity to build trust
• Confidence to make bold decisions, coupled with the ability to listen deeply to people’s perspectives
• Commitment to diversity and equity (with demonstrated experience in supporting the creation of inclusive cultures)

Adaptive Leadership:

• Skilled at leading in fast-moving environments headed by a founder/CEO with a big vision
• Invested in organizational transformation, not just chipping away at presenting problems
• Adept at building structures that enhance, rather than impede, an organization’s innovative culture
• Open to experimentation
• Ability to design solutions that are uniquely suited to the organization’s needs (rather than conform to a traditional organizational model)
• Dedicated to helping organizations unlock their immense potential, as well as strengthening the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector overall

Here are some of the things our clients have said about TEs: authentic, insightful, quick study, strategic thinker, outstanding listener, solutions oriented, high emotional and intellectual intelligence, and able to grapple with difficulty and make bold decisions.

Does this sound like you? If so, please send us a cover letter, resume, and brief statement (750 words or less) on ideas you have for strengthening the social sector to info@trellispartners.org.