Career Stage:  Director

Organizational Summary

Upstream USA is a fast-growing, national nonprofit working to expand opportunity by reducing unplanned pregnancy across the U.S. We envision a future where patient-centered contraceptive care is an integral part of primary care in all settings, for all people. In this future, patients are screened for their contraceptive needs; are offered patient-centered contraceptive counseling, free from bias and coercion, provided by knowledgeable providers and support staff following evidence-based guidelines; and can receive any contraceptive method of their choosing, during the same visit if they want, without logistical barriers.

Upstream promotes health equity by partnering with health centers to provide training and technical assistance to increase access to contraception, and address disparities and biases in contraceptive care. Surveys of patients getting care at Upstream-trained health centers consistently show that patients feel listened to, heard, and are able to access the contraceptive method of their choice. Our work empowers patients to decide if and when they want to become pregnant, a critical step towards improving maternal health, as well as positive outcomes for parents, children, and their families.

To meet the growing needs in our country, Upstream has launched a national expansion to transform contraceptive care in more than 700 health centers across the United States by 2030, reaching 5 million women at risk for unplanned pregnancy. Already, our work with more than 125 healthcare partners in nearly forty percent of the country helps to integrate much needed contraceptive services across the spectrum of healthcare, including primary care practices.

Upstream is funded primarily through philanthropic individuals and foundations, and does not accept funding from pharmaceutical companies. Upstream’s budget has grown from $1.7 million just four years ago to approximately $40 million in 2022. Upstream’s work has also garnered attention from many leading publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, CNN, Vox, Forbes, and Marie Claire.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Interim Head of Marketing, the Director of Events is part of our growing communications and marketing team. The individual in this role will have day-to-day operational responsibility for planning and executing multiple organization-wide events. The ideal candidate is a self-starter who can serve as a confident and trusted leader up, down and across Upstream. We are looking for a committed team player who is energized by planning and leading small-and-large-scale events and speaking in front of large groups as a Host of Ceremonies.

The Director of Events will be responsible for a complete end to end management of events including sourcing, group air, logistics, financial management and delivery. They will manage the process from meeting qualification call and initial venue proposal to post project financial reconciliation and will work on a range of events. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Work with leadership to help set meeting themes and strategic direction
• Lead all activities involved in an event, including large complex meetings, from planning to execution. 
• Communicate and negotiate with vendors/suppliers in terms of rates, conditions and contracts, budget management etc.
• Manage relationship with internal and external stakeholders and ensure timely and appropriate updates on project status
• Lead a small team including contractors
• Manage project team members, including resource management (allocating tasks and duties) and assisting with recruitment of team members
• Oversee operational management of the event database (planning, registration)
• Logistical coordination of the event, including but not limited to: accommodation, catering, dinners, transfers, activities, gifts etc.
• Policy management: risk and Health & Safety analysis, crisis management, and contingency planning; train junior members of the team
• Budget management: manage large/complex budgets, maintain working versions and final detailed reconciliations, process supplier and client invoices, manage cash flow and payment schedules
• Analytical Reasoning: using analysis of today’s meeting data for future event delivery
• Financial and Data Reporting per event
• Additional duties as assigned

Required Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability

• 8-10 years of experience in event planning in a nonprofit organization, political campaign, or government agency; experience in the public health and/or reproductive health field is a plus
• Prior staff supervisory experience
• Customer oriented approach
• Demonstrated public speaking and presentation skills
• Proficiency in Word, Excel and PowerPoint; Google Products (Drive, Calendar, Gmail, Docs, etc.)
• Experience in budget management, invoicing and data/finance reporting.
• High flexibility, ability to adapt to work in a fast-paced environment and under dead-lines.
• Demonstrated project management skills and the ability to multitask
• High level of attention to detail
• Comfortable working autonomously and as part of a collaborative team
• Ability to travel up to 20% to events across the US
• Upstream USA’s COVID-19 Vaccine Policy requires employees to have completed a COVID-19 vaccine primary series unless a medical or religious exemption is approved. As a condition of employment, newly hired employees must provide proof of their COVID-19 vaccination or, if applicable, request a medical or religious exemption.
• All Upstreamers must also be able to attend work-related in-person meetings and functions as needed.
• In our hybrid work environments, there is a basic expectation that our Upstreamers will ensure that their work from home setups will have reliable access to phone and Internet to ensure connectivity to their teams.
• At Upstream we gather for moments that matter for training, teaming and connection. Our teams come together for occasional in person meetings and organizational retreats. As part of our hybrid work practices, this travel expectation will be applicable for all Upstreamers, even those based remotely.
• Engage in EDI learning & development, community engagement, and culture building activities up to 5% FTE (i.e., up to 2 work hours per 40 hour work week). Examples include attending trainings, conferences and summits, volunteering time, participating in local community events, mentoring and learning, participating in Communities of Belonging or Culture Council, developing language acquisition, learning universal design principles, and using professional development benefits for EDI topics, among other activities.

• Energetic: You like to work and you are willing to invest time and effort to achieve your goals.
• Strong Communicator: You communicate clearly and concisely, both orally (in front of large groups) and in writing.
• Good Listener: You understand what you know and what you don’t know; you listen to understand, extract and activate a sound plan.
• Trustworthy: You have integrity.
• Strong Leader: You claim ownership and responsibility on projects to achieve your goals; you take initiative.
• Adept at solving problems: You know how to identify and analyze an existing or potential problem and present solutions.
• Flexible: You know how to adapt in a changing environment and are open to new ideas and people.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop productive working relationships across a diverse spectrum of stakeholders (internal and external), exhibit sensitivity, and appreciate cultural differences
• Strong sense of urgency to proactively respond to opportunities and issues
• Confident problem solver who is able to act decisively and calmly
• An energetic presenter and poised presence
• A team player who truly values and prioritizes collaboration, while also being able to work independently
• A “roll-up-your-sleeves” attitude
• A personal commitment to expanding opportunity and improving public health; and an understanding that Upstream’s work to reduce unintended pregnancy is grounded in recognizing the systemic inequities, bias and racism in our health care system. 

Attributes

The ideal candidate will embody and embrace our core values which serve as our operating principles:

• We keep our mission at the center; our mission to expand opportunity by reducing unplanned pregnancy guides our decisions, actions and purpose
• We trust each other; we are reliable, empathetic, compassionately direct, and confident in each other’s’ ability to do the same
• We work every day to build an equitable, diverse and inclusive culture; we respect the backgrounds contexts and experiences of individuals, teams and partners in our interactions
• We bring joy to our work; we create opportunities to celebrate, connect and strengthen relationships with one another.

Valued and Non-Essential Education, Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Ability (Not required to apply)

• Exceptional planning, logistics, hosting ability and capable of speaking in large groups  
• Innovative idea generator; able to transform ideas into reality and pull off events from ideation to execution
• Demonstrated ability to operate with a C-suite executives
• Keen attention to detail and able to exercise discretion
• Skilled communicator and listener 
• Exceptional project management ability with ability to manage multiple competing priorities

Travel Requirements

This role will require up to 20% of business travel. All Upstreamers can expect a minimum of 8 days of business travel per year to attend two annual organizational retreats and two annual team/department meetings.

Upstream Benefits

Upstream USA offers a comprehensive benefit package including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, long and short term disability, 401K with a match, generous vacation, personal, sick and holiday time off, parental leave, professional development, a fitness and cell phone allowance for all full time employees and part time employees who work a minimum of 24 hours per week.

Hiring Range

The hiring range for this role is $111,508 to $155,000. Final offers for this position will be based upon several factors including the scope of the role, market compensation analysis, position requirements, candidate’s experience level and capabilities, specific candidate geographic location, internal pay equity considerations and will be made within the parameters of Upstream USA’s compensation framework and philosophy.

Hiring Process

Candidates who advance in our preliminary review process will have an opportunity to discuss the position, their employment background and lived experience with a member of our talent acquisition team by telephone. Those who advance to subsequent steps in our interview process may participate in up to three rounds of meetings by Zoom or in person and in a thought exercise/case study assignment. Each round could consist of multiple meetings with various Upstreamers.

EDI Vision Statement 

Internally, we envision promoting equity by reducing disparities in the Upstream talent lifecycle and engagement, cultivating a diverse workforce and inclusive culture, and fostering power sharing when we make decisions.

EDI Guiding Principles

Through Equity, both in the workplace and in contraceptive care, we address root causes that enable disparities to occur, acknowledge that different resources and opportunities may be needed to reach fairer outcomes, and implement systems-level changes that are sustainable over time.

Through Diversity, we acknowledge, respect, and celebrate the collective mixture of differences and similarities of Upstreamers and our community partners. At Upstream, we value the diversity of identities at all intersections, while at the same time centering racial diversity.

 Through Inclusion, we succeed at creating a culture of belonging that embraces differences in identities and experiences by building trust, joy, and psychological safety. We cherish and elevate these differences through power-sharing in how things get done internally and in service of our mission. 

Communities of Belonging

Serving as employee resource groups for Upstreamers, Communities of Belonging assist in advancing our equity, diversity, and inclusion journey. They assist in instilling organizational values in our work and support our EDI vision. Open to all employees, Communities of Belonging create opportunities for leadership development, community engagement, support, and resource mobilization

Upstream Careers

At Upstream, we embrace diversity. We nurture it and we thrive on it because it benefits our organization, our partners, and our community. Our goal is to attract, develop and retain exceptional people, and to create a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding and enables each of us to realize our potential.  Upstream is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, genetic information, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know. Learn more  about working at Upstream, our values, and our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Upstream USA participates in E-Verify.

Upstream Headquarters

2 Oliver Street, Suite 402, Boston, MA 02109

www.upstream.org

No phone calls please.

Be advised that we do not ever conduct hiring interviews via text or email. Please protect yourself by learning more about our hiring practices and common red flags to look out for.