Congregational Engagement Director

Congregational Engagement Director
Congregation Beth El, South Orange , NJ

About Congregation Beth El
We are a thriving and progressive Conservative family synagogue located in a vibrant, diverse and family-friendly town outside of New York City. As one of the fastest growing congregations in North America, we serve well over 400 families, including 80 who joined during the past two years. We operate a preschool with 100 students, a Jewish Learning Center (religious school) with 180 students and provide daily services and programming for all demographics. Beyond our large religious school, many of our families send their children to a nearby Jewish day school. Walking through our doors, you will see and experience the following:

• All ages, genders and backgrounds engage in Jewish life and activities together. We welcome and affirm everyone- this includes Jews-by-choice, non-Jews living Jewishly, singles, Jews of Color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
• Social justice is embedded in everything we do. We learn, engage in direct service, and build partnerships across lines of difference in the greater South Orange Maplewood community.
•Deep commitment to living Judaism within and outside of our synagogue. We celebrate in the streets, engage meaningfully in both traditional and nontraditional ways in our homes, and have remained connected throughout the pandemic.

Strong collaboration exists between our committed lay leadership and our talented professional team. Rabbis Jesse Olitzky and Rachel Marder serve as Beth El’s spiritual leaders. Rabbi Olitzky has been in his role since 2014, was named on The Forward’s list of “America’s Most Inspiring Rabbis” and is an active leader in bringing issues of social justice to the forefront of the national Jewish community. Rabbi Marder has been in her role since 2018, is a Wexner graduate fellowship alum and has taught at IKAR in Los Angeles and curriculum for the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

The Role
The challenges of being together in community during the past two years have highlighted just how important connection is. Our congregation has seen rapid growth over the past decade, doubling in size. We seek a talented professional, with a welcoming and friendly demeanor, who can help strengthen our commitment to relational Judaism and a people-focused approach in all aspects of Beth El. The new Congregational Engagement Director (CED) serves as the nexis for connecting members with each other, the Beth El community, and Jewish tradition. This full-time position includes occasional evening and weekend responsibilities. This role reports to Rabbi Olitzky.

The Congregational Engagement Director will:

• Help members create meaningful and inspiring relationships to the synagogue community, its programs and its members.
• Oversee the strategic development and execution of relational and experiential programs that foster relationships and collaboration among all cross sections of our population (both lay and professional)
• Empower, support and motivate members to volunteer and become actively engaged in participating in and strengthening our Beth El community
• Serve as a resource to the membership committee to assist in its work of identifying, recruiting, onboarding, and retaining members
• Create, maintain, and facilitate the utilization of a robust Congregational Relationships Management system for the entire lay and professional team.
• Champion the program planning processes to ensure that all programs new and existing have: measurable goals; target specific populations; clear staff and volunteer responsibilities; logistics oversight; communications and promotion, and assessment

About You
You are someone who loves Jewish community and loves cultivating relationships. You enjoy talking to all demographics and people at all stages in life, and are actively present in those conversations. You understand and appreciate the importance of Jewish community and want to be a part of building community together. You are a networker and relationship builder. You love learning about people and helping them to connect with others. You have a gregarious presence and are a thoughtful and strategic thinker and planner. You have at least a Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant or related field with 3+ years of relevant experience. You are familiar with CRM systems and social media platforms and understand social media trends to adapt the synagogue’s vision to best practices.

Compensation
We are open to candidates coming from a range of backgrounds and are committed to hiring for impact, rather than a certain set of experiences. The salary for this role is $80,000. Beth El provides excellent medical coverage at no cost to its employees. We also offer dental, vision, and life insurance plans. Compensation includes family and parental leave, vacation days, and professional development opportunities.

To Apply
Interested candidates should submit their resume and a one-page cover letter to search[at]bethelnj.org. The cover letter should answer the following:
• Why are you interested in this role and in working within the Jewish community?
• What are your top three professional strengths? Please provide an example for each.