Position: Director of Programs
Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA)
Chicago, Illinois
Position Type: Up to full-time, either Non-Exempt or Exempt
Hybrid/Flexible Schedule with Required Evening & Weekend Availability Special Events
Reports To: Executive Director
Start Date: Immediate
Organizational Mission
The mission of the Beverly Area Planning Association is to sustain and enhance Beverly Hills/Morgan Park as a culturally diverse Village in the City with increasing home values, high quality schools and thriving commercial areas.
Position Overview
The Director of Programs drives BAPA’s program calendar and volunteer work. This is the person who helps make sure our signature events run beautifully, our volunteers find meaningful ways to give their time, and find new and creative ways to stay connected as a community. It is a hands-on role for someone who loves both the planning and the people, and who takes pride in seeing a neighborhood show up for something they helped create.
This position reports directly to the Executive Director and coordinates across the BAPA team to keep programs on track.
Primary Responsibilities
Program and event leadership
- Plan and manage some of BAPA’s full slate of programs and events, including the Ridge Run, Garden Walk, Margarita Mile, Porch Concerts, and new programming, including serving as staff liaison to our amazing event committees.
- Serve as the central point of coordination for events that involve other staff and partners, keeping everyone aligned on deadlines and deliverables. Manage relationships with event partners.
- Work hand in hand with our Marketing Director to lead each program and ensure it is promoted well and on schedule.
- Work hand in hand with our staff to ensure certain signature events, such as our Home Tour and Memorial Day Parade, succeed.
- Coordinate sponsor fulfillment for each event, guaranteeing every commitment we made to sponsors is delivered.
Volunteer engagement and management
- Build and steward BAPA’s volunteer program, our newly to be formed BAPA Volunteer Corps, creating meaningful, well-organized ways for community members to give their time.
- Actively seek out new volunteer opportunities across BAPA’s work, matching people’s interests and skills to assignments that feel purposeful rather than perfunctory.
- Recruit, schedule, support, and recognize volunteers for events and ongoing programs, making sure they have a positive experience that keeps them coming back.
- Develop simple systems to track volunteers, hours, and interests so we can engage them considerately over time.
- Cultivate relationships with local schools, congregations, and civic groups as sources of volunteer partnership and community relations.
Support to the Executive Director
- Represent the Executive Director as needed in meetings.
- Contribute to data consolidation and report generation with our CRM tools, becoming a trusted steward of accurate information.
- Take on additional projects as needed, providing flexible capacity across the organization during busy stretches.
What We’re Looking For
- Several years of experience in program management, event planning, volunteer coordination, community development, or a corresponding field.
- A natural organizer who can hold many details at once without losing the big picture.
- Strong people skills and the ability to coordinate across staff, volunteers, partners, and sponsors with friendliness and clarity.
- A gift for making people feel appreciated and respected, especially the volunteers who give their time.
- Comfort working independently and managing competing deadlines in a small, busy office. We all chip in no matter what the task is.
- A real affection for community work and an interest in what makes neighborhoods like ours thrive.
- A knack for technology, with CRM or WordPress experience a plus.
- Familiarity with Beverly and Morgan Park, or the South Side of Chicago, is a plus.
Details
- Up to full-time position based in our office at 1744 W. 99th Street, with regular evening and weekend hours during event season.
- Pay: $28-30/hr or $58,000-$60,000/year
- Benefits: The rhythm of this job runs with the neighborhood. Event season is busy, with occasional evening and weekend hours, and the off-season is quieter and flexible, with room for unpaid time away when the calendar allows.
- Health insurance benefits are not included
To apply, please send a resume plus a brief cover letter to resumes@bapa.org. In your cover letter, tell us how you define success in the workplace. Begin your answer with a single word naming an emotion you associate with doing work well (for example, Proud, Restless, Grounded).
BAPA is an equal opportunity employer. BAPA values and encourages diversity and solicits applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability (where applicant is qualified to perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodations), medical condition, protected veteran status, gender identity, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.
