Greater Washington Partnership Vice President, Initiatives Washington, DC · Full time Company website

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Our Trajectory The Greater Washington Partnership is the first-of-its-kind nonprofit alliance of the region’s most influential leading employers across diverse industries in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC – all committed to championing the region’s economic growth and vibrancy. We are a catalyst for convening, thought leadership and collective action for individuals within the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Rooted in growth, we have built the table that brings together businesses, government, and community leaders to identify and address the shared opportunities and core challenges facing our region across skills and talent, regional mobility, infrastructure and inclusive growth, and work to uncover and advance realistic solutions to tackle those challenges head-on through strategic partnerships, targeted investments, and innovative initiatives. Mission We identify shared opportunities and core challenges and offer solutions to the region’s most critical issues including skills and talent, regional mobility, infrastructure and inclusive growth. Vision To make the entire region, from Baltimore to Richmond, vibrant, economically competitive, prosperous – uplifting it as the best place to live, work and build a business.

Greater Washington Partnership (the Partnership) is a cross-sector alliance of leading employers in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia committed to championing the region’s economic growth and prosperity. The Partnership is seeking an experienced program leader to serve as the connective tissue between the Partnership's policy and strategy agenda and its on-the-ground programmatic execution. Reporting to the COO/EVP Strategy, the Vice President, Initiatives is accountable for the integrated delivery of GWP's signature initiatives — ensuring they are coherent, externally credible, and tied to measurable outcomes that advance the economic competitiveness of the Baltimore-to-Richmond region.

 

The leader will be responsible for delivering on an ambitious, multi-workstream agenda at a moment of expanding scope for the Partnership. A successful candidate will be an orchestrator and integrator: someone who can see across multiple initiatives, keep teams aligned and performing, and represent GWP with precision in senior external settings.

 

As the VP, Initiatives, your responsibilities will include:

Initiative Portfolio Ownership

·      Accountable for the full lifecycle of GWP's signature initiatives — Skills & Talent (S&T), Regional Mobility and Infrastructure (RMI), and Economic Growth (EG).

·      Sets annual workplans and milestones across all workstreams in alignment with board priorities and the COO's strategic direction.

·      Identifies risks, resource constraints, and sequencing conflicts across the portfolio; escalates to the COO and proposes solutions.

·      Tracks portfolio alignment with GWP's policy pillars (S&T, RMI, EG), ensuring initiative workplans reinforce the Partnership's broader policy agenda.

Initiative Leadership & Integration

·      Exercises day-to-day leadership and decision-making authority across the initiative portfolio, escalating to the COO only those matters requiring strategic direction or organizational tradeoffs.

·      Prepares or co-prepares initiative-related content for board meetings, Executive Committee briefings, and committee materials.

·      Anticipates when initiative status has governance or reputational implications and flags proactively.

·      Serves as the integration layer across S&T, RMI, EG — convening Sr. Directors and Directors, resolving cross-initiative conflicts, and ensures workstreams reinforce rather than duplicate each other.

External Representation & Stakeholder Management

·      Builds and manages partner relationships across initiatives, securing participation, commitments, resources, and follow-through from senior stakeholders.

·      Partners with the CEO and COO on stakeholder engagement strategy for major convenings.

·      Supports major regional convenings tied to GWP’s initiatives by helping prepare briefing materials for high-visibility stakeholder moments.

People Leadership & Organizational Capacity

·      Directly manages initiative Sr. Directors and Directors; provides direction, development, and ongoing coaching.

·      Ensures each workstream is properly resourced and that team members have clarity on objectives, timelines, and stakeholder relationships.

·      Assesses initiative workload across the portfolio and flags when capacity constraints require hiring, restructuring, or reprioritization.

How Success Is Measured

Success in this role will be demonstrated through the following:

·      Initiative portfolio on track against annual workplans; milestones met across S&T, RMI, and EG.

·      High-performing Sr. Directors and Directors; team capacity and professional development improving over time.

·      Board and Executive Committee confidence in GWP's initiative execution; materials consistently prepared on time and to a high standard.

·      Cross-initiative coordination functioning smoothly; no workstream siloing or duplication of effort.

·      Initiative-related content (briefings, benchmarking, board notes) is delivered in a form that is directly usable by the COO and CEO for board, Executive, and external stakeholder engagements, with minimal rework required.

 

What We Value

·      Comfortably operating in a small, highly collaborative organization where the work is visible, priorities evolve, and leaders are expected to move fluidly between strategy, stakeholder management, team leadership, and hands-on execution.

·      Experienced program builder and orchestrator — not just a content expert; someone who can see across multiple workstreams and keep them moving coherently.

·      Comfortable in rooms with senior executives, government officials, and CEO-level board members; credible representing GWP at a high level.

·      Fluent in economic research, policy, and regional stakeholder dynamics — able to translate economic growth research into program and narrative.

·      Strong written and verbal communicator; capable of preparing board-quality materials and representing GWP's work externally with precision.

·      Collaborative by nature; able to manage up to the COO and laterally with peers without friction.

·      Proven track record with building and managing funder or coalition relationships, and comfort overseeing initiative-linked grant or program funding.

 

Who We Are

The Partnership is a nonprofit alliance of influential and leading employers in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. Together, we identify shared challenges and leverage our collective experience, resources and assets to offer solutions in the areas of skills and talent, regional mobility, infrastructure and inclusive economic growth. Our vision is to make the entire region, from Baltimore to Richmond, vibrant, economically competitive, prosperous – uplifting it as the best place to live, work and build a business. The Partnership is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our office is in Washington, DC, just south of Dupont Circle and is Metro-accessible.

What We Offer

We offer the following comprehensive benefits package designed for the needs of our full-time team members:

·      Working in a hybrid work environment, in the office three days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays (subject to change in number of days and days of the week)

·      Robust time off plan – 20 days PTO

·      Eleven paid holidays

·      Summer half-day Fridays

·      One week holiday break

·      Health insurance premiums covered up to 99% for dental and vision, 90% for medical, and 50% for dependents

·      401(k) plan with up to 5% employer match, starting on your first day of employment

·      Professional development reimbursement up to $800 per year

·      Monthly cell phone stipend of $60 per month

·      Monthly transportation stipend of $60 per month

The annual salary range for this role is $165,000 - $180,000.

 

To Apply

If you are interested in joining the team at the Partnership, please submit your resume to our application portal.

At Greater Washington Partnership we are committed to accepting differences! We strive to attract, develop, and retain highly qualified individuals representing the diverse communities where we live and work. The Partnership is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Employment policies and decisions are based on merit, qualifications, performance, and business needs. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or sexual orientation. We welcome candidates who are legally authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer-sponsored visa support.