Position Summary:
The Community Mobilizer, Brooklyn, is an opportunity for a creative, entrepreneurial, and relationship-driven professional who is passionate about strengthening Jewish life across one of New York's most diverse and dynamic Jewish communities. As part of UJA's high-impact Community Mobilizers team, you will serve as UJA's connector and representative throughout Brooklyn—building trusted relationships, identifying emerging needs and opportunities, and helping shape initiatives that strengthen local communities while advancing UJA's broader mission.
Working with Jewish organizations, communal leaders, grassroots groups, and community members across Brooklyn, you will develop a deep understanding of local priorities and help connect communities to UJA's resources, programs, partnerships, and support. You will identify opportunities to strengthen Jewish communal life by developing place-based initiatives, strengthening existing on-the-ground leadership, responding to emerging community needs, and ensuring Brooklyn's diverse voices help inform UJA's broader priorities and strategies.
Brooklyn is home to one of the country's most diverse Jewish communities, including long-established neighborhoods alongside rapidly growing communities of young adults, families, Seniors, Israelis, Russian-speaking Jews, Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews, Haredi Jews, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, culturally Jewish and beyond. This role is ideal for someone who is energized by building relationships across that diversity and helping ensure every part of Brooklyn's Jewish community feels connected to UJA.
This work spans all of Brooklyn, with particular attention to Central and Northern Brooklyn neighborhoods that have experienced significant growth and change over the past decade, including Park Slope, Crown Heights, Cobble Hill, Bushwick, Williamsburg and surrounding areas. The Community Mobilizer also partners with colleagues across New York City, Westchester, and Long Island to advance UJA's broader community mobilization strategy.
Help shape the future of one of the world's most diverse Jewish communities and join our team!
Major Responsibilities:
- Build and Strengthen Community Relationships: Establish and deepen trusted relationships with synagogues, schools, JCCs, agencies, grassroots groups, communal leaders, and community members across Brooklyn. Proactively engage emerging, underserved, and underrepresented parts of the Jewish community.
- Understand and Elevate Community Needs: Develop a strong understanding of the priorities, challenges, and opportunities facing Brooklyn's diverse Jewish communities. Elevate local perspectives and emerging needs within UJA to help inform broader organizational strategies and responses.
- Develop Community Responses: Translate community insights into programs, partnerships, convenings, grants, and other initiatives that respond to local priorities and strengthen Jewish communal life.
- Mobilize Participation in UJA Priorities: Engage Brooklyn organizations, leaders, and community members in UJA initiatives, including civic engagement and advocacy efforts, bridge-building programs, volunteer opportunities, Jewish communal activities, and other initiatives that strengthen participation and connection.
- Cultivate Intergroup Relationships: Build and strengthen partnerships with faith-based, cultural, civic, and community organizations across Brooklyn, fostering dialogue, collaboration, and mutual support.
- Convene Community Stakeholders: Organize listening sessions, roundtables, and collaborative gatherings that bring together diverse sectors of the community to identify priorities, strengthen partnerships, and develop collective responses to emerging needs, with a focus on civic engagement.
- Serve as UJA's Representative: Represent UJA throughout Brooklyn by attending community events, cultivating relationships with organizational leaders, clergy, community leaders, and civic partners, and serving as a trusted connector across the borough.
- Lead the Brooklyn Advisory Council: Partner with volunteer leaders to identify priorities, strengthen local networks, and advance strategic initiatives.
- Manage Projects and Initiatives: Manage programs, grants, and community initiatives from planning through execution, including budgets, timelines, stakeholder coordination, logistics, internal processes, and follow-through.
- Collaborate Across UJA: Work closely with colleagues across UJA to advocate for Brooklyn's evolving needs, connect communities to broader organizational resources and initiatives, and advance shared priorities.
- Respond to Key Moments: Help communities respond to moments of opportunity and challenge by convening stakeholders, coordinating resources, facilitating rapid connections, and supporting locally driven responses to emerging issues.
- Strengthen community resilience by supporting local leadership, fostering healthy civic and communal engagement, increasing Jewish visibility, and helping communities build durable relationships within and beyond the Jewish community.
Qualifications and Competencies:
- Experience: 5–10 years of relevant professional experience in community organizing, nonprofit leadership, program management, philanthropy, community relations, or a related field.
- Knowledge of Brooklyn's Jewish Community: Familiarity with Brooklyn's diverse Jewish landscape and the issues affecting local Jewish communities. Existing relationships within Brooklyn are strongly preferred, with preference for candidates who live in or have deep ties to the borough.
- Relationship Builder: Exceptional ability to build trust with a wide range of stakeholders, including clergy, nonprofit professionals, grassroots leaders, volunteers, lay leaders, educators, and community members.
- Cultural Fluency: Comfortable engaging across the diversity of the Jewish community—including different religious denominations, political perspectives, cultural backgrounds, and levels of affiliation—as well as with leaders from other faith and ethnic communities. Demonstrates curiosity, respect, and the ability to build relationships across differences.
- Entrepreneurial Mindset: Naturally curious and proactive. Able to identify opportunities, navigate ambiguity, and turn ideas into action while working within a large, mission-driven organization.
- Project Management: Demonstrated success managing complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives from planning through execution, including budgets, timelines, logistics, grants, internal processes, and follow-through.
- Communication and Collaboration: Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to facilitate collaboration, align diverse stakeholders around shared goals, and work effectively across departments.
- Adaptability and Judgment: Strong judgment, sound decision-making, and the ability to balance competing priorities while responding thoughtfully to emerging community needs.
Salary Information:
The salary range for this role is $85,000-90,000, based on experience and qualifications.
Reporting Line:
This role reports into the Executive Director, Community Mobilizers.
Equal Opportunity EmployerThis employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.
Skills Required
- 5-10 years of relevant professional experience in community organizing, program management, or related fields.
- Familiarity with the New York Jewish community, especially Brooklyn neighborhoods.
- Residency in Brooklyn or strong preference for candidates residing in Brooklyn.
- Cultural sensitivity and demonstrated ability to communicate with diverse religious and ethnic stakeholders.
- Self-starter capable of identifying opportunities and navigating ambiguity in both startup and legacy organizational contexts.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills and proven relationship-building capability.
- Project management experience overseeing multi-stakeholder initiatives, including planning, budgeting, and execution.
- Experience convening stakeholders, running roundtables, and serving as an external organizational representative.
What We Do
UJA-Federation of New York is the largest local philanthropy in the world. For more than 100 years, we’ve brought New Yorkers together to solve some of the most pressing problems facing our community. Thanks to our network of hundreds of non-profits, we can leverage our expertise across any number of areas — including health and human services, arts and culture, and education — to care for Jews everywhere and New Yorkers of all backgrounds, respond to crises close to home and far away, and shape our Jewish future. Our reach extends from New York to Israel to nearly 70 other countries around the world, touching 4.5 million people each year. We’re looking for smart, talented, driven people who haven’t met a challenge that’s too big to conquer. Whether you’re a recent college graduate or a seasoned professional, we offer a wide array of opportunities for people of every discipline. Whether your passion is government relations, fundraising, data analysis, marketing, IT, accounting, graphic design, or community planning — there’s something here for you. We’re operating on a hybrid work model: three set days in the office and two days remote. At UJA, respect and inclusion are the cornerstones of our organizational culture. We are committed to advancing an environment where people of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can be their authentic selves and where every voice is heard and valued. We know that our diversity makes us stronger, more effective, and more compassionate. That is why we’re committed to continuing our education and awareness as we look to create a more inclusive workplace, one that’s best prepared to meet the needs of the diverse communities we proudly serve. UJA is an equal opportunity employer.
Why Work With Us
Do you want to come to work every day feeling like you’re changing the world? Are you a bold, creative, results-oriented thinker? Do you thrive in a warm, supportive work environment? Then check out UJA.
