Manager of Partnerships and Resources

Position: Manager of Partnerships & Resources

Reports to:  Director of Partnerships & Pathways

Lane: Involvement

The Manager of Citywide Partnerships & Resources leads the day-to-day development, stewardship, and coordination of partnerships and resource pathways that help young people, their families, volunteers, and communities reduce barriers and access the support needed to thrive. This role is grounded in the belief that young people’s ability to pursue a pathway — whether Straight to Workforce, 2- or 4-Year Academic Degree, Trade/Apprenticeship, Entrepreneurship, or Military — is directly connected to stability, access, and support.

This role operationalizes the partnership and resource strategy set by the Director of Partnerships & Pathways by building and maintaining the relationships, referral pathways, resource systems, and internal supports that make barrier removal possible in practice. The Manager focuses on recurring needs across Thread communities, including basic needs, wellness, transportation, housing stability, education access, civic resources, family supports, and other resources that allow for young people to be career-connected and family-stable, moving from surviving to thriving to living a self-directed life of purpose.

The Manager serves as the day-to-day relationship lead for community-based organizations, civic institutions, public systems, resource providers, and other barrier-removal partners. This role ensures partnership and resource information is accurate, accessible, and actionable for internal teams, while coordinating with site-based staff who directly connect young people, families, and volunteers to supports.

Where the Director of Partnerships & Pathways sets the overarching strategy, secures systems-level agreements, and stewards high-level partnerships, the Manager Partnerships & Resources translates that strategy into strong day-to-day partnership management, clear referral pathways, reliable resource access, and consistent follow-through. Through this work, the Manager helps ensure that young people and families experience the stability and support needed to participate in opportunities, persist through challenges, and move toward self-directed and purposeful lives.

• Identify, recruit, and steward citywide and statewide partnerships that expand access to resources and supports for young people, their families, volunteers and the broader Thread community.
• Build and maintain relationships with community-based organizations, civic institutions, post-secondary partners, public systems, resource providers, and other organizations that help remove barriers at scale.
• Lead the day-to-day planning, coordination, partner engagement, and follow-up for recurring partnership stewardship containers, including the biannual partnership brunch and other partner convenings.
• Maintain regular communication with partners to support strong relationship health, clear expectations, and consistent follow-through.
• Work with the Director of Partnerships and Pathways to strengthen existing partnerships and identify opportunities to expand access, quality, and impact across Thread’s citywide partnership portfolio.

• Partner with Directors of Communities, site-based teams, and Investment leaders to identify recurring resource needs, access barriers, and partnership opportunities surfaced through Relational Resource Hubs.
• Expand access to barrier-removal resources such as diapers, hygiene items, food access, transportation supports, wellness resources, housing stability supports, education resources, family supports, and other community-based supports.
• Maintain a clear understanding of recurring needs across Thread communities and identify partnership opportunities that address gaps in resources or access.
• Ensure resource and partnership information is organized, accurate, timely, and easy for internal teams to use.
• Support access to resources through partner relationships and referral pathways, while site-based staff and other appropriate teammates remain responsible for direct connection and distribution.

• Coordinate with site-based teams, Directors of Communities and other functional partners to understand emerging needs and align partnership resources accordingly.
• Build the capacity of site-based staff to use citywide partnership resources by providing clear guidance, access instructions, tools, and implementation support.
• Route partnership opportunities, resource needs, and relationship questions to the appropriate internal owners to avoid duplication and ensure alignment.
• Partner with the Director of Practice, Learning & Quality and other stakeholders to document and improve partnership practices, referral pathways, resource tools, and shared standards.

• Support the development and maintenance of partnership agreements, referral pathways, shared expectations, and resource access standards.
• Ensure partnership documentation includes clear commitments, points of contact, eligibility requirements, access processes, and follow-through expectations.
• Track implementation and fulfillment of partner commitments, surfacing gaps or barriers that may affect resource access.
• Maintain accurate partnership records, relationship maps, resource documentation, and partner contact information.

• Monitor key partnership indicators, including active partnerships, new partnerships secured, partner retention, resource categories covered, referral pathways maintained, and resource opportunities created.
• Partner with the Director of Strategic Implementation & Operations as needed to ensure resource-access updates, partner follow-up needs, and recurring barriers are visible in appropriate operating routines, project plans, or reporting structures.
• Partner with the Director of Practice, Learning & Quality as needed to surface lessons about what strong resource partnership, referral, and barrier-removal practice looks like across sites.
• Evaluate partnership and resource-access effectiveness in aggregate, identifying trends, gaps, and opportunities to improve access across communities.
• Produce partnership updates and reports for leadership that summarize progress, barriers, resource gaps, and recommended improvements.
• Track participation, partner engagement, resource needs, referral follow-through, and learning from partnership and resource-access containers to strengthen future planning and improve access across communities.
• Complete other tasks and duties as assigned

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Three or more years of partnership development, employer engagement, workforce development, community engagement, external affairs, or business development experience.
• Demonstrated success developing and maintaining external partnerships.
• Experience negotiating agreements and managing complex stakeholder relationships.
• Strong networking, communication, and facilitation skills.
• Experience working across nonprofit, government, education, and private-sector environments.
• Familiarity with Baltimore / Maryland workforce and civic systems preferred.
• Ability to clearly communicate and live out Thread’s core values & core competencies.

Thread Employment Benefits (Full-time) 

• 12 weeks of Paid parental leave 
• Competitive salaries, meaningful equity; 403(b) plan 
• 100% employee coverage of Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance
• 10 Paid holidays 
• 4 weeks of PTO in year 1, increase to 5 weeks in year 2 
• 5 days of sick and safe leave 
• 3 floater holidays 
• Annual Health and Wellness reimbursement 
• Access to counseling/therapy at no cost 
• Paid Sabbatical after 6 years of employment