Summary: The Vice President of External Affairs is responsible for positioning CAR as a leader in community building and diversity, equity, and inclusion in the city of Chicago and within the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). The Vice President fulfills a critical leadership role to support and grow the association's internal and external value proposition. They will ensure the strategic direction and execution of the External Affairs unit, including the CAR Education Foundation (501c3), The 77 (our diversity committee), our local Global Real Estate Council, NAR Grants, and community (non-governmental) partnerships. The vice president will sustain, build and manage relationships with CAR Industry Partners and strategize to improve and enhance CAR’s influence and efforts through all External Affairs channels.

I. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: These essential duties and responsibilities are not intended to be and should not be construed, as an all-inclusive list of responsibilities, skills, or working conditions associated with this position. While it is intended to be an accurate reflection of the job requirements, management reserves the right to modify, add, or remove duties or to assign other duties as necessary.

CAR Foundation

• Serve as the primary staff liaison for the CAR Foundation Board of Trustees, a 501c3 organization.
• Oversee, implement, and manage the Foundation’s strategic plan.
• Oversee Foundation giving in conjunction with the new Director of Sponsorship and Fundraising.
• Provide budget management for the Foundation.
• Provide oversight of all Foundation meetings, events, and programs. Signature events include the Foundation 5K and Boys & Girls Club Carnival Day.
• Oversee Foundation charitable giving, including organizing site visits for organizations seeking funding.
• Manage the Foundation Hall of Fame program, including the annual HOF Task Force, and ensure recipient criteria and deliverables are met on deadline. 
• Manage the CAR Foundation social media channels in conjunction with the Communications Department
• Coordinate all charitable events for the Trustees to participate in fundraising dinners, programs and all volunteer opportunities.

External Affairs

• Creates deliverables to achieve CAR’s strategic plan goals related to the External Affairs unit. Provides strategic direction and oversight to advance External Affairs into the future.
• Oversee the development of programs and events for the Department.
• Oversee all inbound and outbound international trade missions.
• Actively seek and establish community partnerships of benefit to the Realtor member and real estate industry as a whole
• Provide budget recommendation to be approved by BOD for each respective areas of purview.
• Create partnership opportunities with other real estate organization programs and non-governmental community organizations in the Chicagoland area.
• Manage the Mega Board National Association of Realtor Grant program
• Oversee committee task force/work groups and special projects, and scholarships accordingly. 
• Research to create/determine content (video, blog, articles, etc.) for newsletters, committee webpages and social media pages as needed.
• Travel as needed locally, nationally, and internationally. Attend NAR National Convention, Mid-Year Meetings, and Illinois Realtors business meetings.
• Work closely, and in a timely fashion, with the HR Generalist and NAR HR Consultant on Human Resource matters for the department including, annual evaluations, documenting disciplinary matters and any other HR matters of importance.
• Oversee area staff development and mentoring.
• Identify relevant training and development opportunities for area staff and identify staffing needs, as well as when a third-party outsource is needed.
• Other duties as assigned.

II. Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education/Experience:  Bachelor’s degree preferred. Must be a strong relationship builder.  At minimum, eight to ten years’ experience working with committees and volunteers at a leadership level  required.  Experience with project management and multitasking required.  At minimum three (3) year supervisory experience required. 

Language Ability: Ability to read and interpret documents such as industry briefings, reports, data, contracts, letters of agreement, and procedures manuals. Ability to write in-depth reports, presentations and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of members or employees of the organization.

Math Ability: Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, and percentages, and analyze them.

Reasoning Ability: Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.  Ability to analyze data and identify potential errors.

Computer Skills: Proficient and functional knowledge of Microsoft Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint software required. Strong acumen for research and learning various software required. Working knowledge of video and audio editing software preferred (i.e. iMovie). 

Leadership Skills: Although the list of a leader’s desirable qualities is virtually endless, the following leadership characteristics are expected of an employee to successfully perform their job: emotional intelligence, loyalty, integrity, enthusiasm, flexibility, knowledge, and communication.

High stress/pressure – performs a variety of duties, often changing from one task to another

Concentration – Performs with frequent interruptions or distractions

Energy level – Completes a high volume of work within established time deadlines.

Flexibility/Adaptability – Adjust priorities quickly as circumstances dictate.

Emotional Regulation - Ability to interact appropriately with colleagues for different purposes in different contexts.

III. Supervisory Responsibilities: This position supervises the Director of DEI, Fair Housing and External Affairs and the Coordinator of External Affairs.

IV. Physical Requirements: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly sits, stands, walks, kneels and other ambulatory functions; uses fine motor skills; uses auditory, and visual senses. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. The employee may be required to frequently lift a maximum of 25 pounds.