Director of Events

Director of Events

About Hot Bread Kitchen

Hot Bread Kitchen’s mission is to create economic opportunity for women and gender-expansive people, immigrants, and people of color through culinary skills training, high-quality job placement, food entrepreneurship programs, and an ecosystem of support, utilizing New York City’s vibrant food industry as a catalyst for change.

The Opportunity

Hot Bread Kitchen seeks a full-time, mission-driven Director of Events to support the organization’s fundraising event strategy. You will be part of a high-performing development team responsible for Hot Bread Kitchen’s $8+ million philanthropic revenue. Our events and programs vary in format and size, and include an annual benefit, serving as our premier fundraising event. Hot Bread Kitchen events are not stuffy galas—no rubber chicken dinners here! As a nonprofit embedded in the food and hospitality industries, our guests describe our events as creative, diverse, delicious and mission-inspiring. The successful candidate will be an experienced fundraiser through the medium of events, have strong project management skills, thrive in a creative and fast-paced environment, and have a passion for our mission. The role will report to the Chief Strategy & Advancement Officer.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

The Director of Events is responsible for developing, implementing, and managing a diverse portfolio of fundraising and engagement events with the following responsibilities:

Event Management

• Drive the planning, budgeting and on-site execution of a portfolio of Hot Bread Kitchen’s signature fundraising and engagement events that identify new partners and engage existing relationships. Events include: The Annual Breadwinners Benefit (held each Spring; raised $1.1m in 2024), Ristorante Hot Bread Kitchen (four times per year currently; an in-house dinner prepared by our members, primarily used as a donor cultivation event), intimate donor events such as cooking classes, fundraising events hosted by Hot Bread Kitchen’s Young Professional Committee (1-2 times per year currently, with opportunities for growth) and corporate engagement events such as mock interviews (approximately 10 times per year currently, with opportunities for growth).
• Manage external event consultants, and serve as internal project manager and staff liaison between event consultants and internal teams.
• Collaborate closely with internal team members to ensure appropriate stewardship of Hot Bread Kitchen supporters and donor prospects within each event.
• Partner with the Brand team and event production consultant(s) to support brand experience, including overall storytelling, decor and rentals, collateral, and food experience.
• Identify, recruit and oversee event volunteers, committee members, chairs and co-chairs.
• Support Advancement team on other events throughout the year as needed (such as project managing or assisting with execution of webinars, panels, and culinary events).
• Provide post-event revenue reporting analysis and manages post-event reconciliation.

Fundraising

• Collaborate with key stakeholders (event consultant, executive team, board of directors and principal donors) to develop fundraising strategies to secure and engage honorees.
• Maintain a portfolio of event donors with a goal of stewardship, renewal and increased sponsorship.
• Support CEO and other C-Suite leaders in preparing for meetings and stewarding event donors, including creating sponsorship packages, decks, and drafting emails.
• Support the Brand team with the development of fundraising event collateral including sponsorship sell sheets, event correspondence, etc.
• Refine systems for event revenue tracking, guest lists and RSVPs (in Salesforce when possible).

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Intentionally committed to equity and inclusion.
• Passion and a commitment to Hot Bread Kitchen’s mission and core programs.
• 5+ years and demonstrated track record of successful event planning and project management experience.
• Events-based fundraising experience for mission-driven organizations strongly preferred.
• Exceptional organizational, interpersonal, written, and verbal communications, and a commitment to follow-through.
• The flexibility to work event-related hours including weekday early mornings and late evenings.
• Experience working with CRM and digital project management tools (we use Salesforce, Slack, Asana and Google Workplace).
• Self-motivated problem solver with the ability to handle and prioritize multiple projects, meet deadlines, work independently and with staff at all levels, and be a team player.
• Commitment to operational excellence.
• Bachelor’s Degree required.

Required Competencies

• Results driven - achieve goals in a timely manner and when necessary will adapt to various solutions and take the initiative to develop a new solution.
• Strategic- Understands the subtleties of complex issues and identifies patterns and challenges. Have the ability to see past challenges to collaboratively produce insightful, pragmatic, equitable, and sustainable ways to produce positive change.
• Collaboration- Works with others to achieve common goals and desired results. Connects with people from a variety of backgrounds and develops relationships to advance work.
• Persuasive communication- Displays verbal and written communication that influences and inspires others.
• Flexible- Adapts to changes while remaining focused on goals. Welcomes and works with changing environments. Mindful of blind spots and open to feedback.
• Detail oriented - verifies important details, ensures there are no surprises or gaps in needed information, has the ability to think a few steps ahead to answer potential questions about the data or project. Aims to leave things better than they found them. Checks work with others, plans time to review for errors and addresses errors quickly and learns from them.

Our Values

We are driven by a feeling of commitment to support our members, teammates, and partners. Our culture of equity comes from the many cooks in our kitchen and the diversity of perspectives we each bring. We believe that respect goes a long way in making people feel welcome, accepted, and celebrated. We seek out opportunities for connection and become a stronger team by being in community and prioritizing candor over consensus. The pace of our work and velocity of change can be quick; our entrepreneurialism helps us take optimistic risks and pursue inventive solutions

Location

This is a hybrid position, with flexibility to work remotely. Regular in-person attendance required when departmental needs arise (weekly) and for events. Our facility, located in Manhattan (Chelsea A/C/E/L), is open in line with city, state, and organizational guidelines.

Compensation

This is a full-time position with a salary range between $95,000 - $105,000. Hot Bread Kitchen's comprehensive benefits package includes health/vision/dental insurance (eligible from day one), 401K contributions, paid office closure days (including holidays, and staff appreciation days, and a one week holiday break at the end of the year), flexible and generous vacation and sick time, paid parental leave, and a sabbatical program (after 5 years of service). Our organizational culture is inclusive, entrepreneurial, flexible, and civically-minded (learn more about our culture on hotbreadkitchen.org/careers)

To Apply

• Please include a cover letter and experience-aligned resume including your pronouns.
• Apply here at Hot Bread Kitchen’s Applicant Tracking System.

Due to the volume of applications, only complete applications sent via email will be considered. Applications sent via LinkedIn or other third party sites will not be accepted or reviewed.

Hot Bread Kitchen is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against applicants based on race, religion, color, disability, medical condition, legally protected genetic information, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, gender identity or expression, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), age, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. Any applicant with a mental or physical disability who requires an accommodation during the application process should contact hr@hotbreadkitchen.org to request such an accommodation.