Job Opening Title:
Deputy Director
Name of Employer:
Afro Charities
Job Site Location (City AND State):
Baltimore, MD
Application Deadline:
11:59 pm ET on 11/30/26
Minimum Degree Requirement:
N/A
Years of experience required:
7
Salary Range:
$95,000 – $110,000
Job Opening URL:
https://forms.clickup.com/
Job Description (if URL to posting not available). Include instructions for how to apply:
Role Snapshot
Job title: Deputy Director
Location: Baltimore, MD (in person)
Schedule: Full-time, 40 hours/week, exempt
Pay: $95,000 – $110,000 depending on experience
Benefits: Partial health & dental coverage, PTO, two weeks paid holiday leave, one week paid summer office closure, employee 401(k) match after one year of full-time employment
Reports to: Executive Director
Deadline to apply: November 30, 2026
Start date: by February 22, 2027
About Afro Charities
Afro Charities is a nonprofit organization stewarding the historic AFRO American Newspapers Archives and developing programming that connects communities to this invaluable record of Black life. Our work preserves and activates Black history through exhibitions, public events, community engagement, and archival access initiatives.
After eight years of development, Afro Charities will open the Martha E. Murphy Research Institute at Baltimore’s historic Upton Mansion in early 2027, a public research center for the archives and our new headquarters.
Afro Charities is in a period of sustained and intentional growth. Since 2019, the organization has scaled from a $50,000 annual operating budget to nearly $2 million, with continued growth anticipated, supported by this role.
Our work culture is collaborative, thoughtful, and mission-driven, with an emphasis on employee well-being. This role will help the organization build strong systems to ensure long-term sustainability.
Position Summary
Afro Charities seeks an experienced Deputy Director to serve as the organization’s second in command as it prepares to open the Martha E. Murphy Research Institute.
Reporting to and partnering closely with the Executive Director, the Deputy Director owns the operational backbone: facilities, administration, human resources, compliance, and day-to-day execution of the strategic plan. The Executive Director leads external direction, vision, and public representation. The Deputy Director carries delegated authority over everything internal, turning priorities into schedules, budgets, and systems. The two roles work as a leadership partnership. Strong trust, alignment, and communication between them are essential.
This is a nuts-and-bolts job that also asks for judgment, warmth, and an eye for how the organization feels to staff and to the public it serves. The person who thrives here is deeply organized, energized by a well-run calendar, and attentive to the visitor experience. Three capabilities matter most: human resources knowledge, the ability to build durable systems and policies, and the project management discipline to hold timelines and meet commitments.
This is also a growth role. As policies and systems mature, the Deputy Director’s portfolio is expected to expand alongside the organization.
Key Responsibilities
1. Operations & Facilities
Oversee the organization’s buildings, including facilities, security, and IT systems.
Manage the relationship with the property management company, which handles leases, building maintenance and building accounting.
Oversee venue rentals and special-event rentals.
Oversee vendor relationships and hold vendors accountable for performance, cost, and responsiveness.
Own the organization’s technology stack. Maintain the inventory of platforms in use across the organization. Manage licenses, renewals, and user access.
2. Human Resources
Own the full HR function: recruiting, hiring, onboarding, employee engagement, performance reviews, separations, and HR policy, with support of Executive Director and staff, when appropriate.
Administer HR through Gusto and expand the organization’s use of the platform’s broader capabilities.
Kick off the hiring process when a new position is identified, and conduct initial candidate screenings.
Manage staff culture and the performance review cycle, connecting it to the master calendar and the strategic plan.
Maintain and refine the organization’s HR compendium of standard operating procedures, onboarding materials, and checklists.
Own staff training and professional development, and ensure every employee has access to meaningful professional development. Ensure all staff complete required compliance training and that records are documented and current.
Develop and maintain human resources policy as the organization grows, including leave, sabbatical, and flexible-work policies, and keep the employee handbook current and consistently applied.
3. Finance, Budgeting, & Compliance
Co-develop the annual operating budget with the Executive Director: gather needs and priorities from department leads, map the budget against the strategic vision, and strategize on how to reach the proposed number.
Operationalize the approved budget and hold the organization to it.
Maintain a master compliance calendar covering items such as tax returns, Form 990 deadlines, insurance renewals, and other recurring obligations.
Support board governance tasks, including conflict-of-interest disclosures and board review of the Form 990.
Manage contractors, including the external bookkeeper.
Support external bookkeeper, Board Treasurer and Executive Director in completing annual financial audit.
4. Strategic Planning & Project Management
Serve as the point person to operationalize the strategic plan, translating goals into owners, timelines, and checkpoints.
Lead quarterly check-ins on progress against the plan. Keep timelines on track and raise issues early so goals actually get met.
Own the organizational master calendar and connect it to the budget cycle, the compliance calendar, and the performance review cycle.
Manage cross-departmental projects and readiness workstreams for the opening of the Martha E. Murphy Research Institute, including security planning and emergency protocols, the launch of the venue rental program, and staffing ramp-up.
Track contractor and vendor project deliverables against deadlines and budget.
Maintain the organizational punch list of operational tasks and drive items to closure.
Build and refine the systems, checklists, and standard operating procedures the organization needs as it scales.
6. Leadership Coverage
Step in and represent the Executive Director during absences, including a planned extended coverage, anticipated Q4 2027 – Q1 2028. The role is built so the organization keeps moving while the Executive Director is away, with support from longtime staff leaders and identified Board members.
Serve as a thought partner to the Executive Director on organizational decisions.
Take on other key assignments as needed. This role is expected to flex with the organization’s priorities, and its scope may grow as systems and policies mature.
Ideal Candidate Profile
Proven operations leadership. Documented experience running the operations of an organization or a major division, ideally in a prior deputy, chief operating officer, or senior administrative role.
Exceptional organization and follow-through. Manages complex, competing timelines with discipline, holds deadlines without rigidity, and surfaces risks early rather than absorbing them quietly.
Problem solver with a systems mindset. Action-oriented when an issue needs to be addressed, and implements systems to mitigate the same problem arising later.
Financial fluency. Treats budgets, cash flow, and financial reporting as routine management tools and can translate financial information for staff and board audiences.
Collaborative leadership style. Operates as a genuine partner to the Executive Director, earns the trust and confidence of staff, and works effectively across a small team.
Orientation toward building. Energized by establishing, refining and extending systems in a growing organization rather than maintaining established ones.
Technology fluency. Comfortable owning a small organization’s technology stack and confident selecting, implementing, and training staff on new systems.
Excellent oral and written communication. Writes clearly for staff, board, and vendors and communicates decisions in a way people can act on.
Qualifications
Required
Seven or more years of progressively responsible operations, administration, or business management experience, including at least three years at the deputy, chief operating officer, or equivalent senior leadership level.
Demonstrated experience owning human resources functions, including hiring, performance management, and HR policy.
Demonstrated experience with budgeting, financial oversight, and cash-flow monitoring.
Working knowledge of nonprofit compliance.
Experience managing contractors, vendors, or external service providers.
Exceptional organizational skills with a proven record of managing multiple timelines and driving projects to completion.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to work collaboratively across a small team.
Strong technology capability. Fluency with the core business systems a growing nonprofit runs on, along with the judgment to select, implement, and phase out tools as needs change.
Strong interest in Black history and Afro Charities’ mission.
Preferred
Experience at a cultural institution, museum, archive, library, or similar mission-driven organization.
Experience with facilities oversight and with venue or event rental operations as an earned revenue line.
Experience supporting a board of directors.
Experience operationalizing a strategic plan across departments.
Experience opening a new facility or leading an organization through a major expansion.
Key Relationships
Executive Director. Direct supervisor and closest working partner.
Department leads. Budgeting, planning, and coordination.
External bookkeeper. Regular financial review and cash-flow monitoring.
Property management company. Building operations, leases, building accounting, and building-related compliance.
Board of Directors. Compliance tasks and governance support.
Contractors and vendors. Oversight and coordination.
Anticipated Hiring Timeline
November 2, 2026 – November 30, 2026 – Applications Open
December 1, 2026 – December 8, 2026 – Zoom Screen
January 4, 2027 – January 8, 2027 – First Round Interviews (Virtual)
January 11, 2027 – January 13, 2027 – Case Study / Role Exercise
January 19, 2027 – January 22, 2027 – Second Round Interviews (In-person)
January 25, 2027 – January 26, 2027 – Reference Checks
January 29, 2027 – Extend Offer
February 22, 2027 – Start Date (Sooner, if possible)
How to Apply
Please read this role description thoroughly to ensure that you are qualified for the role before applying. Our small team reads every application received by the deadline that follows the instructions below. You will be asked for:
Your full name, pronouns (optional), and contact information.
A single combined PDF of your cover letter and resume. Please submit a cover letter describing your interest in Afro Charities’ mission and how your experience prepares you for this role. Include two specific examples describing a need you addressed, your specific role and actions, and the outcome, including any systems or practices you established to support continued success.
Two professional references.
Any interview accommodations you may require via Zoom (optional).
If you encounter an error with the form, please contact people@afrocharities.org with “Deputy Director” in the subject line.
Applications are due by 11:59 pm Eastern on November 30, 2026. Applications received after that time will not be considered. Apply here: https://forms.clickup.com/
Equal Employment Opportunity
Afro Charities is committed to providing an equal opportunity for employment to individuals regardless of age, race, color, creed, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other similarly protected status in accordance with federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation.