Job Opening:
Executive Director
South Cumberland Partnership invites applications for the position of Executive Director. Please read the full job description and organization before applying below.
Executive Opportunity
The South Cumberland Partnership, Inc. (SCP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, seeks a candidate to serve as its Executive Director—the organization’s chief executive—responsible for providing top-level leadership, strategic direction, and operational oversight to ensure that SCP achieves its mission and goals, working collaboratively with its Board, staff, and external resources, both at the governmental and philanthropic levels, as well as community stakeholders. Candidates are invited to learn more and apply online at SouthCumberlandPartnership.org/Jobs.
Characteristics of our Ideal Candidate
Essentials
Effective leader of staff, board, committees and community stakeholders
Strong advocate for the organization, its mission and goals
Authentic and emotionally mature; able to inspire trust
Strong interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills
Strong operational management skills
Strategic, long-range thinker
Demonstrated experience in economic development, destination marketing, destination management, or rural tourism development/management
Strong networking skills, public speaking skills, and local government negotiation skills (for annual budget)
Able to successfully raise funds/pursue grants/form alliances
All levels of government, plus philanthropic entities
Ability to direct and/or prepare grant applications
Develop strong working relationships w/ resources (e.g., ARC, TVA, TDTD, TDEC, etc.)
Strong financial skills (budgeting, money management, reporting)
Experience interpreting tourism and economic impact data, visitation trends, occupancy metrics, and other performance indicators
Ability to use tourism research and analytics to guide marketing investments, strategic planning, and organizational priorities
Effective at managing people and projects
Demonstrated ability to operate independently with limited day-to-day direction while maintaining strong accountability to a governing board
Proven ability to establish priorities, execute strategic initiatives, and effectively manage organizational operations with minimal oversight
Able to drive productivity
Effective at directing and managing Partner, Committee and Board meetings
Effectively connect SCP with the local community through in-person interactions
Successfully recruit and utilize new staff hires and volunteer talent
Collaborative, “servant” persona
Able to work collaboratively and effectively with governmental, philanthropic and other external organizations
Comfortable with Rural America lifestyle and personalities
Deep commitment to the organization's mission and values
A relentless learner
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Planning:
Works with the SCP Executive Committee and Board of Directors to implement and evaluate, and update the SCP Strategic Plan
Ensures consistent progress toward SCP’s mission and programmatic impact
Financial Management & Fundraising:
Oversees SCP’s budgeting, financial reporting, and fiscal integrity
Ensure SCP’s financial health, including grant writing and donor cultivation
Operations & Program Oversight:
Manages SCP’s daily operations, ensuring efficient program delivery service quality
Develops and implements sound SCP policies and procedures
Board Relations & Governance:
Reports to and takes direction from the Board of Directors and Executive Committee
Collaborates with the SCP Board on policy, strategy, and fundraising
Provides regular reports to the SCP Board & Exec Ctte on operations, performance
Staff Leadership & Development:
Recruits, hires, supervises, and provides professional development for SCP’s staff
Fosters a positive and values-driven work environment within SCP
External Relations & Communications:
Serves as the primary SCP spokesperson and face of the organization
Builds and maintains SCP’s strategic partnerships and community awareness
Compensation Package
• Salary range will be in the $70K range, commensurate with education and experience. Applicants should have at least a bachelor’s degree in nonprofit, marketing, economic development, business administration, or similar areas.
• Applicants should demonstrate at least three years of relevant experience or a combination of education and other experience. Specific experience in economic development and/or destination marketing is particularly valued.
• This position requires relocation to the South Cumberland region of Tennessee. Flexible scheduling is allowed; remote work and online meetings are allowed; but applicants will need to be onsite at some point each week to conduct necessary community outreach, meetings with funders and partners, governmental officials, etc.
• There will be some mileage-compensated travel within Tennessee, principally to Nashville and/or Chattanooga for in-person meetings with funding and governmental officials.
• Compensation will initially include 14 days of annual PTO (this could be vacation, sick leave, bereavement, or any combination), which may increase with time.
• SCP will provide health insurance through a partner organization (e.g., nonprofit coop or similar (We need to nail this down before we post the job.)
• SCP will provide a lump sum annual retirement contribution/bonus. Exact amount will be based on an annual performance review, including funding metrics.
• SCP’s expectations will drive contract negotiations, but SCP intends to recognize and reward good work that produces the desired fiscal and programmatic outcomes envisioned in its Strategic Plan, particularly if the outcomes are achieved in a collaborative and high-quality manner.
What Executive Director Candidates Need to Know
Since its creation in 2021, the South Cumberland Partnership, Inc. (SCP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has engaged in tourist development as a means of bolstering rural economic opportunities for the southern Cumberland Plateau region of Tennessee, located midway between Nashville and Chattanooga.
During that time, SCP increased multi-day tourism by over 500% (as measured by local lodging tax collections). SCP has engaged prospective visitors with its “Mountains of Adventure” marketing campaign, MountainsOfAdventure.com website, and Vacation Planning Guide magazine, among other online and traditional media efforts.
While increasing multi-day tourism has been part of SCP’s charge since its inception, SCP’s mission now encompasses a dual mandate: Grow multi-day tourist visitation, while simultaneously facilitating the creation of locally-based, job-creating economic opportunities that maximize the beneficial impact of future growth in visitor spending.
The SCP Strategic Plan expresses it this way:
WHAT
SCP exists in order to create a successful outdoor recreation and heritage tourism economy that
values and celebrates the traditions of each of its gateway communities, while providing economic
opportunity for all of the region’s citizens. Its emphasis is on supporting local businesses and
entrepreneurs, and fostering the creation of welcoming places for visitors, while protecting the rural
character and authentic nature of the region’s communities.
WHY
SCP’s purpose is to provide the region’s visitors with outstanding hospitality experiences that
reflect the welcoming manner and entrepreneurial spirit of the people and communities in the region.
As a result, these visitors bring economic benefits to the region by providing added business and tax
revenue while creating good jobs for its citizens and, in particular, fostering job skills and career
pathways for the region’s young adults.
HOW
SCP improves economic opportunity in the region by working with established community
resources, business owners and entrepreneurs. TSCTP advocates for and develops ways to support
locally-owned businesses and entrepreneurs that serve the region’s outdoor recreation and heritage
tourism economy. These efforts are focused on creating jobs, engaging area youth, fostering
improved customer and client service, and promoting workforce opportunities in a way that will
ultimately improve the effectiveness of SCP’s tourism efforts.
According to research from the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Tennessee’s 2023 average per-tourist daily spending is $212 dollars, but this area’s per-tourist daily spending is only $83 — illustrating a huge opportunity for further economic growth in local business and job creation in an area that has seen only modest economic benefit thus far.
The region’s economy has been slow to rally around tourism as an economic engine. In many instances, this is due to a lack of capital and entrepreneurial knowledge that would foster the creation of local businesses typically associated with tourist visitation.
The region’s history is also relevant here. Historically, the economic engine of this area was powered by extraction industries, principally in coal and timber. The coal industry period extended from the late 1840s to the early 1970s, reaching its peak in the 1890s, with a steady decline thereafter. The timber industry, while still modestly active today, had its peak in the 1880-1920 time-frame. However, this topographically-rugged area has always had an allure to visitors, beginning in the 1850s with an antebellum resort now known as the town of Beersheba Springs.
The South Cumberland region is a vast plateau, 2,000 feet above sea level, deeply incised by deeply-forested and very scenic canyons, flanked by tall sandstone cliffs (or “bluffs”, in the local terminology). Atop the plateau, land is still rolling and deeply wooded. The nine towns of the region stand as largely unspoiled examples of rural America, each with extensive and unique histories relating to coal, Swiss resettlement, religion, education or recreation.
In the 1960s, area tourism received a boost with the arrival of Interstate 24. In the 1970s, the region became home to a 35,000-acre Tennessee State Park. The original park has now evolved into three discrete state parks that collectively attract roughly 1.1 million visitors per year. In addition, the historic University of the South, founded on the eve of the Civil War, has a large and scenic campus that attracts not only students and their families, but also visitors who come to attend its various conferences, workshops and seasonal activities. Most recently, The Caverns, a unique and very successful music venue located in a large local cave, has contributed to tourism growth. The PBS-TV series “The Caverns Sessions”, shot there, on-location, has introduced Tennessee’s South Cumberland to an international audience.
Today, this region has tremendous opportunity to nurture and establish a true outdoor recreation and hospitality economy, thanks to its natural assets, which support world-class rock climbing, hiking, camping, hunting, paddling and related outdoor activities.
At present, SCP is fully volunteer-driven. We recognize that SCP must increase its capacity in order to realize the area’s full potential. That is why we are seeking a collaborative, results-oriented leader to turn SCP into a sustainable organization.
The successful candidate will empower SCP to create and implement sustainable economic development initiatives that result in the establishment of new local businesses and the creation of good, local jobs. This, combined with the continuing growth of SCP’s visitor marketing program, will successfully raise the region’s per-visitor daily spending to the Tennessee state average and beyond.