About Springfield WORKS

Springfield WORKS brings together residents and families, employers, educators, workforce organizations, community partners, policymakers, and funders around a shared goal: expanding access to family-sustaining careers while strengthening the talent pipelines that support a competitive regional economy.

As a backbone convener and catalyst for systems change, Springfield WORKS develops, tests, and scales collaborative solutions that connect career pathways, employer practices, education and training, wraparound supports, economic mobility, and policy innovation.

Springfield WORKS was launched within the Western Mass Economic Development Council and today operates through EDC 413Works, Inc., a 501(c)(3) charitable organization established to advance community-wide priorities focused on economic mobility, workforce development, and regional prosperity.

Position Summary

Springfield WORKS has built a strong and recognized role within the Western Massachusetts economic and workforce ecosystem. As the organization enters its next chapter, the Executive Director will build on nearly a decade of partnership, innovation, and impact while helping shape its future direction.

The Executive Director will provide strategic and organizational leadership, deepen relationships across industries and communities, grow organizational capacity and resources, and advance initiatives that connect residents to economic opportunity and employers to the talent they need.

The ideal candidate is a mission-driven and collaborative executive who understands talent and economic mobility as essential drivers of regional competitiveness and can lead an established organization toward even greater scale, influence, sustainability, and impact.

Key Responsibilities

Organizational Leadership & Operations

• Drive organizational vision, strategic direction, annual priorities, and operational strategy in partnership with the Springfield WORKS Board of Directors and the Western Mass Economic Development Council.
• Lead and grow a high-performing team; oversee budgeting, financial planning, compliance, organizational operations, performance management, and effective stewardship of resources.
• Serve as primary liaison to the Board of Directors, providing strategic updates, governance support, and appropriate fiduciary oversight.
• Use data, research, evaluation, and stakeholder feedback to measure impact, strengthen programs, and guide future priorities.

Industry & Economic Development Partnerships

• Deepen and expand relationships with employers, educational institutions, industry associations, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and other partners to align talent strategy with regional growth priorities.
• Advance and scale sector-based workforce pipelines in industries important to the region’s future, supporting employer attraction, retention, and expansion.
• Engage employers to understand changing workforce needs and translate those needs into collaborative talent-development strategies and new partnership opportunities.
• Strengthen Springfield WORKS as a collaborative and additive partner in the regional economic and workforce ecosystem, bridging industry, talent, community, and economic development in ways that strengthen the whole.

Talent Pipeline, Career Access & Systems Change

• Grow partnerships with education and training providers, employers, workforce organizations, and community partners to expand career pathways through apprenticeships, work-based learning, direct hiring programs, education and training, and other models.
• Apply labor-market intelligence, employer insight, participant data, and evaluation findings to advance workforce strategies that are employer-responsive, community-informed, and focused on expanding economic mobility.
• Strengthen alignment among workforce, education, employer, and support systems so residents can more successfully enter, persist in, and advance along career pathways.
• Work with partners to address barriers to workforce participation and advancement, including childcare, transportation, financial instability, benefits cliffs, and other social and economic challenges.
• Develop, test, evaluate, and scale innovative approaches while ensuring resident and participant perspectives inform program design, organizational strategy, and systems-change efforts.

Resource Development & Organizational Sustainability

• Grow and diversify revenue through strategic cultivation of public, corporate, philanthropic, and other funding sources, building on Springfield WORKS’ established credibility and track record.
• Lead long-term resource-development and funder-engagement strategy in partnership with staff, the Board, and organizational partners.
• Oversee grant development and proposal strategy; communicate outcomes, impact, and return on investment to funders, partners, policymakers, and public stakeholders.
• Develop strategies to sustain and scale successful programs, partnerships, and systems-change initiatives.

Regional Advocacy & External Engagement

• Champion Springfield WORKS’ voice and policy priorities at local, regional, state, and national levels.
• Convene cross-sector partners to collaboratively address workforce, economic mobility, and economic development challenges.
• Serve as a visible and credible ambassador for Springfield WORKS with employers, funders, policymakers, community organizations, residents, and other stakeholders.
• Represent Springfield WORKS in public forums and serve as a thought leader on workforce innovation, economic mobility, regional talent competitiveness, and collaborative systems change.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in economic development, workforce development, organizational or nonprofit leadership, public policy, community development, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success leading or growing organizations, initiatives, or partnerships at the intersection of workforce development, industry engagement, economic mobility, and/or economic development.
• Proven ability to build trusted partnerships across business, government, nonprofit, education, philanthropy, workforce, and community organizations and lead complex cross-sector initiatives.
• Track record of growing and diversifying significant public, corporate, and/or philanthropic funding.
• Strong financial, operational, organizational, and people-management capabilities.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and public presence; skilled at influencing senior leaders, building consensus, and navigating complex stakeholder environments.
• Demonstrated commitment to inclusive economic mobility, workforce opportunity, and long-term regional prosperity.

Additional Experience Valued

• Demonstrated experience building authentic and trusted relationships with communities representing a range of racial, cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, including communities that have historically faced barriers to economic opportunity.
• Bilingual or multilingual communication skills and/or demonstrated experience communicating and engaging effectively across languages and cultures.
• Experience incorporating participant, resident, or community perspectives into organizational strategy, program design, or policy work.
• Experience using data, research, labor-market information, program evaluation, and stakeholder feedback to guide strategy and demonstrate impact.
• Experience influencing public policy, systems change, or institutional practices; familiarity with the Western Massachusetts employer, workforce, education, economic development, philanthropic, and community ecosystem is strongly valued.

Work Environment

This is a hybrid leadership position that includes office-based work as well as regular in-person engagement with staff, employers, education and workforce partners, funders, community organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

Periodic travel throughout Massachusetts is required for meetings, events, conferences, training sessions, and community engagement activities. Occasional out-of-state travel may also be required to attend conferences, convenings, professional development opportunities, and partner meetings.

Physical Requirements

This position requires the ability to perform the essential functions of an executive leadership role in office, meeting, event, and community environments, with or without reasonable accommodation. Periodic local and regional travel is required.

Equal Employment Opportunity

EDC 413Works, Inc. and the Western Mass Economic Development Council provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religious creed, age, pregnancy or related conditions, ability or disability, mental illness, genetics, military or veteran status, or any other protected class under federal, state, or local law. Equal employment opportunity applies to all facets of employment, including but not limited to hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.