Benetech® :: Join Us :: Employment Opportunities

Position Postings: bringing heart and mind together

Want to apply your skills to directly helping society? Do you fantasize about getting paid a reasonable wage to make the world a better place? Benetech® is Silicon Valley's deliberately nonprofit tech company, and we apply technology to directly assist the causes of literacy, accessibility, human rights and the environment.

Volunteer Coordinator (#VC)
Collection Development Specialistt (#CDS-TX)
Vice President, Development (#VPD)
User Interface Engineer (position information on JobScore.com)

Collection Development Specialist (#CDS-TX)

Bookshare is looking for an experienced program and analytical professional to join our Collection Development team. This will be a regular, full-time position and will primarily be working on our Texas project, which is focused on delivering accessible digital books to print-disabled readers in the state of Texas and image descriptions through our LIT project. This position is dependent on funding for our Texas and LIT projects.

The responsibilities of this position include:

Inventory Tracking and Management

Will be responsible for developing and maintaining a tracking system for all books published to our collection through the Texas project
Tracking system must also be able to report status of books in progress

Customer Support and Student Book requests:

Responding to and tracking textbook requests from government repositories, students, and other sources
Corresponding directly with our student members, updating them regarding book request status, clarifying requests, etc.
Supporting the fulfillment of textbook requests, including purchasing copies of requested textbooks and supporting the conversion of those books to digital format, by working with internal staff and our vendors
Reporting on multiple aspects of student requests, such as number submitted and fulfilled, etc.

Vendor Support - Bookshare works with a wide range of vendors and this position performs several key administrative functions to support the relationship with those vendors, including:

Sending priority files to vendor partners
Analyzing and categorizing files to go to vendors
Reviewing and verifying invoices
Support the tracking and reporting of vendor activity

Volunteer Program Support - Bookshare operates an active volunteer program, with both in-house and remote volunteers. This position will provide a variety of support to that program.

Special projects as assigned

Qualifications

Bachelors Degree minimum
3+ years of administrative, analytical, and/or program experience
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Experience with detailed record keeping, reporting, and data analysis
Demonstrated competence with office software tools
Experience with electronic file formats, assistive technology and non-profit environments are highly desired.

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Vice President, Development (#VPD)

The Vice President, Resource Development is a key leadership position requiring an individual who has the ability to drive Benetech to achieve and surpass its goals. Reporting to the CEO, this position is responsible for overseeing fundraising and business development functions including fundraising, communications and new project development.

The Vice President, Resource Development is an integral member of Benetech's senior leadership team. This position is full time and based in Palo Alto, California.

Top Roles Required for Success

Primary responsibility for fund development. Principal focus is the development of upper level prospect relationships and securing of significant gifts. Promote and extend the financial health of the organization and its projects by evaluating and expanding the pipeline of fund raising prospects for new, early-stage and existing initiatives; develop funding and partnership proposals; and supporting the cultivation of funder relationships.
Lead high performing development team.
Direct the new project process for social ventures that generate both earned and contributed income. In addition, help assess and develop a case to support existing programs and new projects and identify potential partner and funding opportunities.
Direct internal and external communication functions, promote internal knowledge sharing, and set common standards to achieve an effective and engaging institutional voice, building the Benetech brand and messages to attract people and resources.

Specific Deliverables Required for Success in First Six Months

Understanding of Benetech and its programs; capable of expressing fundraising and organizational priorities effectively
Existing funding pipeline momentum maintained, with short list of key prospects with near-term action steps
Expanded outreach underway; meetings happening, including initial relationship-building and external calls with staff and Board members
Longer-term plan in place for both fundraising and strategic communications with clear goals and expectations of self and others
Initial funding either in hand or on the horizon

Qualifications

Bachelor's degree with at least ten years related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Track record of successful fundraising experience, with an emphasis on individual relationships and giving. Demonstrated ability to design, execute and grow a sustainable fundraising program.
Entrepreneurial spirit. Solutions and results orientation.
Knowledge of comprehensive communications strategies.
Ability to relate well and to work well with a wide range of people.
Personal belief in our mission and enthusiasm about working for a nonprofit.
Understanding of social enterprise business planning.
Fit with Benetech culture (see Organizational Truths below)

Competencies

Integrity and trust
Interpersonal savvy
Strategic agility
Intellectual horsepower
Approachability
Action oriented/drive for results
Listening
Presentation skills

Organizational Truths

We are committed to social change through technology
We get stuff done
We do the right stuff right
We prefer open to proprietary (internal and external)
We think we can do more together (internally and externally)
We value flexibility (as an employer and from our employees)
We are committed to personal and professional development

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Volunteer Coordinator (#VC)

Support the national Bookshare volunteer community in expanding Bookshare, the world's largest collection of digital electronic books for the blind and print disabled. Our volunteers are an active and passionate community and they are vitally important to Bookshare.

The Volunteer Coordinator will support the Bookshare volunteer community in multiple aspects as outlined below. The Coordinator will be responsible for providing outstanding customer service to our volunteers, engaging and retaining volunteers, and continually updating our processes to more effectively leverage the work of the volunteers. With a great eye for detail, the Coordinator is responsible for maintaining highly accurate records of all volunteer activities. This position reports to the Bookshare Volunteer Program Manager.

The responsibilities of this position include

Volunteer recruitment and engagement: Manage the new volunteer application process, orientation/training, and supporting volunteers throughout their work
Provide a high level of responsiveness and customer focus for our volunteers. This includes timely response to volunteer referrals as well as other needs of volunteers.
Support recruitment activities of new volunteers to meet the changing needs of Bookshare
Provide support with a variety of communications with volunteers, including discussion forums, social media, on-line meetings, surveys and more.
Provide phone and email-based customer support for the volunteer community
Track and capture data on a wide range of volunteer activities
Utilize new operational processes for engaging volunteers in new areas, such as image descriptions or textbook proofing

Qualifications

Three+ years of relevant administrative/customer service experience, preferably in a high-tech environment
Ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with a diverse range of people and job functions, both internally and externally
Experience with social media and blogging a plus
Excellent customer service and relationship building skills
Enthusiasm, adaptability and a can-do attitude are required
Strong computer skills are necessary (including MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel), and ability to learn and adapt to new web-based applications and technology
Excellent organization skills, attention to detail and ability to multitask are required

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