Chief Strategy Officer

Communities Unlimited, Inc. seeks a Chief Strategy Officer to lead organizational strategy that advances economic and community development in rural, underserved communities across the South. The CSO will drive long-term vision, assess trends, and align lending, technical assistance, and infrastructure programs with mission and impact goals. This role leads strategic planning, impact measurement, and cross-functional collaboration, and engages closely with executive leadership, funders, and community partners in a mission-driven, equity-focused culture.

Responsibilities

• Lead organization-wide strategic planning and long-term vision for community and economic development impact across the rural South

• Assess market, funding, and policy trends to identify growth opportunities and risks for Communities Unlimited, Inc.

• Partner with executive leadership to align programs, lending, and infrastructure initiatives with mission and strategic priorities

• Develop impact metrics and dashboards to track outcomes in small business lending, technical assistance, and infrastructure support

• Guide resource allocation, business modeling, and diversification of revenue streams, including grants and partnerships

• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration among field, lending, and technical teams to drive cohesive community strategies

• Engage with boards, funders, and key stakeholders to communicate strategy, results, and investment opportunities

• Support a culture of equity, inclusion, continuous learning, and data-informed decision-making across the organization Required Skills

• Strategic planning

• Nonprofit leadership

• Impact measurement and evaluation

• Financial and business modeling

• Community and economic development

• Grant and funder relations

• Data analysis and dashboarding

• Change management

• Stakeholder and board engagement

• Program portfolio management