University City District Skyline Housing Neighborhood Ariel View from Drone

Join our team.

When we have open positions on the University City District or Skills Initiative teams they will be listed below.

University City District (UCD) is a non-profit, special services district that leverages a unique partnership of universities, health systems, large and small businesses, and community groups

to invest in public spaces, address public maintenance and public safety issues, bring life to commercial corridors, promote job growth and innovation, and connect residents to career opportunities by way of The Skills Initiative.

University City District provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Unless otherwise noted, all inquiries regarding open positions can be sent to Erica Jorden, Director of Human Resources.

Open Roles:

Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration
Manager of Marketing and Community Engagement

Senior Vice President of Finance and Administration

University City District (UCD) is a nonprofit, special services district that leverages a unique partnership of universities, health systems, large and small businesses, and community groups to invest in public spaces, address public maintenance and public safety issues, bring life to commercial corridors, promote job growth and innovation, and connect residents to career opportunities.  

University City District is a nonprofit organization with a multi-entity financial structure and diversified revenue streams supporting both place-based economic development and workforce development initiatives. The organization manages an annual operating budget of approximately $15 million across UCD and its affiliated programs, including The Skills Initiative, a nationally recognized workforce intermediary, and Green City Works, a mission-driven landscaping social enterprise.

UCD’s revenue portfolio includes a mix of voluntary institutional contributions, foundation and government grants, corporate sponsorships, fee-for-service contracts, and individual philanthropic contributions, requiring strong financial management, grant compliance, and multi-fund accounting. The organization also oversees several restricted funds and program-specific budgets, including major workforce development initiatives and industry partnerships that operate across the Philadelphia region.

Position Overview

University City District seeks a strategic, hands-on, and forward-thinking Senior Vice President of Finance & Administration to serve as the organization’s principal financial leader and a close partner to the President. This role is both transformational and operational: the SVP will modernize financial systems, strengthen reporting and forecasting, and build the infrastructure needed to support UCD’s next phase of growth. The SVP will play a central role in shaping organizational strategy, translating mission priorities into clear financial plans, improving visibility into performance, and ensuring leadership and the Board have timely, accurate, and actionable information for decision-making.

At the same time, this leader will be deeply embedded in day-to-day operations, overseeing accounting, budgeting, grant compliance, HR, IT, and administrative functions within a lean team. The SVP will build trust across a highly collaborative but evolving organization, bringing greater accountability, clarity, and consistency to processes while maintaining UCD’s entrepreneurial and mission-driven culture. This is a unique opportunity for a leader who is energized by building systems, partnering across functions, and creating a finance function that is proactive, transparent, and essential to organizational success.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Strategy & Organizational Leadership
- Serve as a strategic advisor and thought partner to the President and senior leadership team.
- Translate organizational priorities into financial strategy, scenario planning, and resource allocation decisions.
- Lead the evolution from reactive financial management to proactive planning, forecasting, and performance management.
- Support major strategic initiatives, including program scaling, restructuring efforts, and new revenue models.
Financial Operations & Modernization
- Oversee all core accounting functions, including general ledger, AP/AR, payroll, and financial close.
- Establish and enforce a disciplined monthly close process and reporting calendar.
- Modernize financial systems, tools, and workflows to improve efficiency, accuracy, and real-time visibilty.
- Strengthen internal controls, policies, and documentation to ensure compliance and scalability.
Budgeting, Forecasting & Analysis
- Lead the development of annual budgets and multi-year financial forecasts across all entities and programs.
- Provide regular, clear, and actionable financial reporting to department leaders, senior leadership, and the Board.
- Partner with program leaders to improve budget clarity, ownership, and accountability.
- Develop forward-looking insights on cash flow, program sustainability, and investment decisions.
Audit, Compliance & Risk Management
- Serve as primary liaison to external auditors and lead the annual audit process.
- Ensure timely, accurate audit completion and strong communication with the Finance Committee and Board.
- Oversee compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, including grant and contract requirements.
- Strengthen risk management practices, including insurance and financial controls.
Grants & Public Funding Management
- Oversee budgeting, tracking, and reporting for government grants, contracts, and philanthropic funding.
- Ensure timely invoicing, reporting, and collections across all funding streams.
- Partner with Advancement and program teams to align financial tracking with grant requirements and revenue strategy.
- Improve systems for tracking restricted funds, grant performance, and deliverables.
Treasury & Cash Management
- Manage cash flow, liquidity, and banking relationships.
- Provide forward-looking cash forecasting to support operational and strategic decisions.
- Identify opportunities to optimize use of reserves and excess cash.
Board & External Engagement
- Serve as the primary financial liaison to the Board of Directors and Finance Committee.
- Present clear, credible, and insightful financial reports and analyses.
- Build strong relationships with institutional partners, funders, and external stakeholders.
- Support development of compelling financial narratives for funders and partners.
Team Leadership & Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop a small but critical finance and administrative team.
- Establish clear expectations, accountability, and professional development pathways.
- Foster a culture of responsiveness, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Provide hands-on support when needed in a lean team environment.
Administration (HR, IT, Operations)
- Oversee Human Resources, IT, and administrative functions to ensure effective organizational support.
- Partner with HR leadership on talent strategy, performance management, and employee experience.
- Ensure administrative systems scale with organizational growth and complexity.
- Improve policies, procedures, and cross-functional coordination.
Procurement & Vendor Management
- Establish clear procurement policies and contract management processes.
- Improve vendor payment timelines and financial oversight of contracts.
- Partner with operational teams to align purchasing with strategic and budget priorities.
- Track and identify opportunities for cost savings and efficiency.

The Leader

Qualifications
- Minimum of 10 years of senior financial and administrative leadership experience.
- Strong experience in nonprofit finance, including grants management and multi-fund accounting preferred.
- Demonstrated success building or modernizing financial systems and processes.
- Experience partnering with executive leadership and Boards on strategy and decision-making.
- Working knowledge of Human Resources, compliance, and organizational operations.
- Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
- Comfort working both strategically and hands-on in a lean, evolving environment.
- Experience with financial systems and openness to leveraging technology and automation (including AI tools) to improve efficiency.
Leadership Attributes
- Strategic & Proactive: Anticipates challenges, brings forward solutions, and builds systems that enable foresight and planning.
- Hands-On Builder: Comfortable operating at both strategic and tactical levels; willing to roll up sleeves when needed.
- Operationally Rigorous: Establishes clear processes, accountability, and financial discipline.
- Collaborative & Relationship-Oriented: Builds trust across teams, with leadership, and with external stakeholders.
- Clear & Confident Communicator: Translates complex financial information into actionable insights.
- Change Leader: Brings structure and clarity while navigating organizational evolution and growth.
- High Integrity & Accountability: Holds self and others to high standards with transparency and consistency.
- Adaptable & Agile: Thrives in a dynamic environment with shifting priorities and evolving needs.
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field; CPA, CMA, or MBA strongly preferred.

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Compensation: $175,000 – $200,000, bonus eligible.

To apply: We are partnering with Toya Lawson of Bridge Partners for this search. To apply, please share a resume and brief cover letter to: Toya Lawson, Bridge Partners, at toya.lawson@bridgepartnersllc.com

Manager of Marketing and Community Engagement

University City District (UCD) is a non-profit, special services district that leverages a unique partnership of universities, health systems, large and small businesses, and community groups to invest in public spaces, address public maintenance and public safety issues, bring life to commercial corridors, promote job growth and innovation, and connect residents to career opportunities.  

UCD’s work is varied and wide-ranging. In addition to the core clean and safe activities conducted by similar districts, UCD has several programs and subsidiaries that include The Skills Initiative, Green City Works, HOST, and Project Rehab, to name a few. We are seeking a Marketing and Events Manager to help us build awareness, achieve exceptional stakeholder engagement, and increase resources through written and visual storytelling, event support, and marketing materials.

The Marketing and Events Manager will be responsible for building and executing social media strategies for UCD and The Skills Initiative, generating and publishing frequent content for email campaigns and on our websites, assisting with the planning and execution of community events, optimizing organizational pages on various platforms, moderating user-generated content, analyzing data and performance, and collaborating to manage reputation and coordinate actions. We are seeking someone who blends creativity with strong writing, who is extremely organized and detail-oriented, and who has a passion for University City and West Philadelphia.

This hybrid position reports to the Vice President of Marketing & Communications. The ideal candidate will live in or close to University City, or be able to routinely travel to University City to work in our offices, explore the neighborhood, and attend occasional events.

Job Responsibilities

Generate, edit, publish, and share regular editorial content that builds meaningful connections and encourages community members to act. Experience with WordPress a plus.

Create email newsletters on a regular schedule to promote UCD’s work, local events, The Skills Initiative, and other updates as needed.

Create engaging storytelling through written profiles and video elements to highlight UCD staff, community leaders, local events, and small businesses.

Manage content across all platforms, including email campaigns, social media, and the University City District and Skills Initiative websites.

Provide editorial, creative, and technical support to team members.

Build and execute social media strategy through competitive research, platform determination, benchmarking, messaging, and audience identification. Work with the team to develop a cross-platform content strategy.

Set up and optimize the organization’s pages within each platform to increase the visibility of the organization’s social content.

Continuously improve by capturing and analyzing the appropriate social and website data/metrics, insights and best practices, and then acting on the information.

Moderate all user-generated content and maintain a sense of organizational reputation.

Assist in writing, photographing, and creating video content for the UCD and Skills Initiative’s websites, social media accounts, email campaigns, and other content as needed.

Create and contribute to editorial calendars, posting schedules, and UCD’s Community Calendar.

Track web analytics to ascertain content engagement levels.

Assist with creative aspects of event planning, logistics, vendor/partner logistics and communications, organization, and execution of UCD events.

Provide in-person, day-of operational support for periodic UCD events, capturing photo and video content that can be used across platforms, the website, and in print materials, and be able to assist in post-production.

Provide photography, videography, and operational support during periodic (fewer than 25 a year) UCD and Skills Initiative events outside of typical 9-5 work hours.

Required Skills & Experience:

- Impeccable attention to detail and ability to condense complicated concepts into digestible content for a general audience.
- Experience with emerging social media platforms.
- Passion for storytelling through writing, creativity, marketing, and community building.   
- At least 2 years of experience in a marketing, communications, or social media-focused role.  
- Excellent copywriting and copy-editing skills.  
- Expertise in social media marketing and online marketing.   
- Experience with creative design in Canva and/or Adobe Creative Suite.  
- An eye for capturing images and videos and the skills to edit according to each platform.  
- Successfully track and communicate performance across all platforms, and compile reports that clearly illustrate success or areas for improvement.  
- Self-motivated, deadline and detail-oriented, capable of prioritizing and multitasking effectively.   
- Comfortable working across the organization’s distinct needs, brands, and voices, and managing the demands of a variety of units within the organization.   
- Able to write for and work with diverse audiences ranging from c-suite execs to community associations to government officials.   
- A desire to work within a small but mighty team dedicated to UCD’s mission and organizational goals.

To Apply:

To Apply:

If you are interested in this role, please email your resume, cover letter, and three diverse writing samples for consideration to Erica Jorden, Director of Human Resources at ejorden@universitycity.org with the subject line “Application for Manager of Marketing and Community Engagement.” The samples can be reports, memos, dedicated emails, samples of social posts, or anything you’ve created that will help us get a sense of your written work and voice.

Benefits:

Full Health & Wellness package to include: Medical, Dental, Vision, Short-term & Long-term Disability, Legal Assistance 401k, FSA, organization-provided cell phone and coverage.

Location: University City, Philadelphia, PA

Compensation: $63,000 – $73,000,

To apply:

Benefits:

Full Health & Wellness package to include: Medical, Dental, Vision, Short-term & Long-term Disability, Legal Assistance 401k, FSA, organization-provided cell phone and coverage.