Organization

Business Executives for National Security (BENS), a nationwide, non-partisan organization, is the primary channel through which senior business executives can help enhance the nation's security. BENS members use their business experience to drive our agenda, deliver our message to decision makers and make certain that the changes we propose are put into practice. BENS has only one special interest: to help make America safe and secure.

With a budget of $6.0M, and national staff of 25, BENS operates six regional offices: Atlanta/Southeast, Metro Kansas City, Metro New York, California, Texas and Metro Washington, D.C.  Plans to open a new regional office in Chicago are underway in 2015.

BENS works to apply best business practices to national security challenges by working with a variety of agencies -- including the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and military and combatant commands -- providing actionable recommendations, convening key players in the national security community, and engaging its member business executives on a pro-bono basis.

For more information, please visit www.bens.org.

Position

The Chicago Area Regional Director will work with the core group of 20+ existing BENS members and supporters to formally establish a BENS regional office and recruit, retain, involve and grow the membership base in the greater Chicago area by: fundraising for BENS initiatives; recruiting new members; involving current members in BENS policy projects and regional programs; building business-government partnerships; and organizing regular BENS events in the Chicago Region.  Reporting to the Senior Vice President of Membership, the Chicago Area Regional Director is responsible for building, growing and guiding the region by interacting and coordinating with national policy and membership staff and working with existing members to reach identified financial and programmatic goals. This position is a fast-paced, entrepreneurial role that works collaboratively across the organization, and requires both strategic-level thinking as well as working with a high level of data and detail. The position requires daily use of a database to track and maintain constituent information. Specific responsibilities include the following:

Maintain and grow regional membership and revenue

• Identify potential new members via networking, research, and member referrals.  Organize initial outreach and engagement of constituents, by leveraging and nurturing existing BENS member relationships as needed.
• Recruit new members, both independently and with support from BENS’ Chairman, CEO, COO, SVP for Membership and Vice President for Member Engagement and Strategic Development.
• Develop Prospect Management strategies for both existing members and potential members by coordinating with the SVP of Membership, Vice President for Member Engagement and Strategic Development and others as necessary. With input from policy and membership staff, prepare Executive Briefings for the BENS CEO and/or members meeting with potential or existing members, built on a comprehensive engagement strategy. Develop and maintain contacts and relationship webs that cultivate deeper ties with members to ensure renewals and the referral of new members.
• Implement a personalized identification, cultivation, ask and stewardship approach with all prospects and members by utilizing the five stages of development.
• Track major actions and personal information for all members and prospects in the centralized BENS database of record.
• Coordinate the efforts of a Chicago Area Region Leadership Committee, comprised of key BENS members in the area, to help recruit additional members, re-engage current members, and identify and develop new and existing regional programs.
• Work with the national Membership team to recruit sponsors of the twice-annual BENS Eisenhower Award Dinners.
• Diversify the Chicago region membership base and representation by working to recruit and retain members with diverse backgrounds and heritage.

Engage regional members to increase retention and participation in BENS projects, programs and trips

• Support projects aimed at engaging the Chicago area members -- who are highly visible CEOs, EVPs, entrepreneurs and investors -- by working collaboratively with BENS’ policy team to support the development and implementation of national policy projects, and recruiting members to engagements based on expertise needs and/or member interest.
• Actively oversee and manage the “BENS relationship” for each member and prospect to ensure deep engagement across the organization.

Maintain regular regional programming and events for Chicago Region members and potential members

• Working with the Chicago Region Leadership Committee, BENS members, BENS colleagues and developed networks, identify events and programs of interest to Chicago area Members;
• Design and implement a series of 10-12 regional programs annually, including larger speaker events, smaller roundtable conversations and special VIP dinners and lunches.
• Coordinate all logistics of regional events, including: booking locale, developing program content, developing with input from guest speakers, policy and/or members the agenda and timeline and framework of program; identifying menu; sending out or coordinating invitations to members, prospects and government attendees.
• Track RSVPs, follow-up invitations, event payments and attendee information in BENS centralized database.
• Communicate details, logistics and any pre-event read-aheads to attendees, and communicating after event with any follow-up communications needed.
• Coordinate check-in and registration day of event, including nametags, table place cards, distribution of marketing and/or communication materials; and other day-of-event needs.

Qualifications

• B.A. a minimum, MBA or MPP a plus.
• At least 6 years of business and/or public experience. For candidates coming from the business world, a combination of targeted, high-level key account Fortune 1000 marketing and sales experience in a value-added environment is desired; ideally, with experience of growing a business to the next level. If coming from the public sector, experience with political campaign fundraising is a plus.
• Highly entrepreneurial and creative, with energy, discipline and strong organizational skills.  Self-starter able to work independently and handle administrative responsibilities with minimal support.
• Team player with ability to collaborate and integrate with multiple stakeholders, including members, organization staff and government representatives as needed.
• Intimate knowledge of the Chicago-area business milieu, with the stature to develop and engage high-profile senior executives within the corporate and venture capital sectors in the region.  Ideal candidate will be comfortable building relationships independently, as well as through and with other senior-level contacts.
• Experience with public/private partnerships, even if only as an engaged volunteer, is a plus. Knowledge of how the government sector is organized and operates, as well as public policy imperatives, is also helpful.
• A demonstrated interest in, and passion for, national security and intelligence; a desire to apply his/her skills to “make a difference”.  Experience with or understanding of military, government and Department of Defense/ national security community and history a plus.
• Demonstrated experience working with Customer/Constituent Relations Management Software and/or fundraising databases.  Experience with The Raiser's Edge is ideal.
• Comfort working with research tools such as Lexis-Nexis, open source intelligence sources and internal data to create recruitment strategies and enact them using a variety of players and shareholders.
• Experience in fundraising preferred, or in relationship-centered sales in private industry or the non-profit world.

To Apply: Please submit cover letter, resume, and salary requirements to dhammond@raffa.com.