Director of Community Engagement

Director, Community Engagement

Job Description

Founded in 2012, The Acceleration Project (TAP)’s mission is to empower under-resourced small business owners and accelerate their success by providing high-impact and customized strategic, financial, operational, and marketing support. Small businesses are a vital engine of our economy, and TAP supports entrepreneurs who lack access to critical networks and resources. TAP has worked directly with more than 11,000 small business owners and touched the lives of more than 100,000.

Role Overview:

We seek a passionate and strategic Director of Community Engagement to build, nurture, and grow a thriving community of small business owners across the country. In this role, you will create meaningful connections among entrepreneurs who often work in isolation, facilitate peer-to-peer learning, and amplify the impact of TAP's services through community-driven support. This position combines strategic leadership with operational execution, requiring both the ability to design the long-term vision for TAP’s community and the capacity to manage its daily engagement and growth. This role will report to the VP of Programs & Partnerships and is full-time with an expectation of 40 hours/week. This is a primarily remote position with occasional in-person engagement opportunities in the NYC metro area. TAP promotes a culture that affords calendar flexibility and control.

Key Responsibilities:

Community strategy and development:

• Build and scale TAP's online community from the ground up, developing and implementing a comprehensive engagement strategy that aligns with TAP's mission to support under-resourced small business owners
• Design and launch community programs that facilitate peer learning, networking, and mutual support among small businesses at various stages of growth.
• Alongside the Vice President of Programs and Partnerships and the Senior Director of Service Delivery, create a growth roadmap that balances depth of engagement with reach, establishing frameworks for different community segments (by industry, growth stage, geography) while maintaining an inclusive, unified community culture.

Engagement and relationship building:

• Serve as the primary community leader, actively engaging with and supporting members daily across multiple platforms to ensure every entrepreneur feels safe, heard and supported.
• Identify and nurture community champions and success stories that can inspire and catalyze member engagement.

Content creation and programming (in collaboration with our Service Delivery team):

• Drive community engagement through strategic content and programming, developing a community-centric calendar that complements TAP's existing services while addressing real-time member needs.
• Create and curate content, including discussion prompts, resource guides, and educational materials that keep members actively participating and returning.
• Organize and facilitate scalable virtual events (peer roundtables, AMAs, skill-shares) that can grow from intimate sessions to large-scale gatherings as the community expands.

Cross-functional collaboration:

• Work closely with TAP's Service Delivery team to identify opportunities for community members to access TAP programs and services, and work with TAP’s technology/IT team to ensure optimization and accessibility within community platform(s).
• Collaborate with the Marketing team on storytelling and thought leadership opportunities to elevate TAP’s brand and promote the community to new ecosystems.
• Build and scale TAP's community to meet growth targets by developing and executing pipeline strategies alongside the Growth team. Determine target audiences, evaluate channel performance, and continuously improve outreach to nurture and replenish the community with qualified small business owners.

Operations and impact measurement:

• Manage day-to-day community operations, including member onboarding, community guidelines, and resource development, while staying current with best practices and emerging platforms.
• Monitor and moderate community platform activity to mitigate disruptive activity and preserve safe, inclusive spaces for members.
• Define and track key community health metrics (e.g., engagement rates, member retention, peer connections, business outcomes) and analyze data to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for enhanced support.
• Prepare monthly reports on community growth and impact for leadership and board presentations.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum of 3 years in community management, engagement, or related fields with a proven track record of building and nurturing digital communities at scale.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to connect authentically with diverse audiences.
• Data-driven mindset with experience tracking community engagement metrics and translating insights into action.
• Proficiency with community management platforms (e.g., Circle, Heartbeat, Discord, Slack) and social media tools.
• Collaborative spirit with experience working across teams to achieve shared goals.

Benefits Package:

• $65,000-70,000 annually based on a full-time status (40 hours per week), commensurate with experience
• Generous PTO
• 10 paid holidays per year
• 2 floating holidays per year for full-time employees
• Time off between Christmas and New Year’s
• Health and dental insurance
• 403(b) retirement plan

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter to: careers@theaccelerationproject.org with ‘Director, Community Engagement’ in the subject line.

In your cover letter, please include a response to the following questions:

1. Why are you passionate about supporting under-resourced small business owners, and how does this role align with your career goals?
2. How would you approach engaging busy small business owners - who are often short on time and resources - through a centralized, digital community platform?

The deadline to apply is September 17, 2025.

TAP is an equal opportunity employer with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. We prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, marital status, or any other legally protected status. Applications from members of all under-resourced groups are encouraged.