Executive Director - Ascender

Executive Director - Ascender

Anticipated start date: Late August/Early September 2026

• Role Type: Full Time, Exempt, Salaried
• Location: Hybrid role based in Pittsburgh, PA (regular in-person work required)
• Annual Salary Range: $100,000 - $110,000 per year plus benefits
• Application Deadline: 5pm EST June 12, 2026

About Ascender

Ascender is Pittsburgh’s cross-sector entrepreneur community: a coworking space, founder hub, and programming organization serving 300 community members annually. We sit at a rare intersection: tech founders, Main Street business owners, service entrepreneurs, and everyone in between, working side by side every day. Ascender operates a coworking and programming space in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh. We offer a variety of resources, including coworking space, business mentorship, educational programming, access to experts, and more, to Ascender members and program participants.

Our theory of change is simple but powerful: peer relationships create opportunity. In our entrepreneurial community, customers are introduced, problems are solved, and trust is built. No other organization in Pittsburgh deliberately occupies this cross-sector space in this way, and we’re committed to being the bridge between the tech and small-business economies for the long term.

What further distinguishes Ascender is its deeply inclusive approach, which prioritizes cross-sector and cross-class connection as a driver of both individual success and regional economic mobility. Ascender’s Bootcamp and Incubation programs consistently attract and support historically excluded founders.

About the Opportunity

Ascender’s departing leader has been with the organization for more than seven years, growing it into a trusted, vibrant institution. The next leader inherits a strong foundation including a healthy organizational culture and leadership team, a clear theory of change, active funder relationships, and a community of engaged entrepreneurs.

Ascender is in an important moment of organizational evolution. Although foundation support will always be a major source of funding for Ascender, the Board of Directors is strategically committed to transitioning to a financial model more focused on revenue earned through membership, programming, and other partnerships. Our goal is to build toward 175–200 members and significantly increase earned revenue by the end of 2027. Our next executive director will lead that charge.

This role and this moment of organizational transition require someone who can lead organizational and business strategy, fundraising and external relationships, partnership development, and balance big-picture leadership with appropriate operational oversight. We’re looking for a leader who can articulate what Ascender is, why it matters, why Pittsburgh should invest in it, and then lead the charge to execute on that vision.

We’re looking to grow while staying core to Ascender’s key values:

• Keep it Real, Keep it Human – Lead with empathy, honesty, and a sense of joy.
• Raise the Bar, Every Day – Strive for excellence and continuous learning.
• Own the Outcome – Take initiative, deliver, and stay accountable.
• One Team, One Mission – Collaborate and align to achieve shared goals.
• Protect Our Reputation – Show up prepared, professional, and trustworthy.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Fundraising and Strategy (50%)

• Ideates and drives progress on the organization’s strategic path to revenue growth through funder relationships, business development, earned revenue, and sponsorship without losing sight of the organization’s mission.
• Leads cultivation, stewardship, and solicitation of foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, and individual donors. Maintains and grows existing relationships with key institutional funders.
• Aligns programming and membership, coworking operations, partnerships, revenue strategy, and resource allocation into a unified growth model with measurable objectives.
• Ensures strategy and operations are in line with organizational financial health benchmarks including operating reserves, earned revenue growth, and revenue growth.
• Leads adaptive strategy and execution by proactively identifying organizational risks and strategic openings, using data to inform decisions, and adjusting priorities, plans, and operations in real time.
• Makes final decisions on strategic investments, new initiatives, and organizational tradeoffs.

Governance and External Relations (20%)

• Serves as Ascender’s primary external spokesperson. Owns Ascender’s theory of change, articulates vision, and positions the organization within Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurship, civic, and philanthropic ecosystems.
• Identifies, cultivates, and sustains strategic partnerships and relationships. Partners with the staff and Board to steward funder relationships, develop corporate engagement strategies, and identify and manage strategic partnerships.
• Acts as the primary liaison with Ascender’s Board of Directors. Ensures board members are informed, engaged, and activated. Supports board committees and special initiatives.
• Works with the team to prepare and present reporting for the Board of Directors, funders, sponsors, donors and other relevant stakeholders.

Team Leadership and Organizational Culture (20%)

• Ensures the organization sustains an inclusive, welcoming environment for all partners, members, and team members. Actively develops practices that are relevant, useful, and responsive for bridging differences across identities and business types.
• Holds overall responsibility for outputs of the entire Ascender team, including managing three direct reports: Executive Assistant, Operations Director and Programs Director.
• Cultivates an inclusive, supportive team environment where individuals can show up authentically, are encouraged in their professional growth, and are supported in maintaining healthy work–life boundaries.
• Supports consistent accountability and performance management standards that support follow-through, transparency, and entrepreneurial thinking.
• Models healthy delegation by clearly defining desired outcomes, empowering team members with autonomy and trust to determine how work gets done.

Operations and Resource Management (10%)

• Works in partnership with the Operations Director, Board and accounting team to enact strong fiscal management of Ascender. Responsible for ensuring legal and financial compliance.
• Works in partnership with the Programming Director to develop and/or oversee systems for identifying, tracking, monitoring, and reporting on key metrics, grant deliverables, progress towards goals, and effectiveness of strategies. Regularly assesses whether services and operations are aligned with stated values and strategic intent.
• Leads and/or oversees major facility decisions and the coworking space as a strategic asset. Partners with the Board’s ad hoc space committee, including facilitating a possible lease renegotiation and/or relocation in 2028.

Minimum Qualifications

• 7-10 years of progressive leadership experience in nonprofit organizations, fundraising, entrepreneurship support, small business development, or a related field.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate and steward philanthropic, corporate, and other funder relationships; Experience making direct asks and securing 6-and-7-figure gifts.
• Experience in developing and adjusting business models
• Ability to effectively manage and steward an annual budget of up to $1.5M+ while increasing and diversifying revenue streams.
• Experience leading organizational change or transitions (model shifts, leadership transitions, space moves).
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and listening skills, with the ability to articulate vision and serve as Ascender’s primary spokesperson.

Desired Skills and Abilities

• Understanding of Pittsburgh’s philanthropic, civic, or entrepreneurship ecosystem and/or ability to learn and navigate those relationships quickly.
• An understanding of systemic inequities in the entrepreneurial sector with a track record of designing or supporting initiatives that expand access and reduce barriers.
• A healthy and inclusive leadership approach.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a leadership team, prioritizing transparency, shared responsibility, and collective problem-solving.
• Ability to hold and prioritize multiple tasks in a fast moving environment.
• Personal familiarity with entrepreneurship or business ownership is a plus.

Compensation and Work Environment

• Annual Salary Range: $100,000 - $110,000 per year
• Work Environment: Hybrid role based in Pittsburgh, PA with expectations for regular in-person work.
• Role Type: Salaried, Full-Time, Exempt position, expected 40 hours per week or more. Nights and weekends are often required for Ascender and ecosystem events.
• Benefits Package:
  • Flexible hybrid work schedule including Ascender Fridays, with option to leave at 2pm. This position can work up to 3 days remotely per week.
  • Ascender pays for 100% medical, dental, and vision benefits via UPMC Health Plan
  • Paid Time Off including 10 vacation days, 5 sick days for the first year, 11 holidays, and paid weeklong office closures in August and December
  • Annual professional development stipend
  • Monthly cell-phone reimbursement
  • Paid parental and medical leave
  • 401k with employer match after the first year of employment