President & Chief Executive Officer

“The St. Louis Jewish Community Center enriches lives, builds community, promotes inclusivity and creates meaningful Jewish experiences.” - Mission Statement of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center

The St. Louis Jewish Community Center (the J) seeks a strategic, entrepreneurial, relational, and collaborative leader to serve as its next President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This is an exceptional opportunity for an individual with proven executive abilities to lead the J as it plans for an illustrious next chapter. 

The Jewish Community Center movement was founded in 1917 to foster and develop the highest values of Jewish spiritual and cultural life through social, educational, benevolent, and recreational activities. 

The J predates this, with roots dating back to 1880 as the Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA). Today, the J is a vibrant, nonprofit organization with an operating budget of $21.7 million, serving approximately 12,000 members and an estimated 15,000 Jewish households throughout the greater St. Louis community. The J is a member of the JCC Association of North America (JCCA), and it receives an annual allocation from the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and The United Way of Greater St. Louis. Additionally, the J shares a campus with the St. Louis Jewish Federation, St. Louis Holocaust Museum, and Covenant House, a facility providing affordable housing and supportive services for older adults. Among the first agencies to support people with disabilities (now a cornerstone of all JCCs), and perhaps the only JCC in the country to offer adult day services, providing programs and service to the Jewish community, and beyond, are central to the ethos of the J.

Working closely with the J’s staff and board of directors, the CEO will lead the organization in refining and implementing its strategic plan, deepening its innovative programming, growing, and diversifying its revenue streams, engaging in more strategic partnerships and collaborations, and capitalizing on its state-of-the-art buildings to ensure that the J remains a pillar of the St. Louis Jewish community. This individual must be an exceptional leader of people who is attentive to organizational culture and values and brings deep experience in nurturing a healthy and engaging institutional environment that values and invests in staff across all levels of the organization. Additionally, this CEO must be inspirational, engaging, committed to excellence, and a strong oral and written communicator. They must bring a track record of success in fundraising and have strong financial acumen, as well as a nuanced understanding of Jewish communal engagement. 

With two locations in the St. Louis region – the Staenberg Family Complex in the Creve Coeur area and the Marylin Fox Building in Chesterfield – and a summer camp located at the Lake of the Ozarks in Central, Missouri, the J has a wide geographical reach. It serves people from as young as six weeks to more than 100 years old within five core service and program areas: Early Childhood Education, Day and Resident Camp, Culture & Education, Group Social Services (including adult day and inclusion programs), and Fitness & Wellness. For almost a century and a half, the J has been a regional leader in the Jewish community, and through its program delivery model, it serves many communities across the greater St. Louis metropolitan area and beyond. 

All inquiries, nominations, and applications (including resume and a two-to-three-page letter of interest responding to the opportunities and challenges outlined above) should be submitted below. 

Rebecca Swartz is leading this search with Debbie Scheibler.

The J is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The J will recruit, hire, train, and promote people in all job classifications without regard to race, color, marital status, religion (unless religion is a bona fide occupational qualification), national origin, age, disability or history of disability (except where physical or mental abilities are a bona fide occupational requirement and the individual is not able to perform the essential functions of the position even with reasonable accommodations), or sex (unless gender is a bona fide occupational qualification), status as a veteran or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state and local law.