Associate Director - Outreach and Strategic Partnerships

The Associate Director of Outreach and Strategic Partnerships is responsible for advancing the American Kidney Fund’s (AKF) mission by implementing outreach strategies, managing health disparity initiatives, and supporting strategic partnerships. This role ensures that patients, health care professionals, community partners, and underserved populations, specifically those disproportionately affected by kidney disease, receive accessible, culturally responsive education and engagement opportunities. Reporting to the Director of Outreach and Strategic Partnerships, this position plays a central role in operationalizing AKF’s Kidney Health for All® (KHFA) initiatives. KHFA focuses on prevention, community engagement, partnerships, and access to care across the kidney care continuum.

The Associate Director of Outreach and Strategic Partnerships works collaboratively with AKF’s KHFA Coalition to co-develop solutions aligned with community needs and shared priorities. This position ensures coalition-driven strategies are the foundation for KHFA program and resource development, implementation, and continuous improvement. This position also supports the expansion of AKF’s strategic partnerships and community engagement to ensure strong visibility and relationship development. This position works closely with colleagues across the Office of Strategic Partnerships, Research and Education, Office of Communications and Marketing, Office of Development, Office of Government Affairs, and Business Operations to ensure alignment, operational excellence, and meaningful results.

Additionally, the role provides strategic, analytical, and programmatic management to help guide decision making and continuous improvement across AKF. As a key contributor within the Office of Strategic Partnerships, Research and Education, the Associate Director of Outreach and Strategic Partnerships helps strengthen organizational impact through effective collaboration, innovation, and mission driven leadership.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Kidney Health for All (50%)
Manage and support the planning, implementation, and evaluation of AKF’s Kidney Health for All initiatives.

• Work with Director to implement AKF’s programmatic vision for prevention, community engagement, partnerships, and care access across the kidney care continuum.
• Assist the Director in the governance, engagement, and execution of KHFA Coalition and ad hoc workgroups.
• Facilitate development of solutions with coalition members, leveraging subject matter expertise to information program direction.
• Lead formative research, program plans, content development, implementation, and evaluation for KHFA deliverables ensuring associated deadlines are met.
• Apply insights from community-informed research (e.g., Hispanic/Latino populations) to design and implement culturally responsive strategies.
• Support governance and continuous improvement of the KHFA microsite content and functionality.
• Provide support to Kidney Health Coach program implementation related to KHFA initiatives.
• Edit, review and fact checks educational content, materials and communications developed for AKF websites, social media, newsletters, emails, videos, guides, webinars, blog posts, etc.
• Ensure all KHFA materials and initiatives align with health literacy, plain language, and cultural humility best practices.
• Monitor trends in kidney disease, population health, and public health education to identify opportunities for innovation and program enhancement.

Strategic Partnerships & External Engagement (30%)
Support partnership cultivation and external engagement to build community trust, facilitate education and resource sharing to broaden reach.

• Support relationship building efforts with national, regional and community partners, sponsors, and vendors.
• Assist in identifying and developing partnership opportunities with both traditional and non-traditional organizations.
• Contribute to grassroots outreach and community-based initiatives aligned with KHFA priorities.
• Create and deliver polished, customized presentations to internal staff and external audiences such as leaders of private and public organizations, lay community groups, potential and existing partners, and sponsors.
• Collaborate with vendors to develop content development, design graphics, translate, and review materials in English and Spanish.
• Manage cultural adaptation and translation of content considering language, culture, and context of AKF audiences, specifically Spanish-speaking communities.
• Contribute to the development of abstracts, posters, and exhibit materials for conferences and events.
• Represent AKF at conferences, community events, and outreach activations to expand program reach and engagement.

Teamwork (15%)
Manage team performance and foster collaboration across the organization.

• Supervise work, performance, and evaluation of Outreach and Strategic Partnerships Specialists and/or interns.
• Support budget planning and manage program expenses within budgetary parameters.
• Collaborate across departments, including Communication, Development, Government Affairs and Business Operations to ensure initiatives meet the needs of the entire organization.
• Draft, edit and assist with developing related business documents such as proposals, memoranda of understanding, letters of agreement, project summaries, and reports. 

Other Duties as Assigned (5%)

• Additional responsibilities as determined by the supervisor or OSPRE leadership.