What are the responsibilities and job description for the Community Engagement Manager position at The Jones Center?
About JONES CENTER
For 30 years, Jones Center has been a trusted community anchor for Northwest Arkansas—a place where everyone can learn, play, and thrive together. With 600,000 annual visitors and a mission to fuel community connections and cultivate spaces and experiences for all, we serve as a dynamic hub for education, recreation, arts, and nonprofit sustainability. Through our Jones Community for Nonprofits campuses, we empower more than 100 mission-driven organizations, strengthening the social fabric of our region.
Job Summary
Northwest Arkansas doesn't have a regional volunteer center yet. Jones Center is building one — and this role will help shape it from the ground up.
This new center will connect residents with meaningful volunteer opportunities and give nonprofits the tools and support they need to grow their capacity. Housed on Jones Center’s campus — with our facilities, community trust, and reach across the region — it's positioned to become a lasting piece of civic infrastructure: mobilizing volunteers, connecting organizations, and strengthening the region's ability to respond to community needs for years to come.
The Community Engagement Manager will help build this from scratch: the partnerships, the systems, and the volunteer experiences that turn this vision into something people show up for. This is a relationship-driven, entrepreneurial role, designing and managing programs that build nonprofit capacity, and identifying the strategic partners who can help activate volunteers across the region.
This role won’t work alone. Working closely with the Regional Volunteer Center Planning Director and Jones Center colleagues across Development, Volunteer Engagement, and Marketing — plus external partners throughout the community — the Community Engagement Manager will build program infrastructure, pilot new approaches, and create a culture where volunteers are treated as essential to the mission, not an afterthought. The engagement experiences built by this role will directly support fundraising, community outreach, and the kind of long-term partnerships that will keep this center thriving.
- Design, pilot, and launch a nonprofit partner program; once live, manage the partner portfolio (50–60% in the field).
- Build and sustain strong relationships with local nonprofits.
- Pilot and launch a training/certification program for nonprofit volunteer managers.
- Launch a local association for volunteer managers to network and learn.
- Act as community ambassador — spotting and connecting partnership opportunities to the right stakeholders.
- Create meaningful ways for individuals and organizations to put their skills and passions to work for the community.
- Manage volunteer management systems for both public and internal use.
- With the Planning Director, build systems to track volunteer, corporate, and group engagement.
- Analyze engagement data to improve recruitment, training, retention, and partner experience.
- Post volunteer opportunities and maintain accurate records for planning and reporting.
- Support the Planning Director with grant reports, Day of Service planning, and related documentation.
- Champion a culture that treats volunteers as essential for staff and partners alike.
- Train staff and partners in volunteer management best practices and clear on-site communication.
- With the Planning Director, build and refine SOPs for volunteer management and engagement.
- Partner with Marketing on a volunteer e-newsletter and content that showcases volunteer impact and nonprofit opportunities.
- Perform other general duties and special projects as assigned.
Qualifications
Required Skills and Abilities
- Demonstrated ability to build relationships with volunteers, community organizations, and internal teams.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the local nonprofit sector and relevant experience.
- Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, including comfort representing the organization in community and partner settings.
- Experience designing, coordinating, and evaluating volunteer trainings, partner events, group service projects, or community engagement activities.
- Proficiency with Microsoft Office, digital communications tools, AI tools designed for administrative efficiency (i.e. Claude), volunteer or CRM platforms, scheduling systems, and comfort learning new technology to improve efficiency.
- Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, events, relationships, and deadlines.
- Ability to analyze engagement trends, maintain accurate records, and use data to improve volunteer recruitment, retention, and partner satisfaction.
- Exemplifies Jones Center’s THRIVE values: teamwork, honesty, resourcefulness, inclusion, vision, and energy.
- Associate’s degree or equivalent experience in nonprofit administration, community engagement, communications, volunteer management, or a related field.
- 3 years of experience in volunteer engagement, community outreach, partnership development, event coordination, nonprofit programming, or a related role.
- Experience working with corporate partners, donors, community organizations, or cross-functional teams is strongly preferred.