Working at a Jewish Federation: Roles, Pay, and How to Get Hired

Jewish federations are the closest thing the Jewish community has to a hometown headquarters. Nearly every major city has one, and together they raise and distribute a large share of the money that keeps Jewish life running — funding social services, day schools, camps, Israel programs, and dozens of local agencies. They are also, quietly, one of the largest and steadiest employers in the Jewish nonprofit world. As of this writing there are 67 open federation roles on Tribe Jobs, and there are almost always more.

What a federation actually does

Think of a federation as part fundraiser, part grantmaker, and part community planner. It runs an annual campaign, pools the community’s charitable giving, and allocates those dollars to the agencies and causes that need them — while also running its own work on Israel, antisemitism, young-adult engagement, and more. That breadth is why the job list is so varied: a federation needs fundraisers and grant managers, but also marketers, event planners, finance staff, data analysts, and senior leaders to run it all.

The roles they hire for

Two functions dominate federation hiring. Fundraising and development is the engine — major gifts officers, campaign directors, planned-giving specialists, and the coordinators who support them. Program and project management runs right alongside it, delivering the community initiatives the campaign pays for. Beyond those two, federations regularly hire in executive leadership, advocacy and community relations, marketing and communications, finance, and increasingly technology and data.

If your background is in development, a federation is one of the best places to build a Jewish communal career — the fundraising operation is large, professional, and a proven launchpad toward director and executive roles.

What federations pay

Federation salaries run above the Jewish-nonprofit average. Across current federation listings with a disclosed range, the median is about $93,000, with most roles falling between $77,000 and $138,000 — noticeably higher than the roughly $65,000 median across the field as a whole. That premium reflects both the size of these organizations and the seniority of the roles they tend to post; at the top, federation CEOs and executive directors in the largest cities earn well into the mid-six figures. For the full breakdown by function, see our Jewish nonprofit salary guide.

Where the jobs are

The biggest federations post the most, but openings turn up across the country and in Canada. Among the most active on Tribe Jobs right now are UJA-Federation of New York (by far the largest), the Jewish Federations of North America, and the federations of Greater Washington, Cleveland, Greater Los Angeles, and Greater Toronto. Smaller-city federations — St. Louis, Cincinnati, and many others — hire steadily too, often with more room to take on responsibility early.

How to get hired

• Speak the mission. Federations care that you understand and believe in the communal enterprise. You need not be a scholar, but show that you get what the campaign is for.
• Quantify your impact. Especially for development roles, numbers win — dollars raised, donors retained, events run. Make them impossible to miss on your resume.
• Use the network. The federation world is tightly connected, and many hires come through relationships. A warm introduction from someone in the system carries real weight.
• Aim at the right function. If you are new to the field, development and program roles are the widest doors in — and the clearest paths up.

Browse open federation jobs on Tribe Jobs — filter by location and role, with salary shown up front on most listings.