Director of Program bei Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey

Description

 The Girl Scout mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Behind every Girl Scout and volunteer is a team of local staff ready to help them earn that next badge, embark on a camping adventure, or organize an impactful service project. We are Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey (GSNNJ) serving girls in grades K-12 in Bergen, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and northern Warren counties. We bring the Girl Scout Leadership Experience to 19,000 girls and 10,200 adult members. We are seeking an experienced and visionary Director of Program to join our team. This is a high-impact leadership role for a passionate community-builder and program innovator who is excited to shape meaningful experiences for girls and drive forward our mission.
Reporting to the Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, the Director of Program is a strategic leader responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating mission-driven programs that inspire and empower girls through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. This role ensures that all programs are aligned with council goals, community needs, and national standards, while fostering innovation and inclusivity. In addition to overseeing program development and execution, the Director of Program plays a critical role in driving revenue growth through fee-based programs, partnerships, grants, and sponsorships. This includes identifying new opportunities for earned income, optimizing program pricing strategies, and collaborating with the fund development and marketing teams to promote participation and visibility. The ideal candidate is a visionary and results-oriented professional with a passion for youth development, a strong understanding of program management, and a proven ability to generate sustainable revenue streams.
The essential functions include, but are not limited to the following:

Strategic Planning of Programs:

• Develop and oversee a comprehensive annual program plan aligned with council goals and National Girl Scout priorities.
• Work in collaboration with the Head of DreamLab Operations to align programming opportunities and provide a variety of new, innovative, creative and engaging experiences to GSNNJ members.
• Lead the design and delivery of programs, events, and experiences for all Girl Scout levels, adult programming and experiences across GSNNJ departments.
• Drive retention and engagement of older girl scouts by reimagining our prestigious highest awards program.
• Supports the development of innovative delivery models and pilot programs to reach new audiences in new ways. Ensure programs are inclusive, culturally responsive and accessible to diverse communities.
• Recommend and establish long-range goals, objectives, key performance indicators and planning for GSNNJ’s program department and monitor quality and impact through data collection, evaluation and continuous improvement.
• Analyzes market data on demographics, membership trends, program assessment data, and other available information to design or revise program opportunities to meet the needs of girls. Leverage data to maximize marketing effectiveness and to support sustainable program funding.
• In partnership with other teams (Membership, Fund Development etc.) seek out partnerships with other community organizations to maximize the diversity of programming available. Work to formalize those partnerships and incorporate those opportunities into a program calendar.
• Assist in the development and administration of an annual operating budget for the program department.
• Identify and implement strategies to increase earned revenue through fee-based programs and events and develop pricing structures and business models that balance accessibility with financial sustainability.
• Work closely with the Integration team (Director level and Senior level staff) to achieve collaborative organization's goals.

Effective programmatic execution and impact evaluation:

• Demonstrate strong leadership skills. Provide vision and strategic direction within a fast-paced, results-oriented, entrepreneurial environment.
• Leads the Program team to successfully develop, implement, and grow experiences of excellence that result in an increasing number and diversity of girls served and retained through their participation in inclusive programs, and Highest Awards.
• Develop fluency in GSUSA movement-wide program initiatives including special programs and badgework
• Responsible for execution of grants through relevant programming, tracking data, and developing relevant reports to meet grant requirements
• Oversee the staffing and operations of all program activities. Supervise and support program staff, fostering a culture of innovation, accountability and professional growth.
• Drive results, provide leadership, creativity, data analysis and impact evaluation expertise, and motivation to the program team.
• Evaluate outcomes as a critical part of the responsibilities. Achieve program enrollment targets and report out enrollment metrics on a regular basis.
• Market program opportunities in collaboration with the marketing department.
• Proactively ensure that GSUSA, ACA, federal, state, and local laws and standards pertaining to program and property are met. Ensure that properties and program events and activities are in full compliance with council, local, state, and federal regulations, codes and laws, and adhere to the additional safety and risk management protocols established by GSUSA & GSNNJ.

Relationship Management and other duties:

• Work with the Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Chief Development Officer (CDO) and their designees to ensure program activities are relevant and fundable.
• Works with the Marketing Department to develop and implement an internal and external marketing strategy for all programmatic elements. Lead the development of program marketing resources including program guides, website copy, targeted email campaigns, social media (paid and unpaid) advertising, etc.
• Helps foster and implement the council’s policy to strive for a volunteer, employee, and program participant population reflective of the area’s religious, racial, ethnic, social and economic diversity.
• Drive program innovation through feedback from the community we serve.
• Other duties assigned: As is the case with all our roles at the GSNNJ council, we are a small and passionate team of lifelong learners who jump in to support our staff across departments. As opportunities present, we expect our staff at all levels to participate in organizational initiatives and support our mission of serving girls. All staff are required to promote and assist with council-wide programs, activities, public relations, and fund development endeavors.

Staff members are accountable for achieving their performance goals that collectively enable GSNNJ to reach our council goals. Each staff member is expected to take an active role in all areas of operations, especially by being alert to opportunities to identify and engage potential volunteers, girl members, donors, vendors, collaborators, etc. and providing contact information to the appropriate staff person.
We are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package to support the health and overall well-being of our employees. Benefits for our full-time employees include medical, dental, and vision insurance; a 401 k retirement plan with an employer match; paid time off for vacation, sick days, and holidays with offices closed for winter holiday break; parental leave benefits, life, disability, accidental and critical illness insurance; legal and pet insurance; employee assistance program, professional development opportunities; flexibility and a supportive and inclusive work environment. 

Requirements

• 5-7 years experience leading Programs in non-profits or youth serving organizations or fields relevant to the members we serve.
• Minimum 3-5 years supervisory experience with emphasis on driving results.
• Experienced in developing and managing annual budgets, understanding profit & loss, and grant management.
• Build and maintain strong external relationships and partnerships to support programmatic growth.
• Demonstrated problem-solving leadership with limited oversight in a rapidly evolving environment.
• Able to analyze data or trends and provide summaries and recommendations.
• Excellent verbal, written, presentation, and communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent public speaking skills.
• Exceptional time management and project management capability to handle multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite.
• Membership in GSUSA is required upon employment and annually thereafter.
• Ability to lift and move up to 30 lbs.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule including some evenings and weekends.
• Valid driver’s license, reliable automobile, and auto insurance.
• Ability to travel throughout the jurisdiction to attend meetings during the day/evening/weekend.

Preferred qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Experience in programming at membership-based organizations.
• Strategic program development, including concept creation, program design, pilot to scale, and evaluation of new delivery models

Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey is an Equal Opportunity Employer, drug free workplace, and complies with ADA regulations as applicable.