Program Director

Oakland Lacrosse Club is hiring a Program Director to lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of all programmatic components across middle school and high school sites. Reporting to the Founder and Executive Director, the Program Director is a key member of the Leadership Team and is responsible for ensuring high-quality academic, athletic, wellness, and leadership programming aligned to OLC’s mission and Theory of Change.

The Program Director will partner closely with the Executive Director, Operations Director, and Development Director to drive strategic program priorities, supervise Program Managers and coaches, manage school and community partnerships, and ensure that all program systems—from academic services to coaching development to youth engagement—operate with clarity, consistency, and excellence.

The successful candidate brings deep experience in youth development, excels at building trusting relationships across schools and communities, and thrives in designing systems that translate vision into consistent practice. They demonstrate strong program management, coaching leadership, data-driven decision-making, and a commitment to equity, youth empowerment, and continuous improvement.

Major Responsibilities: Organizational Leadership, Strategic Program Leadership, Program Implementation Leadership, and Human Capital Leadership

• Serve as a core member of OLC’s Leadership Team, contributing to organizational vision, strategy, and goal-setting, and partnering with the Executive Director, Operations Director, and Development Director to ensure program alignment across the organization.
• Lead strategic program planning and annual priority-setting, ensuring program systems, staffing, and resources align with OLC’s long-term strategic plan.
• Guide program design conversations and tactical planning, ensuring alignment across teams, clarity on priorities, and accountability for follow-through.
• Evaluate new program concepts and lead the design and delivery of program-related training for staff and coaches to ensure alignment with mission, youth needs, and organizational capacity.
• Manage program communications with participants and families, ensuring clear, consistent messaging across schools and seasons.
• Ongoing oversight and observation of the program team and happenings to troubleshoot, mitigate potential problems, and nurture community and culture of accountability.
• Maintain fluency in local institutions and communities, such as OUSD/CIF requirements, college access pathways, and Oakland-based academic or wellness supports, strengthening OLC’s role as an advocate and connector for student-athletes.
• Manage program people systems, including program staff hiring and interviews, the annual 360 review process, and Spring coach OAL/CIF compliance
• Norm regular meetings with FT Program staff, to keep pulse on the team and cultivate everyone’s capacity for leadership, growth, and cross team collaboration.

Qualifications & Skillsets of the Ideal Candidate: Below are qualities and experiences we think will help a candidate be successful in this role. Please think of these as guidance, not requirements, and apply if you’re excited about the possibility of what we can achieve together.

• 5-7 years of experience in youth development, education, sports-based youth programs, or related leadership roles.
• Demonstrated success supervising staff and/or coaches and managing multi-site or multi-program operations.
• Experience designing youth programs and systems aligned to youth development best practices.
• Strong data literacy and experience using data for program evaluation, improvement, or organizational learning.
• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills with youth, families, schools, and community partners.
• Strong project management and organizational skills; ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Commitment to equity, community-centered work, and youth empowerment through sports.

Comprehensive benefit package with healthcare, dental, vision, 401k, and flexible PTO