Pittsburgh Director

We are hiring a Pittsburg Director to cultivate and grow the Prison Society's impact and footprint in the Pittsburgh region. The Pittsburgh Director is the Executive Director's right hand, the on-the-ground relational and operational leader for the Prison Society in the region, and the voice of regional matters on the senior management team.

On any given day, 61,000 Pennsylvanians are incarcerated in state and county prisons. Incarceration in Pennsylvania increased 300 percent since 1980. Lack of access to health care, degradation, and isolation are some of the issues people in prison face. For 236 years, the Pennsylvania Prison Society has led the nation in calling for a more just and humane criminal justice system.

Every month, more than 500 incarcerated people and their families ask the Prison Society for help with issues they face inside prison. Written into Pennsylvania law, Prison Society staff and volunteers respond to these complaints by going into correctional facilities, meeting with incarcerated people, assisting with the issues they are facing, and providing real-time information on prison conditions.

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This is where you come in!

What You’ll Be Doing

• Partner with the Prison Society Executive Director, senior staff, and board in implementing the Prison Society's strategic plan in the Pittsburgh region.
• Be the face and the voice of Prison Society to the multiple audiences in the Pittsburgh region including: local Prison Society constituents; board members; volunteers & staff; media; civic, community, philanthropic & academic leadership.
• Grow awareness, support, and funding by cultivating relationships and embarking on collaborations with civic, community, philanthropic, and academic leadership. You will do this with the support and coordination of development staff, program staff, Executive Director, and the board.
• Provide cross-functional leadership and support to local team members through a dotted-line relationship fostering collaboration and alignment. Current Pittsburgh staff will continue to report to their program directors in Philadelphia while you will be a secondary manager, ensuring local coordination and collaboration. You will create a Pittsburgh-staff culture, including securing physical space.
• Collaborate with Prison Society program directors in the design, implementation, and management of new regional-specific programming, including new programming responsive to the gaps in services for incarcerated people and families in the 22 county and state correctional facilities in the Pittsburgh region.

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Your Core Competencies

• You have two or more years of leadership experience either running organizations, programs, or large multi-year projects.
• You are a strategic thinker and planner. You combine big-picture thinking with practical execution. You’re skilled at setting long-term goals, mapping out how to get there, and adjusting plans when conditions shift—keeping the mission, people, and impact front and center
• You enjoy and excel at collaboration with peers. We are a close-knit executive team with overlapping responsibilities. Development and strategic decisions will be made with input from other members of the executive team. You will foster collaboration and coordination of all regional Prison Society activities, even while Pittsburgh staff are managed directly by program directors in Philadelphia. Coordination, collaboration and communication will be key to success in this position!
• You thrive in a start-up and growth environment where there are new and different challenges every year. You are energized by growth, undaunted by change, and eager to help build something meaningful.
• You masterfully juggle multiple tasks. You prioritize and reprioritize, exhibiting excellent time management and problem-solving skills.
• You are a well-networked connector with a robust local network and a track record of collaboration.
• Fundraising and putting all the pieces together to build a budget are challenges you relish.
• You have solid verbal and written communication skills. You are comfortable speaking at conferences, writing clear & concise memos, and drafting grant applications.
• You are a confident manager. You love supporting people in reaching their professional potential and personal fulfillment. You do not shrink from course-correcting performance.
• You are comfortable traveling throughout Western Pennsylvania to build relationships and support various teams, and with making quarterly trips to Philadelphia for team alignment and planning.
• Experience with criminal legal issues and/or issues related to poverty, while not required, is a plus.

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What You Need to Know

• Answers to your questions We have answered many of your candidate questions in our
• Frequently Asked Questions. Please be sure to read this before you apply.
• Location This is a hybrid remote and in-person. In the first six-months, the Pittsburgh Director will secure office or co-working space for regional staff as well as a regular cadence of in–person, Pittsburgh staff meetings and culture-building events.
• Hours This position works 40 hours per week, primarily during regular business hours of 9am-5pm.
• Manager You will report to Claire Shubik-Richards, Executive Director of the Prison Society.
• Travel - Yes. You will travel throughout Western Pennsylvania to meet with various constituents—people in prison, public officials, volunteers from diverse backgrounds, and everyone in between. You will also be making quarterly trips to Philadelphia for team alignment and planning.
• Start date As soon as possible
• Salary & benefits $80,000-$88,000. A flexible spending account, medical, vision, and dental insurance coverage provided.
• Flexible time off We encourage a healthy work-life balance and do not cap the number of days off our employees can take. In addition, we observe 11 paid holidays.

At the Prison Society, we don’t just accept difference—we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our staff, our mission, and our community. The Society is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. Individuals directly impacted by the criminal justice system are encouraged to apply.