Managing Director of Program

At Summer Search, we believe in 'No Ceilings' and envision a world in which young people, regardless of circumstances, can chart their own destiny. In the United States, students from underserved communities – disproportionately BIPOC and first-generation – face systemic inequities in school, in the workforce, and in life. Nevertheless, these young people possess unique strengths, resilience, and limitless potential.

Since 1990, Summer Search has partnered with young people during their transition from adolescence into adulthood by connecting them to expansive opportunities, professional mentoring, and a community of support. Summer Searchers recognize their potential and build a toolkit to navigate and challenge systemic barriers, break new ground for their families and communities, and achieve economic equity and a life of purpose.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Summer Search is seeking a Managing Director of Programs (MDoP) to serve as a key senior leader on the National Program Team. The MDoP will ensure that Summer Search’s programs are high-quality, mission-aligned, and achieving measurable impact across the entire Summer Search network of five sites collectively impacting 1,500 young people this coming program year.

Reporting to the Chief Impact Officer, the MDoP will manage a team of four National Directors and foster collaboration and alignment between the National Program Team and local program teams in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, NYC, Philadelphia, and Boston.

This is an exciting opportunity for a proven program leader to provide visionary leadership to advance program quality and impact, drive operational excellence, build a culture of accountability and innovation, and strengthen data-informed decision making for an established and innovative youth-development non-profit.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Strategic Leadership (30%):

• In collaboration with the respective function area leader (Director) on the National Program Team, drive the design and execution of the organization’s programmatic strategy in alignment with strategic initiatives:
  • Career Success: Provide strategic oversight of the brand-new centralized Careers team, supporting workforce readiness and ensuring that 70% of eligible post-secondary participants attain meaningful employment.
  • Program Partnerships: Build greater capacity for our mentors by securing and monitoring strategic partnerships that support career readiness, mental wellness, college access, and summer experiences for participants network-wide.
  • Learning and Evaluation: Drive the organization towards high quality program delivery across the network that is data-informed through staff training, mentor observations, and targeted interventions.
• Change Management and Continuous Improvement
  • Champion continuous improvement by staying current on innovations, trends, and best practices in youth development, education, and mentoring.
  • Lead organizational change management within the program, ensuring new practices and initiatives are clearly communicated and consistently adopted across sites.
  • Anticipate and address challenges that arise during change, fostering trust, transparency, and adaptability across the network.

Program Quality & Delivery (30%)

• Strengthen student recruitment, enrollment, retention, and engagement through effective tools, training, and resources.
• Oversee team and network-wide program OKRs and metrics, using data to drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with Regional Program Site Leaders to ensure alignment between national strategy and local implementation.
• Facilitate bi-weekly cross-site meetings to align regional execution with national strategy and strengthen program quality across the network.

Staff Management (30%)

• Lead the National Program Team of eight, directly managing four national program directors with four indirect reports.
• Foster collaboration, accountability, and professional growth across the team.
• Build a strong, inclusive team culture centered on trust, shared accountability, and results.
• Promote alignment across the National Program Team and other departments, including Talent and Development.

External Representation (10%)

• Represent Summer Search’s programs with funders, partners, and external audiences.
• Partner with the Chief Impact Officer to present program outcomes to the National Board and regional boards.
• Serve as a thought leader and advocate for mentoring, experiential learning, post-secondary success, and youth development.

WHO YOU ARE

You are an experienced, results-oriented leader with a demonstrated ability to translate vision into strategy and strategy into measurable impact. You bring a disciplined, data-informed approach to organizational leadership and program excellence, while fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and collaboration. Grounded in equity and systems thinking, you excel at leading through complexity, building alignment across diverse teams, and driving sustainable outcomes that advance mission and organizational growth.

Specifically, strong candidates will bring:

• EXPERIENCE: A minimum of eight years of experience in the non-profit sector inclusive of 5+ years of managing and coaching teams with strategic oversight of programs and initiatives, preferably within human services, youth development, mentorship or education sectors. Experience working within a networked organization is a plus.
• ACCOUNTABILITY: You hold yourself and others responsible for processes, decisions, actions, and commitments to results to drive high quality outcomes. You're responsive to the needs of stakeholders and follow through on commitments.
• ADAPTABILITY: You tackle challenges and unfamiliar scenarios head-on with a solutions-oriented, flexible, and curious approach. You are willing to try new things and actively seek to understand multiple perspectives.
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT: You take initiative to create systems and structures to achieve goals and objectives. You succeed at managing multiple workstreams and motivating, coordinating, and directing others to stay on track.
• STRATEGIC ACUMEN: You anticipate, articulate, and prepare for various outcomes and use this skill to collaboratively develop objectives and priorities that are informed by data and align with the organizational direction.
• PEOPLE MANAGEMENT: You coach, guide and support members of your team towards achieving individual and collective goals. As a leader you embody practices to effectively hold space, facilitate professional growth, amplify strengths, and hold staff members accountable. Your management style reflects your ability to be adaptive, responsive, and supportive of your team to show up as their authentic and full self.
• TECHNOLOGY SKILLS: Proficient in PowerPoint, Canva and Excel.

In addition, all Summer Search staff bring a commitment to our mission of unleashing students’ potential through mentoring and transformative experiences, as well as the ability to thrive in an environment that values excellence, gratitude, well-being, diversity, authenticity, and collaboration.

LOCATION AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS

This is a remote role. New hires must be residing in one of the following states where Summer Search has operations by their first day of employment: California, Washington, Pennsylvania, New York, or Massachusetts.

Regular travel is required for quarterly site visits across all 5 regions.

Competitive and transparent salaries. This is an exempt position with an annual salary ranging from $148,278 - $166,439. Summer Search is committed to transparent, equitable compensation practices. Salaries are benchmarked using current market data and salary bands are created to demonstrate the growth potential within the band. Typically, offers are made at the starting place of the salary band. The Hiring Manager partners with the Talent Team to ensure offers are appropriate, competitive and maintain internal equity.

Well-being, flexibility, and ongoing learning and development are pillars of our culture. We value our staff and are committed to creating an environment where every individual feels seen, heard and valued. Investments in our staff include:

• Medical insurance with up to 90% employer contribution.
• Dental, vision, FSA, life and disability insurance plans.
• 401 (K) and Employer Match up to $2,000 annually.
• Generous time off including 15 vacation days, 10 sick days, and 18 holidays (2 floating holidays of your choice, a birthday day-off, 10 company-wide holidays, and a 1-week December closure).
• Refresh Friday’s – a paid day off the first Friday of every month!
• A comprehensive Employee Recognition Program (years of service awards, spot awards, and professional development funding).
• A four-week paid sabbatical after five years of continuous employment.
• Individual, local, regional and national training.
• A commitment to developing leaders from within the organization.
• An organizational culture that supports staff well-being and holistic self-care/community care.
• Ample opportunities to connect with the students and communities we serve.

OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION

With a staff that cares deeply about social justice and racial justice, we believe that diverse perspectives and backgrounds create a rich work environment and enhance our ability to pursue our mission. We are committed to building an organization with critical consciousness in order to impact how we work with students, as well as how we work together as a team. We hope you will join us as we continue to build a justice-centered organization that fosters a work environment where people from all backgrounds are welcomed and valued.