Director of Strategy & Innovation

Job Title: Director of Strategy & Innovation

Reports To: Executive Director

FLSA Status: Exempt

Position Type: Full-time

Department: Strategy & Innovation

Location: Salem

Revision Date: June 2026

JOB SUMMARY:

LEAP for Education is recruiting for a new Director of Strategy & Innovation. The Director of Strategy & Innovation is a senior leadership role responsible for helping LEAP translate long-term strategy into organizational practice. This role leads cross-organizational work related to strategy execution, innovation, organizational learning, and continuous improvement. Working with other senior leaders, the Director helps ensure that LEAP’s mission, values, theory of change, and overall model are carried coherently from strategy to program design, operating structures, implementation, and evaluation.

The Director of Strategy & Innovation helps identify emerging opportunities, trends, and barriers that should inform LEAP’s future direction, both within the organization and in the broader communities it serves. This role strengthens LEAP’s ability to move from strong individual programs to a more integrated operating model by connecting strategic priorities to training systems, quality standards, feedback loops, and cross-functional initiatives. It also provides the strategic frame for coalition-based learning, cross-sector collaboration, and other field-building efforts that sit outside LEAP’s core program model, but generate learning, relationships, and alignment that strengthen LEAP over time. This role operates at the organization level as a member of LEAP’s senior leadership team.

The position supervises two direct reports:

• Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Coalitions – leads the coordination and execution of coalition-based, cross-sector, and other strategic initiatives that sit outside LEAP’s core program model, while helping connect that work back to LEAP’s strategy, organizational learning, and long-term positioning.
• Training Coordinator – supports the development, coordination, and facilitation of selected internal and external training for staff, volunteers, and partners in alignment with LEAP’s strategic priorities, core practices, and quality standards.

The ideal candidate will be committed to LEAP’s mission which is to support youth in their personal, educational, and career growth by partnering with the community to increase opportunities and advance equity.

The most competitive candidates for this role will have lived experience as a Black, Indigenous, Person of Color (BIPOC), first-generation to college, or multilingual learner, and has a comprehensive understanding of, and passion for, supporting LEAP’s student population which is 83% economically disadvantaged, 80% students of color, 83% first-generation to college, and 34% multilingual learners.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Strategy Execution, Alignment & Innovation

• Lead implementation of LEAP’s organizational strategic priorities in collaboration with the Executive Director and other senior leaders.
• Ensure that those priorities remain coherent with LEAP’s mission, values, theory of change, and core program models through training systems, implementation, and evaluation practices.
• Partner with Senior Program Directors to strengthen the vertical alignment between organizational strategy and department-level program model design, implementation, and learning.
• Partner with the Director of Finance & Operations to ensure that strategic priorities and innovation efforts are reflected in the systems, structures, and workflows that support them.
• Identify, assess, design, and advance innovation efforts that strengthen LEAP’s model, organizational effectiveness, and long-term impact.
• Help define the key learning questions and evaluation priorities needed to assess major strategic initiatives and guide continuous improvement.

Organizational Learning, Training & Quality

• Lead the development of organization-wide training architecture.
• Identify training priorities related to LEAP’s strategic direction, core practices, and evolving program and partnership models.
• Oversee the development and continuous improvement of internal training systems for staff, volunteers, and partners.
• Support the creation of shared quality standards, tools, and feedback loops that can be used consistently across teams and sites.
• Use staff, partner, and program feedback to identify organizational learning needs and opportunities for improvement.
• Work with Senior Program Directors and other leaders to identify trends, strengths, risks, and opportunities that should inform training, quality standards, and continuous improvement.
• Help distinguish where organizational practices should be standardized and where departments should retain flexibility.

Emerging Opportunities, Cross-Sector Collaboration & Field-Building

• Provide the strategic frame for coalition-based learning, cross-sector collaboration, and other field-building efforts that sit outside LEAP’s core program model, but generate learning, relationships, and alignment that strengthen LEAP over time.
• Support the Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Coalitions in the coordination and execution of specific coalition and strategic initiative efforts.
• Identify systems-level opportunities, barriers, and emerging trends in the communities LEAP serves that should inform organizational strategy and future initiative design.
• Support identification of systems-level opportunities, barriers, and trends in the communities LEAP serves that should inform organizational strategy.
• Lead community asset mapping and broader ecosystem learning that can strengthen LEAP’s long-term positioning and impact.

Fundraising, Positioning & Strategic Partnerships

• Support grant writing, grant reporting, and strategic fundraising conversations related to innovation, partnerships, systems-building, and organizational learning.
• Help articulate LEAP’s model, strategic priorities, and innovation efforts to funders, partners, and other external stakeholders.
• In partnership with the Director of Advancement and the Manager of Strategic Initiatives & Coalitions, support the strategic development of the Business Partner Network, including how LEAP positions, engages, and grows employer and community investment in its work over time.
• Participate in funder meetings, partner conversations, and site visits as appropriate.
• Contribute to materials and messaging that communicate LEAP’s strategic direction and evolving work clearly and consistently.

SKILL REQUIRED

• Masters degree and 3-5+ years of relevant experience, OR 7-9+ years of relevant experience in strategy, organizational learning, innovation, program quality, training, education, youth development, or a related field.
• Four or more years of demonstrated supervisory experience.
• Demonstrated commitment to valuing diversity, developing an equity-lens, and contributing to an inclusive working and learning environment
• Demonstrated ability to translate broad strategic goals into clear frameworks, systems, and practices.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and cooperatively.
• Ability to organize work, set priorities, and meet deadlines. Ability to establish effective working relationships at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to facilitate small groups and large groups of stakeholders in strategic planning, consensus building, professional development, and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory ability.
• Ability to synthesize feedback, data, and emerging trends into practical recommendations for organizational learning and improvement.
• Must be proficient with MS Office programs and Google Suite.

• 401(k)
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Dental insurance
• Life insurance
• Professional Development
• Flexible schedule