Executive Director

Seeking an Experienced Executive Director to Lead Strategic Growth

The Opportunity

Recovery Café Longmont is a healing community grounded in the belief that everyone deserves a place to belong. Founded in 2018 as an independent nonprofit inspired by the nationally recognized Recovery Café Network, we opened our doors to create a safe, stable, relationship-centered haven for adults navigating substance and alcohol use disorder, mental health challenges, trauma, and other hard chapters of life.

What began as a small group has grown into a vibrant community hub in downtown Longmont — a place where people find connection, dignity, accountability, and hope. Through shared meals, creative classes, peer-led groups, School for Recovery courses, and everyday moments of genuine care, we walk alongside individuals as they rebuild their lives with stability and purpose. Our bedrock is radical hospitality, loving accountability, champion for recovery, stewardship, and inclusive community.

Recovery Café Longmont’s work is made possible by an expansive team of compassionate staff, peer support specialists, engaged members, generous volunteers, and collaborative partners. Together, we build a foundation of healing and connection that strengthens our entire community.

Recovery Café Longmont is poised for considerable growth. We recently purchased a larger facility in the heart of Longmont and have already secured $3M toward our $5.8M capital campaign goal during its quiet phase. The renovated facility will allow Recovery Café Longmont to expand programs, improve accessibility, incorporate the full Recovery Café Network model, and serve as a sober community event space.

To achieve our vision, we are looking for an experienced and strategic leader who will guide the organization to greater impact and maturity. Our new leader will leave their legacy by:

• Putting people, relationships, and partnerships at the heart of what we do, guided by our values,
• Completing the capital campaign and growing fundraising capacity,
• Realizing the facility renovation,
• Overseeing program and operational expansion and development,
• Providing exemplary staff management, care, and development, and
• Evolving organizational maturity.

Leadership

• Lead vision, strategy, and resource allocation.

Organizational Management and Operations

• Oversee the continuity and advancement of programs, financial management, fundraising, human resources, measurement and evaluation for program effectiveness, community outreach and awareness-raising, and communications.
• Continuously evaluate and refine the organizational chart to ensure it reflects and supports the evolving strategic vision and reasonable workloads.
• Guide culture in alignment with Recovery Café Longmont’s values.
• Ensure staff care and development.
• Provide clear, timely communication and information to support sound decision-making.
• Advance the organization’s justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts.
• Ensure policies, procedures, systems, and decision-making are effective, sustainable, documented, and aligned with quality practices for nonprofits of similar size and stage.

Capital Campaign Completion and Renovation Project Management

• Oversee the achievement of Recovery Café’s capital campaign goal.
• Oversee the facility renovation.
• Ensure the maintenance and care of relationships with the community and facility neighbors, donors, funders, and partners.
• Guide strategy for program expansion in the new facility.

Financial Management and Resource Development

• Provide financial strategy, management, and reporting.
• Support fundraising strategy.
• Hold primary responsibility for a portfolio of donors.
• Advocate for structural substance use disorder funding.

Partnerships

• Guide partnerships strategy.
• Expand the number of mutually beneficial partnerships and collaborations.
• Develop and maintain relationships.
• Ensure an on-going high quality relationship with the Recovery Café Network.

Community Presence

• Maintain positive interpersonal relationships with the community, members, volunteers, program partners, donors, funders, government, staff, board members, and other stakeholders.
• Position Recovery Café Longmont as a leader in the community and in the field of recovery.
• Remain informed on the recovery-oriented system of care, and on evidence-based and best practices. Facilitate continued progress in this regard.
• Influence public policy through advocacy.
• Educate on the Recovery Café model.

Board Relations

• Work in partnership with the Board of Directors and support successful governance.
• Co-develop strategic direction and priorities.

Qualifications – Experience, Skills, and Characteristics

The ideal candidate is a mission-driven, community-focused champion for recovery and an experienced nonprofit executive director who can offer loving accountability and radical hospitality, while moving between vision, strategy, and execution.

Required

• Exceptional leadership, managing and developing people, and team building, established through progressive experience. Strong preference will be given to seasoned nonprofit professionals with five+ years of experience as an executive director in a $1.5M+ organization.
• Ability to effectively develop a learning organization and staff capacity, developing the processes that ensure the organization runs smoothly while experiencing growth and a facility move.
• Strong interpersonal skills, clear communication, active listening, and talent in building trusting relationships with diverse audiences. Motivated, passionate, inspirational, positive, and joyous.
• Bring cultural competence and an inclusive approach.
• A management style rooted in respect, teamwork, collaboration, and accountability.
• A track record for managing nonprofit finances and fundraising (theory and practice).

Preferred

• Preference given to individuals with lived and/or professional experience with substance use disorder, mental health challenges, and trauma.
• Preference given to individuals with existing connections along the Colorado Front Range.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, characterized by transparency and compassion.
• A track record for embracing partnerships and collaboration.
• Experienced at increasing awareness as chief megaphone and cheerleader.
• Skilled at engaging a nonprofit Board of Directors in a productive partnership and setting shared expectations.

Additional Desired Attributes

• An individual with well-developed emotional intelligence who is caring, relationship-oriented, approachable, dependable, unflappable, and humble.
• Experienced in the art of holding challenging conversations.
• A life-long learner and listener.
• Collaborative, champions others, focused on vision but nimble and creative.

Compensation and Benefits

• The salary range is $120,000 to $140,000, based on experience.
• The organization provides a benefits package and professional development support.
• Live and work in the beautiful Colorado Front Range, with access to outdoor recreation.

Recovery Café Longmont provides equal employment opportunities and encourages applications from candidates who reflect the diversity of our community and the members we serve. We seek candidates who are currently successful in similar roles with verifiable achievements, genuinely passionate about our mission, inspired by growth, and ready for a defining career opportunity that will create lasting impact.

How to Apply

To apply, submit:

• A cover letter addressing your commitment to supporting recovery and your approach to guiding organizational growth.*
• A resume highlighting relevant experience and accomplishments.
• A list of three professional references, including email and phone.

Submit materials in PDF format to edsearch@recoverycafelongmont.org. You will receive confirmation of receipt.

Timeline

Application review begins immediately, so early application is encouraged. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Questions?

Questions may be emailed to edsearch@recoverycafelongmont.org. We will do our best to respond

within two business days.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Recovery Café Longmont provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, and pregnancy-related conditions), gender identity or expression (including transgender status), sexual orientation, marital status, religion, age, disability, genetic information, hairstyles, service in the military, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws and ordinances.

• We will only consider applications addressing these two items.

• The organization provides a benefits package and professional development support.
• Live and work in the beautiful Colorado Front Range, with access to outdoor recreation.