Director, State Organization Development & Revitalization

What started as a small group of families gathered around a kitchen table in 1979 has blossomed into the nation’s leading voice on mental health. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.

Today, we are an alliance of hundreds of local affiliates, state organizations and a national office that work in communities across the United States to raise awareness and provide support and education that was not previously available to those in need. NAMI advocates for all who are affected by mental illness, both the individuals and the people in their lives. We work to address disparities and injustices and to promote dignity and inclusion for all people with mental illness and their families. In addition to being advocates, we educate, we listen, and we lead as evidenced by our public awareness campaigns, the range of programs we provide, and our strong public policy.

We currently have an opening for a Director, State Organization Development & Revitalization. The Director leads the strategic development, launch, stabilization, and accreditation-readiness of new, emerging, or reconstituted NAMI State Organizations (NSOs). This role is responsible for building organizational infrastructure from inception through operational maturity, ensuring alignment with NAMI’s Standards of Excellence (SOE), governance requirements, sustainability strategy, and NAMI’s 2030 Strategic Plan.

The Director serves as the primary architect for state-level replication or rebuild models, coordination of advisory committees and tiger teams, development of sustainability frameworks, and cultivation of close partnerships with local stakeholders, as well as NAMI National teams, including Field Governance, Field Capacity Building, Finance, Legal, among others.

This role requires demonstration of and a commitment to cultivating strong stakeholder partnerships, as the scope of work will require consistent and productive stakeholder engagement. The role also requires expertise in nonprofit startup development, operations, governance design, fundraising strategy, affiliate network development, and change management in complex federated systems.

This full-time position is remote.

Salary Range: $110,000 - $120,000

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Organization Transformation & Launch Strategy

• Design and operationalize a standardized model for launching new, emerging, or reconstituted State Organizations.
• Develop state-specific launch roadmaps (12–24-month implementation plans) using a phased approach and template.
• Establish and/or verify legal formation, chartering, IP licensing, and compliance structures.
• Build foundational policies (bylaws, board charters, conflict of interest, financial controls, etc.).
• Ensure early alignment with SOE core requirements and accreditation standards.

Tiger Team* & Capacity Building Team Leadership

• Lead, deploy, and manage cross-functional tiger teams*, internal and external stakeholders, and consultants responsible for standing up, rebuilding, or revitalizing State Organizations.
• Define the scope, objectives, timelines, and track performance and success metrics.
• Select, onboard, and manage external consultants and subject-matter experts (e.g., governance, finance, fundraising, and operations).
• Serve as engagement lead and integrator, ensuring consulting work translates into sustainable, locally owned organizational capacity, including the creation of onboarding and training of new leaders.
• Coordinate tiger team* activities across key NAMI National departments and functions.
• Hold consulting teams accountable for deliverables, milestones, and quality standards.
• Transition work from consultant-led execution to state-level ownership as organizations develop and stabilize.

Governance & Leadership Development (completed in partnership with local stakeholders and AR)

• Recruit and onboard founding boards (skills-based recruitment, fiduciary training, governance orientation).
• Implement governance training aligned to SOE and nonprofit best practices.
• Clarify roles between state organizations and affiliates (incorporated and unincorporated as applicable).
• Create board performance dashboard and success measures.
• Connect volunteer and paid leadership to NAMI and/or Alliance Relations department resources.

Organizational Infrastructure & Operations

• Build operational infrastructure including:
• Financial systems and internal controls
• Budget development and cash flow planning
• Staffing models and role clarity
• CRM and data management standards
• Risk management and insurance compliance
• Develop early-stage staffing plans (volunteer-led → hybrid → professionalized model as appropriate).
• Create reporting and performance dashboards.

Financial Sustainability & Revenue Development

• Create a state-level fund development strategy:
• Diversified fund development planning (individual, grants, corporate, events)
• State policy/funding landscape assessment
• Fundraising infrastructure development
• Develop 1–3-year financial projections.
• Identify early catalytic funding (seed, bridge, stabilization).
• Create donor stewardship and grant management systems.

Affiliate Network Analysis

• Complete affiliate profiles and service gaps (if/as applicable).
• Work in partnership with team members to draft plans for affiliate activation, onboarding, and support.
• Create draft of affiliate development support aligned with Alliance Relations department framework.

Accreditation & Performance Readiness

• Guide new and revitalized organizations through self-assessment against SOE.
• Build documentation repositories required for accreditation readiness.
• Establish performance benchmarks and milestone tracking.
• Create early-warning indicators for governance or sustainability risk.

Stakeholder & Change Management

• Serve as point of contact for advisory committee, tiger team, and internal and external stakeholders.
• Work in close collaboration and partnership with internal and external stakeholders to ensure continuity of programs and services.
• Manage strategic communications to target audiences throughout the process.
• Engage key stakeholders (national board, local partners, funders, volunteers).
• Report and manage reputational risk during transitions.
• Navigate organizational cultural reset.

*A Tiger Team is a small, cross-functional group of experts assembled to rapidly analyze and solve a specific, high-priority problem. Tiger teams are temporary, empowered to act quickly, and focused on producing practical solutions and recommendations within a defined timeframe.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Required

• 8–10+ years nonprofit leadership experience.
• Demonstrated experience launching or rebuilding a nonprofit organization.
• Deep expertise in nonprofit governance, operations, and board development.
• Experience designing sustainability and fundraising strategies.
• Strong financial acumen (budgeting, forecasting, internal controls).
• Experience operating within federated or networked nonprofit systems.
• Managerial experience
• Exceptional facilitation and change management skills.
• Must pass background check

Preferred

• Experience with accreditation or standards-based assessment models.
• Experience working with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience working with and managing tiger or turnaround teams (i.e., consultants).
• Knowledge of the mental health nonprofit ecosystem.
• Legal or compliance familiarity (nonprofit corporate law preferred but not required).

Core Competencies

• Systems thinking
• Strategic execution
• Organizational design
• Governance architecture
• Conflict navigation
• Stakeholder diplomacy & communication
• Structured problem-solving
• Data-informed decision-making
• High emotional intelligence

NAMI is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce. NAMI prohibits discrimination and harassment against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, marital status, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, genetic information or any other legally protected group status. We also provide reasonable accommodation for candidates with disability.

Your salary is only one component of the total compensation package. NAMI offers a range of standard and unique benefits that are reviewed annually:

• Generous and comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision Plans
• Paid Time Off: Vacation, Personal, and Sick Leave
• Paid Parental Leave
• 403(b) retirement plan
• Flexible Spending Accounts for health care, dependent care and commuter expenses
• Life Insurance and Disability coverage paid by NAMI
• Flexible Work and Telework programs
• Professional Development Reimbursement program
• A variety of wellness offerings to support team members
• Employee Referral Program
• The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) which provides support for personal and family problems common in contemporary life