Director of Programs

About My Friend’s Place

My Friend’s Place is a nonprofit drop-in crisis resource center in Hollywood offering comprehensive services to youth experiencing homelessness annually. My Friend’s Place is a community that cultivates growth and opportunity for young people impacted by homelessness. For nearly 40 years, the organization has led with compassion, creativity, and community, providing trauma-informed, equity-centered programs in health, mental health, creative arts, case management, education, employment, and life skills development.

My Friend’s Place recognizes youth homelessness as a social, racial, and economic justice issue and is committed to aligning its practices with the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The organization is data-informed and values learning, accountability, and measurable impact in all areas of service delivery and organizational practice.

The Director of Programs is a full-time senior leadership role responsible for the strategic direction, quality, development, implementation, evaluation, and public representation of My Friend's Place programs. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director of Programs serves as the central program executive responsible for sustaining day-to-day program excellence while building the partnerships, clinical infrastructure, service models, and public narrative needed for long-term organizational growth.

This role provides leadership across Safe Haven, Housing and Wellness, Transformative Education, Data and Impact, and related program domains. The Director of Programs supervises assigned program leadership and staff; strengthens program quality and accountability; supports clinical supervision and consultation structures; guides crisis response and continuity of care; and ensures program operations are aligned with organizational values, youth needs, contract expectations, and strategic priorities.

The Director of Programs is also a high-visibility external representative for My Friend's Place. The role is expected to sustain and expand strategic partnerships with local, county, state, and federal agencies; service providers; coalitions; community stakeholders; law enforcement partners where appropriate; elected offices; funders; and systems partners. In collaboration with the Executive Director and Development team, the Director of Programs helps translate program outcomes, youth service trends, and community needs into a clear and compelling program impact narrative that supports funder engagement, board communication, public education, and the organization's capital campaign.

Qualifications

Education

• Master's or Doctorate degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Public Health, Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, Human Services, or a closely related field required; clinical degree strongly preferred.
• Current California clinical licensure in good standing, strongly preferred and may be required when the role provides direct clinical supervision to pre-licensed staff. Acceptable licensure may include LCSW, LMFT, LPCC, Psy.D., Ph.D., or other license recognized by applicable regulatory standards.
• Ability to provide or coordinate clinical supervision, clinical consultation, and training within scope of practice, organizational policy, and applicable legal/professional requirements, strongly preferred.

Experience

• Minimum two years post licensure experience in providing direct services.
• Minimum of three years of experience managing programs and teams.
• Minimum of five years of related experience working with diverse, vulnerable populations. High risk youth experience preferred.
• Experience working in nonprofit, youth services, homeless services, behavioral health, housing, education, or community-based direct service settings.
• Demonstrated ability to lead teams through transition, ambiguity, staffing shifts, and operational change.
• Experience supervising managers, program leads, or cross-functional staff.
• Experience coordinating with clinical staff or clinical supervisors in a direct service environment preferred.
• Experience supporting trauma-informed, harm-reduction-informed, youth-centered, and equity-centered service models.

My Friend’s Place offers a competitive salary and benefits package including paid health, dental, and life insurance, sick leave and vacation time. Benefits include medical and dental insurance, vacation and sick leave, and 403b retirement plan.

Key Responsibilities

Program Strategy, Development, and Innovation

• Serve as a primary public-facing program representative for My Friend's Place in community, government, coalition, and partner spaces.
• Develop and maintain relationships with service providers, governmental entities, schools, housing partners, behavioral health systems, workforce partners, law enforcement partners where appropriate, and other community stakeholders.
• Identify partnership risks, opportunities, pending decisions, and strategic recommendations for review with the Executive Director.
• Ensure external commitments are aligned with mission, staff capacity, program quality, contractual obligations, and organizational priorities.
• Lead the research, planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of programs that advance the mission and strategic priorities of My Friend's Place.
• Develop and refine program models that respond to the evolving needs of young people impacted by and experiencing homelessness, including needs related to housing, wellness, mental health, education, employment, safety, and community belonging.
• Identify program gaps, emerging trends, service barriers, and opportunities for innovation using staff insight, youth feedback, program data, community conditions, and partner input.
• Develop, implement, and monitor program goals, annual workplans, training priorities, and program-related budget needs in partnership with the Executive Director and Finance.
• Ensure program development is trauma-informed, youth-centered, harm-reduction-informed, equity-centered, and grounded in the lived realities of young people served by the organization.
• Identify and pursue program opportunities aligned with strategic priorities, funding opportunities, partnership commitments, and organizational capacity.
• Ensure program leadership staff are aligned on daily priorities, immediate risks, youth service needs, and organizational expectations.
• Support performance accountability by documenting concerns, identifying needed supports, and elevating personnel matters to the Executive Director and Human Resources as appropriate.
• Help cultivate and maintain team morale and communication by providing consistent leadership presence and clear expectations.
• Support Board of Directors engagement as needed including meeting and committee material preparation and attendance as requested by the Executive Director.

Program Leadership, Quality, & Operations

• Oversee daily program operations to ensure continuity, consistency, safety, and high-quality youth services across program areas.
• Supervise, coach, develop, and hold accountable assigned program managers, program leads, interns, and designated staff.
• Ensure program teams have clear direction, role clarity, supervision structures, staffing coverage, communication norms, and escalation pathways.
• Partner with program managers to review staffing schedules, workload distribution, youth flow, team capacity, service coverage, and operational challenges.
• Lead or support recruitment, hiring, onboarding, training, and orientation of program staff in partnership with Human Resources and program leadership.
• Support performance accountability by documenting concerns, identifying needed supports, clarifying expectations, and elevating personnel matters to the Executive Director and Human Resources as appropriate.
• Create conditions for healthy team functioning by modeling clear communication, consistent follow-through, JEDI-rooted leadership, and respectful accountability.
• Monitor documentation standards, service tracking, data entry, and timely reporting in partnership with program managers and data/impact staff..
• Review program performance indicators and immediate service-delivery trends to identify areas needing attention.
• Partner with administrative, finance, data, and development teams to provide program information needed for internal reporting, funder updates, and organizational planning.
• Support continuous improvement by identifying operational patterns, service gaps, and areas requiring clearer systems or staff guidance.

Crisis Response, Safety Coordination & Continuity of Care

• Provide clinical supervision, clinical consultation, and/or clinical guidance within the scope of the Director's professional licensure, training, and organizational policy.
• Support the clinical supervision infrastructure for licensed, pre-licensed, and direct service staff, including coordination with contracted clinical supervisors when applicable.
• Ensure staff have access to timely consultation related to youth crises, critical incidents, mandated reporting concerns, safety-related situations, trauma responses, and high-risk service decisions.
• Partner with program managers and clinical supervisors to coordinate post-incident debriefs, staff support, documentation follow-up, safety planning, and continuity of care.
• Maintain clear boundaries between administrative supervision, clinical supervision, and employment-related performance management.
• Identify recurring practice concerns, training needs, risk patterns, and service-delivery gaps that require organizational attention or updated protocol.
• Elevate critical incidents, mandated reporting concerns, safety issues, legal/compliance risks, and organizational exposure to the Executive Director in a timely manner.
• Support a trauma-informed and staff-aware approach to crisis response, recognizing both youth needs and staff capacity.

Strategy Implementation & Program Infrastructure

• Maintain progress on existing program goals, workplans, and organizational priorities identified by the Executive Director and leadership team.
• Identify immediate infrastructure needs related to staffing, workflows, communication, documentation, supervision, training, and program operations.
• Support the development or refinement of temporary workflows necessary for organizational sustainability.
• Maintain program budget awareness and partner with the Executive Director and finance team to monitor program-related resource needs.
• Identify staff training priorities related to program operations, documentation, crisis response, mandated reporting, youth engagement, and service quality.

Cross-Functional Collaboration & Internal Communication

• Serve as an active member of the senior leadership team and contribute to organization-wide strategy, planning, risk assessment, culture-building, and decision-making.
• Partner with Administration and Operations to align program needs with facilities, safety, technology, administrative workflows, workplace expectations, and organizational systems.
• Partner with Finance to monitor program budgets, resource needs, grant requirements, staffing implications, and cost drivers.
• Partner with Development and Communications to ensure program information is timely, accurate, compelling, and aligned with organizational priorities.
• Partner with Human Resources to support supervision practices, staffing structures, onboarding, training, accountability, documentation, and employee relations issues involving program staff.
• Provide program and youth-care consultation to Development, Administration, Operations, volunteers, and leadership as needed.

External Engagement & Partnership Continuity

• Maintain key external partnerships necessary for ongoing program delivery and youth service continuity.
• Support Board of Directors engagement as requested by the Executive Director, including program updates, committee participation, board meeting preparation, and strategic briefings.
• Develop and maintain appropriate relationships with funders, volunteers, board members, emerging leaders, and community supporters in alignment with organizational strategy.
• Support volunteer programming, volunteer orientation, and program-facing volunteer engagement in partnership with designated staff.
• Serve as a credible and informed spokesperson for program impact, youth needs, service delivery, and community partnership priorities when called upon.
• Represent the organization in essential external meetings to sustain and build organizational relationships or commitments.
• Elevate external partnership concerns or opportunities to the Executive Director for review and direction.

Program Impact Narrative, Development Partnership, and Capital Campaign Support

• Partner with the Executive Director and Development team to articulate the impact, needs, outcomes, and future direction of programs for funders, board members, public stakeholders, and capital campaign audiences.
• Translate program data, youth service trends, staff insight, and community conditions into clear narratives that support fundraising, communications, public education, and strategic positioning.
• Provide program updates, impact statements, service stories, outcome summaries, and strategic context for grant proposals, funder reports, contributor briefings, campaign materials, board materials, site visits, and external presentations.
• Ensure program narratives are accurate, ethical, trauma-informed, youth-centered, consent-aware, and protective of confidentiality.
• Support high-visibility engagement connected to the organization's fundraising initiatives, including occasional evening or weekend meetings, events, tours, donor briefings, public presentations, and community activities.
• Collaborate with Development and Data and Impact staff to ensure that program outcomes and service narratives are aligned, measurable, and consistent across internal and external communication.

Commitment to Core Values

• Commit to uphold the following core values which are fundamental to our work together and with the youth: compassion, flexibility, honesty, human worth, integrity, openness, respect, sense of humor, trust, valuing diversity, and the willingness and courage to engage, address and discuss differences.
• Commit to uphold JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) principles and values.

Qualifications

Education

• Master's or Doctorate degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, Public Health, Public Administration, Nonprofit Management, Human Services, or a closely related field required; clinical degree strongly preferred.
• Current California clinical licensure in good standing, strongly preferred and may be required when the role provides direct clinical supervision to pre-licensed staff. Acceptable licensure may include LCSW, LMFT, LPCC, Psy.D., Ph.D., or other license recognized by applicable regulatory standards.
• Ability to provide or coordinate clinical supervision, clinical consultation, and training within scope of practice, organizational policy, and applicable legal/professional requirements, strongly preferred.

Skills

• Strong internal leadership, staff supervision, and program management skills.
• Ability to provide clear direction, role clarity, coaching, and accountability to staff.
• Strong understanding of nonprofit program operations, staff workflows, service coordination, and compliance expectations.
• Ability to distinguish between administrative supervision and clinical supervision responsibilities.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to prioritize immediate needs while maintaining long-term organizational continuity.
• Ability to communicate effectively with staff, executive leadership, funders, partners, and cross-functional teams.
• Strong documentation, reporting, and organizational skills.
• Ability to manage confidential information with sound judgment and professionalism.
• Familiarity with youth homelessness, trauma, crisis response, mental health, substance use, co-occurring challenges, and systems impacting vulnerable youth.
• High proficiency with Google Suite, digital systems, data tracking, and internal communication tools.
• Demonstrated commitment to justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and shared accountability.