National Director, Mental Health Equity & Engagement

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 National Director, Mental Health Equity & Engagement. The National Director provides strategic leadership for NAMI’s efforts to advance mental health equity and expand the reach and impact of NAMI’s community engagement and culturally responsive initiatives.

This role is responsible for setting a clear national vision for the department, identifying opportunities for growth, and building the partnerships, strategies, and infrastructure needed to broaden the reach of NAMI’s Cross-Cultural Innovation & Engagement (CCIE) and Health Equity initiatives. The National Director will assess where NAMI can have the greatest impact, establish priorities for expansion, and ensure the department’s work is aligned with NAMI’s broader programmatic and organizational goals.

The National Director will serve as an external-facing leader for NAMI’s mental health equity and community engagement work, representing the organization in national conversations, identifying emerging opportunities, and positioning NAMI as a trusted partner in efforts to reduce mental health disparities and improve access to culturally relevant education and support. Ultimately, this role is responsible not only for overseeing the work of the department, but for determining where the work should go next, building the relationships, strategy, and organizational alignment necessary to significantly expand NAMI’s reach and impact within diverse communities.

This full-time position may be remote or hybrid for candidates located in the Arlington, VA area and requires approximately 20% travel.

Salary Range: $135k - $145k

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategic Growth & National Partnerships

• Develop and execute a national growth strategy for NAMI’s mental health equity and community-based mental health supports and initiatives and ensure alignment with NAMI's strategic priorities.
• Provide organizational leadership in identifying and responding to national disparities, emerging trends, service gaps, and community needs that NAMI programs, resources, advocacy, and partnerships may be positioned to address.
• Evaluate potential partnerships based on strategic alignment, community impact, scalability, sustainability, and organizational capacity.
• Monitor national research, policy developments, demographic trends, and promising practices related to mental health equity and community-based mental health support.
• Represent NAMI in external meetings, coalitions, conferences, and national forums related to mental health equity and community engagement.
• Work with NAMI Development teams and other internal partners to identify funding opportunities that support the expansion and sustainability of department programs and initiatives.
• Provide senior leadership and subject matter expertise on mental health equity, advising organizational leaders and cross-functional teams on emerging needs, opportunities, priorities, and strategies.

Portfolio Management and Continuous Improvement

• Establish annual priorities, goals, operating plans, annual budgets and resource requirements for NAMI's Mental Health Equity and Engagement department and ensure alignment with NAMI's strategic priorities.
• Develop and manage program budgets and ensure responsible stewardship of organizational, grant, contract, and donor-funded resources associated with the department’s portfolio.
• Lead, supervise, coach, and develop Mental Health Equity and Engagement staff, establishing clear expectations and accountability for performance, professional growth, collaboration, and impact.
• Establish and maintain department goals, outcomes, performance measures, and accountability mechanisms and use findings to inform strategy, resource allocation, continuous improvement, and decisions about scaling promising approaches.
• Monitor portfolio performance, outcomes, budgets, deliverables, and risks and make strategic and operational adjustments necessary to achieve established goals.
• Lead cross-functional collaboration to ensure mental health equity strategies, initiatives, partnerships, and messaging are coordinated across NAMI National and aligned with broader organizational priorities.
• Develop and disseminate national reports, presentations, case studies, implementation of resources, and promising practices.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field required; advanced degree preferred.
• 11-15 years of progressively responsible experience in mental health, public health, health equity, community-based programming, nonprofit management, social impact, or a related field, including significant leadership and management responsibility.
• Expertise engagement and/or collaboration with historically underserved communities.
• Extensive experience in developing and sustaining strategic partnerships with organizations addressing the needs of minoritized communities.
• A deep understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion principles, including awareness of systemic biases and discrimination.
• Demonstrated people-management experience, including supervising, coaching, developing, and evaluating staff and building high-performing, collaborative teams.
• Demonstrated experience developing and leading complex strategies, programs, or initiatives with national, multi-state, or multi-site reach.
• Demonstrated ability to influence organizational strategy and work effectively with senior leaders, cross-functional teams, external partners, community leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Exceptional facilitation, presentation, written communication, relationship-building, and interpersonal skills, including experience representing an organization with external partners and national audiences.
• Demonstrated experience managing budgets, operating plans, funded initiatives, and organizational resources and establishing accountability for goals, outcomes, and deliverables.
• Proven ability to engage with and manage communications between internal and external stakeholders with a high level of accuracy and professionalism.
• Experience working collaboratively within a team environment and across functions/departments to plan and implement programs and initiatives.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced work environment, respond quickly and effectively to challenges, meet tight deadlines, and grant deliverables.
• Strong understanding of evaluation, data, and research and demonstrated ability to use evidence, community input, and emerging trends to inform strategy and decision-making.
• Must pass background check.

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