Director of Programs

Position Summary 

The Director of Programs oversees the remote Crisis Services Center (CSC), which operates all 24/7/365 Information and Referral Lines for NRS (1-800-RUNAWAY, 1-888-504-MOCA, CCBYS), manages collaborative agreements with outside partners, and serves as a member of the NRS Leadership Team. This role is vital to maintaining operational standards, driving quality service outcomes, and ensuring NRS continues to meet the needs of young people in crisis. The Director will travel for in-person programming events, including conferences, network and workgroup meetings, and fundraising events. 

Core Responsibilities 

Program Leadership 

• Oversee CSC operations, ensuring adherence to NRS and funder standards, protocols, and best practices across all 24/7/365 services. 
• Provide strong leadership to the Crisis Services Team (Crisis Services Manager, Data and IT Coordinator, Community Engagement Coordinator, Clinical Supervisors, Shift Supervisors, Resource Coordinator, Crisis Services Staff, Respites, and Volunteers), fostering transparency, creative problem-solving, accountability, and continuous improvement. 
• Serve as a member of the NRS Leadership Team, representing program and youth voice in ongoing strategic planning and cross-functional alignment. 
• Oversee Youth Advocate Board recruitment, onboarding, structure, payment, and advocacy efforts, ensuring youth benefit from the experience as much as or more than NRS. 
• Serve as liaison with federal partners, ensuring program deliverables and outcomes are recorded, tracked, and reported accurately and on time. 
• Manage collaborative relationships to ensure NRS meets and exceeds agreed-upon expectations. 

Public Relations 

• Serve as a subject matter expert on NRS crisis intervention strategies with community partners, national workgroups, conferences, and external stakeholders. 
• Facilitate webinars, trainings, panels, and media interviews as requested, and participate in fundraising activities. 
• Contribute to social media content and the organizational communication calendar; at times serve as a spokesperson for NRS alongside the CEO. 
  

Training & Quality Assurance 

• Develop and implement policies, procedures, and protocols for hotline operations, crisis intervention, safety planning, risk assessment, and emergency response. 
• Establish and track KPIs for all programs. 
• Design and deliver a best-practice training curriculum and continuing education program for staff, interns, and volunteers. 
• Guide supervision priorities for Crisis Services, ensuring trauma-informed practices are integrated throughout. 
• Oversee maintenance of NRS' national referral database. 

Team Management 

• Implement NRS personnel policies and practices for the team: recruitment, hiring, training, performance evaluation, supervision, leave administration, and termination documentation. 
• Oversee team schedules to ensure adequate staffing and operational consistency. 
• Serve as back-up to the on-call supervisor rotation, providing shift management and emergency support as needed. 
• Lead team meetings to review needs, generate solutions, and build collaboration across a remote workforce. 

Data, Reporting & Budget 

• Support data collection and reporting on employee performance, service outcomes, and quality assurance; compile data for grant applications and external communications. 
• Allocate resources in alignment with the approved budget and track program expenses, submitting receipts on time. 

Leadership Responsibilities 

• Beyond the qualifications below, this role depends on common sense, critical thinking, strong work ethic, and pride in your work when no one is watching. We're looking for someone who exercises sound judgment under pressure, follows through without being chased, and holds the same standard for their work whether or not anyone is checking. 
• Select effective leaders, invest time in coaching and development, and prioritize identifying, nurturing, and promoting talent. 
• Set clear expectations with ownership, deadlines, and decision closure, and hold people accountable after reasonable clarity, support, and opportunity to perform. 
• Recognize equity is foundational to our work internally and externally and prioritize building an equitable, antiracist, and inclusive environment. 

Standard Responsibilities 

• Passion, integrity, and commitment to the mission and values of NRS. 
• Ensures confidentiality of those who utilize our services and NRS information. 
• Demonstrates respect and acceptance of all individuals and communities serviced by, working in partnership with, or employed by NRS including but not limited to race, gender, ethnicity, social-economic status, and LGBTQIA+ populations.  
• Commitment to flexibility and adaptability with the ability to effectively communicate well with diverse and evolving teams both internally and externally. 
• Identify solutions to identified concerns and assume positive regard within interactions; 
• Adhere to policies and procedures as outlined in the Employee Handbook. 
• Actively participate in remote meetings on camera from a confidential workspace free of distraction. 
• Attend regular training provided in-house, by partners, and for personal professional development. 
• Ability to attend events in various locations either via personal transportation, rental, or public transportation. 
• Participates in assigned special projects and responses to ad hoc requests as assigned. 

Required Qualifications 

• Master's degree in Social Work, Psychology, or a related human services field; LCSW preferred. 
• Minimum 7 years of experience in social services, crisis intervention, suicide prevention, or call center management; hotline platform experience (e.g., Five9) preferred. 
• Minimum 5 years of supervisory experience in a leadership or management role. 
• Experience operationalizing blended funding sources within an agency budget. 
• Strong public speaking skills, comfortable with audiences from 5 to 500 people. 
• Proven ability to lead dynamic teams, manage complex operational systems, and improve outcomes in a nonprofit or social services setting. 
• Strong interpersonal skills, including building rapport and creating relationships, ability to lead a dynamic team, build relationships and communicate with diverse teams, and manage evolving needs. 
• Demonstrates sound judgment and critical thinking in high-pressure situations, with independent decision-making. 
• Experience with curriculum development, data-informed quality assurance, and training and continuing education program development and implementation preferred. 
• Demonstrates strong and creative problem-solving skills with a solutions-oriented mindset. 
• Able to work independently, organize and prioritize work from start to finish, manage time, multi-task, and meet deadlines. 
• Self-starter and detail-oriented; produces high-quality work free of errors with close attention to accuracy across multiple concurrent projects, and is willing to support others for the benefit of the agency, program, and youth, not merely their own. 
• Demonstrates advanced presentation, written, and proofreading communication skills. 
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, virtual meeting platforms, Adobe, and learning management systems (e.g., Litmos); CRM experience (e.g., iCarol, Salesforce) preferred. 
• Proficient in speaking, reading, and writing in English; able to work for prolonged periods at a desk/computer. 
  

Additional Requirements 

• The applicant must submit to a criminal background check and a child abuse and neglect screening and maintain a clear status throughout employment. 
• Flexible schedule including on-call responsibility and occasional evening, weekend, and travel availability. 
• Able to travel to Chicago, IL and other U.S. locations, including occasional overnight travel. 
• Develops competency with applicable web-based systems within the first 90 days of employment.