Senior Director of Programs

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

Full-Time Position

Start Date: April 21, 2025

Who We Are

CROP (Creating Restorative Opportunities and Programs) is an Oakland-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to reimagining reentry through a holistic and human-centered model. Driven by innovative approaches to education, advocacy, housing, personal leadership development, and workforce pathways, CROP works to reduce recidivism and create opportunities for justice-impacted individuals. Founded by leaders with direct lived experience in the criminal justice system, CROP’s programs aim to transform lives and communities.

What You’ll Do

The Senior Director of Programs is a key leadership position responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of CROP's programing, including our signature residential reentry program, Ready 4 Life. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Senior Director of Programs will manage and coordinate the work of three direct reports: the Director of Reentry, the Director of Personal Development & Engagement, and the Director of Learning & Partnerships. This role requires a strategic, collaborative leader who can ensure alignment between program operations and organizational goals, while fostering innovation and impact.

PROGRAM LEADERSHIP

• Oversee the successful delivery of CROP's programing
• Plan, execute, and evaluate program goals and metrics to ensure high-quality participant outcomes
• Ensure program goals meet grant requirements
• Develop and implement systems to track program quality, compliance, and impact
• Provide strategic leadership to program directors to ensure seamless delivery of program goals
• Lead cross-departmental collaboration and standardization of practices to maintain consistent, cohesive service delivery in each pillar of the Ready 4 Life program
• Use program data to make strategic adjustments and improvements to service delivery

TEAM LEADERSHIP

• Guide program directors' professional growth through development plans
• Set clear performance expectations and provide regular feedback to ensure accountability
• Create opportunities for justice-impacted staff to shape program design and implementation
• Foster team innovation by encouraging new approaches to program challenges
• Build a collaborative environment across program teams through shared goals and regular communication

PROGRAM OPERATIONS

• In partnership with the Executive Director, develop and monitor annual program budgets, including tracking expenses, projecting needs, and making strategic resource allocation decisions
• Design and implement workflows that help programs run efficiently
• Ensure programs meet state/federal regulatory requirements and grant contractual obligations through regular audits and reporting

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

• Support and oversee the Director of Learning & Partnerships in building and maintaining partnerships, with focus on developing programmatic collaborations with employers, education providers, and community organizations
• Represent CROP at community events and external meetings, including partnership development engagements such as conferences, to further the organization's mission
• Identify and develop program enhancement opportunities through strategic partnerships, including collaborating with Director of Development on funding initiatives, building educational and employer relationships to strengthen career pathways, and fostering community partnerships that support participant success

Who You Are

You thrive in collaborative environments while being self-driven enough to take initiative and own your areas of responsibility. You're excited about CROP’s mission and bringing your leadership experience to work that matters. You excel at both developing high-level strategy and ensuring excellent execution, understanding that organizational success requires both.

We believe great talent comes from many backgrounds and career paths - whether you've followed a traditional career trajectory or taken a unique route to this point in your professional journey. We encourage candidates to apply even if they don't meet every qualification listed below. If you're excited about this role and our mission and think you could be a great fit, we'd love to hear from you.

ROLE FOUNDATIONS

For this role, there are a few essential requirements:

• Legal authorization to work in the United States
• 7+ years of progressive leadership experience in program management, with demonstrated success in leading and overseeing multiple direct reports, preferably in nonprofit, education, workforce development, or social services sectors
• Experience managing programs with multiple components and stakeholders
• Strong people skills and high emotional intelligence
• Track record of using data and metrics to evaluate and improve program outcomes
• Experience managing complex program budgets of $1M+ annually and ensuring compliance with funder requirements

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & ABILITIES

We're especially excited about candidates who bring experience and capabilities in some of these areas:

Knowledge

• Understanding of justice system impacts and barriers facing justice-impacted individuals
• Understanding of and appreciation for proximate leadership
• Familiarity with workforce development and adult education models
• Knowledge of program evaluation methodologies and best practices

Skills

• Strong project management and organizational abilities
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including public speaking
• Data analysis and visualization capabilities
• Meeting facilitation and group training expertise
• Budget development and monitoring proficiency

Abilities

• Build and maintain strong partnerships across diverse stakeholder groups
• Lead organizational change while maintaining team cohesion
• Navigate complex decisions balancing multiple priorities and perspectives
• Develop and mentor emerging leaders
• Translate strategic vision into actionable plans
• Demonstrate adaptability and resilience in navigating complex challenges
• Drive systemic change while maintaining focus on participant outcomes

Additional Details

Compensation & Benefits

This full-time, exempt position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, holidays, and paid time off. The salary range for this position is $127,000 to $135,000 per year.

Schedule

This is a full-time, 40 hour per week, hybrid position. General hours of employment are 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Monday – Friday. The role requires regular presence in our Oakland office, with occasional travel to our LA office.

Supervision

This role is supervised by the Executive Director.

Application

CROP is committed to hiring talented and qualified individuals with diverse backgrounds for all of its roles, with an emphasis on uplifting the proximate leadership of talent with criminal records. CROP believes that the gathering and celebration of unique backgrounds, qualities, abilities and cultures strengthens our workplace and supports the success of our programs. CROP also is deeply committed to equity and as such never discriminates on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, conviction history, immigration status, age, ability, or mental health.

Application Submission Includes

Please visit our application form to submit a cover letter, resume, and 1 - 2 work samples.

Applications will be received and reviewed until March 9, 2025. After this time, we may continue to review applications on a rolling basis, however, encourage candidates to apply before the deadline and/or as soon as possible.

Work sample instructions: Please submit 1-2 work samples that demonstrate your ability to lead complex programs, develop and support teams, use data for program improvement, and manage strategic partnerships.

Potential work samples might include the following (please feel free to send us anything that feels relevant, even if it is not on this list):

• Any documentation related to cross-departmental strategy, planning, evaluation, etc.
• Program evaluation reports or impact assessments
• Strategic plans you developed for programs/departments
• Program dashboards or tracking systems you created
• Staff development or training materials
• Budget planning and monitoring documents
• Partnership development strategies
• Grant reports or program updates for stakeholders
• Process improvement documentation
• Program quality assurance frameworks
• Team development plans

If you have any concerns about being able to provide samples from your past roles, please do not hesitate to reach out to discuss an alternative solution. It is completely fine to redact confidential information from work samples as needed.

If you have any questions about the application or the position, please contact Jason Bryant at jason.bryant@croporg.org.