Chief Program Officer Job Description
Position: Chief Program Officer
Department: Administration
Reports to: Executive Director
FLSA Classification: Exempt
Summary
The Chief Program Officer (CPO) provides executive leadership and strategic direction for New Life Center’s Programs, Facilities, and Chaplaincy functions, ensuring that all services and operations advance our mission: To guide people experiencing homelessness or addiction toward holistic transformation through the love of Jesus.
Reporting to the Executive Director and serving on the Senior Leadership Team, the CPO oversees the Program Director, Operations director, and Chaplain and is accountable for the overall guest experience, including Emergency Services, Recovery Services, spiritual care, hospitality, dining, safety, and facilities. The CPO establishes ministry direction, service standards, and desired outcomes while empowering departmental leaders to manage daily operations and achieve results.
The CPO also leads strategic initiatives, stewards departmental resources, and develops community partnerships that strengthen New Life Center’s ministry and impact. Through personal example and executive leadership, the CPO advances a Christ-centered culture and ensures that spiritual care and opportunities for transformation remain central to our work.
At New Life Center, our work is rooted in our Christian faith and driven by our mission to guide people experiencing homelessness or addiction toward holistic transformation through the love of Jesus. Every role contributes to this ministry and advances our shared vision. Our team members are followers of Jesus Christ, affirm our Statement of Faith, and demonstrate our BEACON values - Bring Your Best, Engage with Empathy, Act in Unity, Choose Humility, Offer Hope, and Never Stop Growing - in the way they serve guests, support one another, and represent New Life Center each day.
Essential Functions
Essential Function 1: Department Leadership
• Lead: Provide clear vision, direction, and alignment for the Program Team, modeling New Life Center’s core values, fostering a healthy, high-performing culture, and demonstrating a willingness and ability to lead teams in prayer.
• Manage: Ensure the right people are in the right roles, set clear expectations, and consistently monitor performance through effective communication, coaching, and problem-solving.
• Hold Accountable: Further our mission by holding self and others accountable to goals, priorities, and measurable outcomes, ensuring follow-through and continuous improvement.
Essential Function 2: Program Strategy, Ministry Effectiveness & Guest Outcomes
- Establish Ministry Direction: Set ministry philosophy, strategic direction, service models, and standards for Emergency Services and Recovery Services, identifying opportunities to strengthen and develop programs.
- Ensure Program Effectiveness & Outcomes: Establish desired guest outcomes, evaluate program effectiveness, and hold program leadership accountable for results and continuous improvement.
- Champion Guest Experience: Establish expectations for compassionate, dignified, and Christ-centered care across all guest-facing services, including programs, case management, hospitality, dining, safety, and facilities.
- Lead Spiritual Ministry: Establish the spiritual direction and expectations for guest-facing ministry, directly supervising the Chaplain and ensuring that prayer, discipleship, spiritual care, and opportunities to share the Gospel are meaningfully integrated throughout New Life Center’s programs. Ensure appropriate spiritual encouragement, prayer, and referrals are also available to employees.
Essential Function 3: Operational Excellence, Safety & Organizational Alignment
- Ensure Operational Excellence: Establish expectations for effective and consistent operations of the Program and Facilities departments, addressing significant barriers and holding departmental leaders accountable for solutions and performance.
- Strengthen Organizational Unity: Ensure Programs and Facilities operate in unity through effective communication, coordination, and shared accountability.
- Provide Executive Operational Direction: Make significant operational decisions within delegated authority after considering departmental input, ensuring timely implementation and leadership alignment.
- Oversee Safety & Compliance: Establish expectations for safety, security, emergency preparedness, program-related operational risk, and compliance with applicable regulations, contractual obligations, and organizational policies.
Essential Function 4: Strategic Leadership & Execution
- Establish Strategic Priorities: Translate organizational direction and emerging ministry needs into strategic priorities for Programs and Facilities.
- Lead Strategic Initiatives: Own assigned strategic initiatives and EOS Rocks, establishing objectives, coordinating milestones, and ensuring successful execution.
- Lead Organizational Change: Direct significant changes to service models, operational systems, and departmental structures, ensuring effective planning and implementation.
- Collaborate Across Departments: Work with Senior Leadership Team peers to advance organizational priorities, address shared challenges, and fulfill cross-department commitments.
Essential Function 5: Finance & Resources Stewardship
- Develop Departmental Budgets: Lead annual budget development for Programs and Facilities with input from the Program Director and Operations director, collaborating with the finance director to align financial plans with ministry priorities.
- Ensure Financial Accountability: Hold departmental leaders accountable for managing approved budgets, reviewing financial performance, addressing variances, and responsibly stewarding organizational resources.
- Guide Resource Allocation: Exercise decision-making authority over staffing, equipment, facilities, and other resources within approved budgets, organizational policies, and delegated authority, collaborating with the CFO and Executive Director on significant financial decisions.
Essential Function 6: Community Partnerships & Systems Engagement
- Build Strategic Partnerships: Develop relationships with community organizations, healthcare providers, government agencies, and service partners, identifying opportunities to strengthen programs and guest outcomes.
- Represent New Life Center: Participate in appropriate community service systems and collaborative initiatives, advocating for NLC’s established ministry approaches while coordinating broader public messaging and organizational positioning with the Executive Director and Marketing Director.
- Strengthen Community Collaboration: Establish expectations for effective service coordination and referral relationships and evaluate significant partnerships for mission alignment and organizational benefit.
ADA & Reasonable Accommodation
New Life Center complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Qualified individuals are considered for positions based on their ability to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodations will be provided in accordance with applicable law unless doing so would cause undue hardship or pose a direct threat to safety.
Position Reports to Rob Swiers, Executive Director
This job description identifies the major responsibilities of this job. It does not include all aspects of the position such as the potential additional duties assigned by the Executive Director, the requirement for flexibility in helping others, or the highly valued team-oriented approach used for the overall benefit and success of New Life Center.
Qualifications
Personal:
- Must be engaged in a local church and exhibit a personal, evident, growing relationship with Jesus Christ.
- Compassionate heart for those in need.
- Willingness to serve others.
- Desire to see the lost be transformed through the love of Christ.
Required Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Nonprofit Management, Ministry, Social Work, or a related field; or equivalent leadership education and experience.
- Minimum five years of progressively responsible leadership and management experience, including demonstrated ability to oversee multiple departments, develop leaders, and achieve organizational objectives.
- Demonstrated experience developing and managing departmental or organizational budgets, evaluating financial performance, and making responsible resource allocation decisions.
- Demonstrated experience leading significant organizational changes, including changes to leadership structures, operational systems, or service delivery models.
Preferred Education and Experience:
- Experience in rescue ministry, homelessness services, addiction recovery, social services, or a related human-services field.
- Experience leading within a Christian ministry or faith-based nonprofit organization.
- Experience with the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) or a comparable organizational management and accountability framework.
- Experience with public speaking, community presentations, or representing an organization in external forums.
- Seven to 10 years of progressively responsible leadership and management experience, including demonstrated ability to oversee multiple departments, develop leaders, and achieve organizational objectives.
Additional Eligibility Requirements:
- Ability to pass a pre-employment drug test and background check.
- Must possess a valid driver’s license, maintain an acceptable driving record in accordance with the organization’s insurance carrier requirements, and provide proof of insurance, as required for the performance of job duties.
Skills:
- Executive Leadership & Development: Ability to lead through other leaders, establish clear expectations, empower decision-making, develop leadership capabilities, and hold leaders accountable without unnecessary involvement in daily operations.
- Strategic Thinking & Problem-Solving: Ability to evaluate complex challenges, establish priorities, develop practical solutions, and translate organizational strategy into measurable results.
- Decision-Making & Conflict Resolution: Ability to navigate disagreements among experienced leaders, address difficult issues respectfully, make timely decisions when consensus cannot be reached, and maintain unity and accountability.
- Financial Management & Stewardship: Ability to lead budget development, analyze financial information, evaluate resource needs, and hold departmental leaders accountable for responsible financial management.
- Organizational Change Leadership: Ability to guide significant organizational changes while building trust, communicating effectively, and maintaining stability and unity.
- Communication & Relationships: Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, with the ability to build trust, collaborate effectively, and represent New Life Center professionally with diverse audiences.
- Professional Integrity: Demonstrated humility, sound judgment, discretion, confidentiality, and commitment to ethical leadership and New Life Center’s BEACON values.
Work Environment:
- Work is performed in a combination of administrative offices, program spaces, shelter facilities, and operational areas, including dining, maintenance, laundry, custodial, and outdoor spaces.
- Regular interaction with staff, volunteers, guests, and community partners, including individuals experiencing crisis or transitional life circumstances.
- Work involves a combination of sitting, standing, and walking, including regular movement throughout facilities and frequent use of computers, phones, and standard office equipment.
- May involve occasional exposure to commercial kitchen equipment, maintenance activities, cleaning chemicals, and varying outdoor weather conditions.
- Occasional local travel to attend community meetings, partner organizations, events, and off-site program locations, including operation of a motor vehicle as needed.
- Work schedule requires flexibility, including occasional early mornings, evenings, weekends, or extended hours to address organizational needs or emergencies.
- Fast-paced, collaborative ministry environment requiring adaptability, sound judgment, and responsiveness to changing priorities.
- This position works in a recovery-adjacent environment and requires adherence to professional boundaries, respectful workplace conduct, and organizational policies.
Religious Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ)
New Life Center is a faith-based Christian ministry. Consistent with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alignment with New Life Center's Statement of Faith and values may be considered a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ) for this position. Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with the organization's Christian mission, beliefs, and code of conduct.
