Managing Director, Youth Development Programs
The Police Athletic League (PAL) of New York City is an independent youth development nonprofit organization and has been a vibrant and vital institution, serving as an effective, critical bridge between police and communities across all five boroughs of the City since 1914. PAL operates diverse programs for children as young as 2 years old to young adults. Programs include Head Start, after-school programs and summer day camps for elementary, middle and high school youth, and summer Playstreets. PAL also runs evening teen centers and college readiness programs, youth employment, and juvenile justice programs. Staying true to PAL’s roots, a cornerstone of our youth development strategy includes offering competitive and recreational sports for children of all ages. At PAL, we’re devoted to empowering communities and building the best places to work, and that goes for our own teams too.
In its 110th year, PAL continues to reimagine the agency’s leadership structure to ensure the next 110 years are nimble, strategic, responsive, and efficient. We are looking for SONYC School Program Directors to elevate our out-of-school programming embedded within a New York City public school or PAL Center. Locations may serve Elementary through High School youth through SEL, STEM, Literacy, Sports, Arts, Mental Health, and College and Career Access Programming.
This position reports to the Chief Executive Officer.
The Managing Director provides leadership, direction, and accountability to six Program Leads overseeing youth programming across five boroughs, as well as MAAP/FF and SYEP. The position ensures that programs are implemented consistently and effectively while allowing for appropriate adaptation to the needs of individual communities, funders, and program models. This position will integrate programming within PAL’s network ensuring that contractual obligations PAL has to government, private, and individual donors are met and exceeded. We are looking for Youth Development expertise and skilled talent development. This position will work closely with the NYPD, DOH, DYCD, NYCPS, and local community partners and develop new opportunities for PAL. As such, we are looking for candidates who can listen, problem solve and build bridges to partners that expand opportunities for NYC’s youth. Specifically:
• Candidates must travel to any PAL location or PAL partner in the 5 Boroughs via car or public transportation.
• Candidates must be well versed in Youth Development best practices.
• Candidates must be experts in DYCD contract requirements
• Candidates must be able to support programming that happens during the day, evenings, and weekends.
• Candidates must be dedicated to supporting the ideas and opportunities of on-site Leaders.
• Candidates must possess excellent communication and listening skills.
• Candidates must work together as a team to support PAL’s programming throughout the entire City.
Major Duties & Responsibilities
- Leads Portfolio-Wide Implementation
• Translates agency strategy, contractual requirements, program goals, and leadership priorities into clear implementation plans and operating expectations for the Youth Development portfolio.
• Establishes a consistent framework for program implementation across boroughs and program areas while recognizing differences in program models and community context.
• Establishes relationships with all funders and serves as the lead liason for PAL.
• Ensures that Program Leads understand priorities, timelines, deliverables, decision rights, and measures of success.
• Identifies implementation barriers and works with appropriate agency leaders to resolve them quickly and effectively.
• Monitors the overall health of the portfolio and intervenes when programs are off track.
• Ensures that new initiatives, program changes, contracts, and organizational priorities are implemented effectively and sustained over time.
- Directs and Develops Program Leads
• Provides direct supervision, coaching, and accountability to six Program Leads.
• Establishes clear roles, responsibilities, performance expectations, and decision-making authority for Program Leads.
• Creates a regular management cadence that includes portfolio reviews, performance monitoring, problem-solving, and planning.
• Supports Program Leads in managing complex operational and programmatic challenges.
• Builds the capacity of Program Leads to lead through change, manage performance, and develop strong site-level leadership.
• Holds Program Leads accountable for implementation, program quality, compliance, staffing, participant outcomes, and contractual deliverables.
• Creates opportunities for Program Leads to share learning, solve problems collectively, and develop consistent approaches across the portfolio.
- Monitors Program Performance and Outcomes
• Establishes and maintains a portfolio-level performance management system that provides leadership with a clear view of program performance aligned to funder requirements.
• Regularly reviews enrollment, attendance, participation, staffing, program quality, outcomes, compliance, financial performance, and other key indicators.
• Uses data to identify trends, emerging risks, underperformance, and opportunities for improvement.
• Ensures that Program Leads develop and execute corrective action and improvement plans when performance falls below expectations.
• Partners with the CEO and senior leadership team to communicate portfolio performance, risks, and recommendations.
• Ensures that lessons learned from implementation are translated into improvements in practice, systems, and resource allocation.
- Ensures Cross-Portfolio Alignment and Integration
• Creates mechanisms for coordination across the four borough-based EL–HS/afterschool portfolios and the MAAP/FF and SYEP programs.
• Identifies opportunities to share resources, systems, practices, partnerships, and expertise across programs.
• Ensures that youth development programs operate as part of a coherent portfolio rather than as independent program silos.
• Works with the Head Start Managing Director to identify opportunities for alignment between Head Start and Youth Development programming where appropriate.
• Coordinates with agency-wide operational departments to ensure that program needs are understood and addressed.
- Partners Across the Senior Leadership Team
• The Managing Director partners closely with the CEO, COO, CFO, CAO, and other senior leaders to identify barriers to implementation, align resources, manage risk, and drive continuous improvement across the Youth Development portfolio.
• Serves as the primary Youth Development partner to the CEO on implementation, performance, and portfolio management.
• Partners with the COO to address operational systems, staffing structures, facilities, technology, and other infrastructure necessary for successful program delivery.
• Partners with the CFO to monitor budgets, expenditures, revenue, contract performance, and financial risks across the portfolio.
• Partners with the CAO on grant requests, funder reports, and events.
• Ensures that cross-functional issues are escalated appropriately and resolved in a timely manner.
• Brings a Youth Development perspective to agency-wide planning and decision-making.
- Oversees Change and Continuous Improvement
• Leads implementation of significant changes affecting the Youth Development portfolio, including new contracts, funding changes, program models, organizational structures, and agency initiatives.
• Develops implementation roadmaps, milestones, ownership structures, and communication plans for major changes.
• Anticipates the impact of change on staff, programs, participants, and operations.
• Ensures that Program Leads are equipped to lead change at the borough and program level.
• Establishes mechanisms for evaluating whether changes have been successfully implemented and sustained.
• Promotes a culture of learning, reflection, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
- Manages Risk, Compliance, and Accountability
• Maintains visibility into major programmatic, operational, staffing, financial, contractual, and reputational risks across the portfolio.
• Ensures that Program Leads identify and proactively manage risks within their areas of responsibility.
• Partners with appropriate agency departments and funders to address compliance concerns and contractual requirements.
• Ensures timely escalation of significant issues to the CEO and other members of the senior leadership team.
• Supports the development and monitoring of corrective action plans when necessary.
- Supports Strategic Planning and Growth
• Provides the CEO with analysis and recommendations regarding the future direction of the Youth Development portfolio.
• Assesses program capacity, organizational readiness, resource requirements, and implementation implications of new opportunities.
• Participates in strategic planning, annual planning, budgeting, and organizational priority-setting.
• Helps evaluate potential new programs, contracts, partnerships, and funding opportunities from an implementation and organizational-capacity perspective.
• Ensures that growth is matched by appropriate staffing, infrastructure, systems, and leadership capacity.
- Management Cadence and Accountability
The Managing Director establishes a predictable management cadence that creates visibility, accountability, and rapid problem-solving across the portfolio. This includes:
• Weekly or biweekly meetings with Program Leads focused on priorities, barriers, and decisions.
• Regular portfolio performance reviews using a shared dashboard or scorecard.
• Monthly review of financial and contractual performance in partnership with Finance.
• Bi-annual portfolio reviews with the CEO and senior leadership.
• Regular review of staffing, vacancies, compliance, program quality, and emerging risks.
• Annual portfolio planning and goal-setting.
• Structured after-action reviews and learning processes following major initiatives or periods of implementation.
Key Measures of Success
Success in this role will be demonstrated by:
• Youth Development programs consistently meeting or exceeding contractual and organizational expectations.
• Strong performance across enrollment, participation, attendance, quality, and youth outcomes.
• Program Leads demonstrating strong leadership, accountability, and problem-solving capacity.
• Clear visibility into portfolio performance, risks, and resource needs.
• Timely identification and resolution of implementation barriers.
• Consistent implementation of agency priorities across boroughs and programs.
• Effective management of major organizational and programmatic changes.
• Strong cross-functional partnership between Youth Development and agency support departments.
• A culture of accountability, collaboration, learning, and continuous improvement.
• Sustainable growth and effective stewardship of the Youth Development portfolio.
Qualifications
What You Bring:
• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree in social work, education, public administration, nonprofit management, youth development, or a related field strongly preferred.
• Significant senior leadership experience in youth development, education, human services, nonprofit, or related organizations with demonstrated success (75% of DYCD portfolio achieving ROP).
• Demonstrated experience and success managing complex, multi-site programs and/or a significant program portfolio.
• Experience directly supervising and developing senior or mid-level program leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into implementation plans, operating structures, and measurable outcomes.
• Strong experience using data and performance indicators to manage programs and drive improvement.
• Experience managing change across complex organizations.
• Strong financial and operational acumen, including experience managing or monitoring large program budgets.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, relationship-building, and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to operate effectively at both the strategic and implementation levels.
Compensation: $150,000 - $180,000
Benefits: PAL offers a comprehensive benefits package which includes health insurance, flexible spending account options, an employee assistance program, tuition reimbursement, pet insurance, life insurance, retirement savings options, a generous paid time off policy, training and more!
Location: 34 1/2 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003 but must be able to travel across the five boroughs
At the Police Athletic League, we seek people who are talented, creative and passionate to help create a more inclusive city and better futures for our youth. We’re devoted to empowering communities and building the best places to work, and that goes for our own teams too.
The Police Athletic League is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected characteristic including, but not limited to, an individual’s sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy
Employment with PAL is contingent upon successful completion of all the Agency’s lawful pre-employment checks, which may include a background check.
