Executive Director

Job Description

Job Description

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR — NONPROFIT OPERATIONS & PUBLIC SAFETY

Kansas City, Missouri | Full-time, Exempt | $90,000–$110,000 annually

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

ABOUT LYRIK'S INSTITUTION

Lyrik's Institution is a Kansas City nonprofit working to reduce violence and increase economic mobility for youth and young adults ages 13–25 affected by poverty, trauma, and systemic instability. Through Cognitive Behavioral Modification (CBM), workforce pathways, case management, school-based interventions, street outreach, leadership development, and cross-sector coordination, we connect young people with the relationships, skills, and opportunities needed for long-term stability.

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are seeking an experienced Executive Director to serve as the senior operational leader and primary driver of day-to-day organizational execution. Reporting to the CEO, you will turn vision, Board-approved direction, grant commitments, and strategic priorities into clear operating plans, coordinated programs, staff accountability, documented decisions, and measurable results.

This is an active institution-building role for a leader who can create structure without losing relationships, cultural grounding, urgency, community trust, or the dignity of participants, families, staff, and partners. The strongest candidate will combine nonprofit operations expertise, strategic judgment, emotional intelligence, disciplined follow-through, and a commitment to youth development and community violence prevention.

WHAT YOU'LL LEAD

Strategic execution and institution building

- Translate organizational strategy, CEO priorities, Board direction, and grant obligations into annual and quarterly operating plans.

- Establish clear owners, deadlines, resources, dependencies, success measures, and escalation paths for major initiatives.

- Build repeatable systems, standard operating procedures, dashboards, and decision processes that strengthen accountability and organizational continuity.

Operations and infrastructure

- Oversee daily operations across programs, departments, staffing, schedules, facilities, technology, documentation, and administrative workflows.

- Lead a consistent operating cadence of leadership meetings, CEO briefings, department reviews, performance reviews, and annual planning.

- Maintain action trackers, ownership charts, decision logs, risk registers, calendars, and cross-department handoff systems.

Program quality and participant outcomes

- Oversee quality implementation across school-based services, street outreach, case management, workforce development, behavioral health coordination, leadership development, and ecosystem-building initiatives.

- Ensure participants move through engagement, stabilization, programming, referrals, workforce pathways, leadership opportunities, and follow-up through clear ownership and warm handoffs.

- Monitor program fidelity, participation, progression, outcomes, documentation quality, service gaps, and capacity constraints.

- Protect confidentiality, cultural responsiveness, participant dignity, and strength-based practice.

People leadership and culture

- Supervise, coach, and develop leadership staff, program leads, and assigned personnel.

- Set clear expectations for roles, decision boundaries, documentation, performance, communication, and escalation.

- Support recruitment, onboarding, retention, succession planning, professional development, and staff wellness in partnership with the CEO and approved HR support.

- Address performance or capacity concerns early and constructively.

Financial stewardship, grants, and compliance

- Partner with the CEO and finance function to monitor approved budgets, spending, restricted funding, operational needs, and sustainability risks.

- Keep programs, staffing, procurement, documentation, and reporting aligned with grants, contracts, policies, scopes of work, and funder requirements.

- Maintain visibility on grant deliverables, reporting deadlines, budget variances, supporting documentation, and audit readiness.

- Prepare accurate operating information for leadership, the Board, funders, and auditors.

Partnerships and public safety ecosystem coordination

- Coordinate approved relationships with schools, workforce partners, behavioral health providers, community organizations, government agencies, courts, funders, and public safety stakeholders.

- Strengthen closed-loop referrals and accountability so participants and commitments do not fall between organizations.

- Represent Lyrik's Institution professionally in approved meetings and collaborative initiatives.

- Advance opportunity, leadership development, workforce development, economic mobility, and human capital development as public safety strategies.

Data, reporting, risk, and improvement

- Create concise dashboards and executive updates covering outcomes, participant movement, overdue commitments, staffing or capacity issues, risks, decisions, and deadlines.

- Identify safety, financial, staffing, legal, compliance, confidentiality, partner, and reputational risks early.

- Use qualitative and quantitative information to improve programs, staff support, resources, partnerships, and operating systems.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Bachelor's degree in nonprofit leadership, public administration, social work, criminal justice, education, organizational leadership, business administration, or a related field.

- At least five years of progressive leadership or management experience, including direct supervision of multidisciplinary teams and accountability for operational results.

- Experience managing operations, systems, or programs in a nonprofit, youth development, workforce development, behavioral health, public safety, education, or community-serving organization.

- Demonstrated success translating strategy into workplans, operating rhythms, staff accountability, documentation systems, and measurable outcomes.

- Strong executive judgment, written and verbal communication, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, prioritization, and cross-sector relationship-building skills.

- Ability to handle confidential information and sensitive personnel or participant matters with sound boundaries and timely risk escalation.

- Ability to successfully complete required background and child-safety screenings.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Master's degree in a relevant field.

- Experience in Community Violence Intervention (CVI), violence prevention, trauma-informed practice, behavioral health, youth development, or workforce development.

- Experience with grant-funded initiatives, funder reporting, compliance, nonprofit financial operations, audits, or restricted funding.

- Knowledge of Kansas City institutions, public systems, community assets, funders, and opportunity networks.

- Experience building SOPs, dashboards, performance systems, supervision systems, and organizational infrastructure.

WORK LOCATION AND SCHEDULE

This is an on-site Kansas City leadership position based at 800 E. 18th Street, with local travel to schools, program sites, partner meetings, community events, and other approved locations. The schedule is primarily regular business hours, with occasional evenings or weekends based on program, partner, and leadership needs.

Lyrik's Institution is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants without regard to any status protected by law and provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and for other legally protected needs.

\nCompany Description

Lyrik's Institution is a Kansas City nonprofit advancing violence prevention, youth development, workforce pathways, and economic mobility for young people ages 13–25. Through Cognitive Behavioral Modification, case management, school-based services, street outreach, leadership development, and cross-sector partnerships, we help youth build stability, opportunity, and long-term success.

Company Description

Lyrik's Institution is a Kansas City nonprofit advancing violence prevention, youth development, workforce pathways, and economic mobility for young people ages 13–25. Through Cognitive Behavioral Modification, case management, school-based services, street outreach, leadership development, and cross-sector partnerships, we help youth build stability, opportunity, and long-term success.