Senior Director of Youth & Family

Description The Valley of the Sun JCC is seeking a dynamic, strategic, and highly motivated Senior Director of Youth & Family to provide vision, leadership, and operational oversight for the J’s comprehensive portfolio of programs serving children, teens, and families. The Senior Director oversees Shemesh Day Camp, the Alison Hendeles Early Childhood Center, School’s Out Camps, Club J /Before and After School programming, teen programming, young family engagement, and related youth initiatives. The position supervises department directors and program leaders and serves as a member of the JCC’s Senior Leadership Team. This role carries responsibility for both programmatic excellence and business performance. The Senior Director is accountable for strengthening enrollment and retention, increasing participation and revenue, developing exceptional staff, ensuring safety and quality, improving systems and operational efficiencies, and creating meaningful experiences that build lasting relationships between families and the J. Working closely with senior leadership, Marketing, Finance, Development, Human Resources, and other departments, the Senior Director will establish clear goals and strategies for each program area; use enrollment, financial, and engagement data to measure progress; and continually identify opportunities to strengthen, grow, and innovate Youth & Family services. The Senior Director will ensure that Jewish values, traditions, culture, and connection to Israel are thoughtfully and authentically woven throughout Youth & Family experiences, helping children and families see the J as a place of belonging, connection, and community. The successful candidate will be both a strategic leader and a hands, operator, comfortable moving between long‑term planning and the day‑to‑day realities of running exceptional programs for children and families. Essential Functions Leadership & Staff Development Provide leadership, supervision, coaching, and accountability for directors and managers across Youth & Family program areas. Establish clear annual goals, performance expectations, and measures of success for each department. Develop a strong culture of collaboration, accountability, learning, hospitality, and continuous improvement. Build leadership capacity throughout the department and develop staff for increasing levels of responsibility. Convene regular departmental and cross-functional meetings to assess progress, address challenges, and coordinate resources. Partner with Human Resources and department leadership to develop effective recruitment, onboarding, training, and retention strategies for year‑round and seasonal employees. Ensure staff receive appropriate ongoing training related to program quality, supervision, child development, customer service, safety, and organizational policies and procedures. Create an environment in which staff, children, and families feel welcomed, respected, supported, and connected. Enrollment, Recruitment & Retention Develop and implement measurable enrollment, participation, retention, and revenue goals for each Youth & Family program. Maintain enrollment pipelines and regularly track registrations, available capacity, retention, waitlists, and revenue against established goals. Partner closely with Marketing to develop year‑round, calendared recruitment and marketing strategies for ECC, camp, after‑school programs, School’s Out Camps, teen programs, and family offerings. Evaluate enrollment trends, community needs, and family feedback to identify opportunities to strengthen existing programs and develop new offerings. Create intentional pathways that encourage families to move between JCC experiences, including ECC to camp, camp to school‑year programming, youth programming to teen engagement, and family programming to broader JCC membership and involvement. Develop strategies for reconnecting families who previously participated at the J and attracting new families into the JCC community. Ensure prospective and current families receive consistent, responsive, and high‑quality communication throughout their experience with the J. Program Quality, Growth & Innovation Ensure exceptional, developmentally appropriate programming across all Youth & Family departments. Evaluate programs regularly for quality, participation, financial sustainability, and relevance to families. Identify opportunities to increase participation, maximize program capacity, strengthen revenue, and introduce new programs that respond to community needs. Establish appropriate benchmarks and dashboards to measure enrollment, retention, utilization, revenue, satisfaction, and other key indicators. Ensure consistent standards, policies, and procedures across all Youth & Family program areas. Continually improve registration, payment, family communication, transportation, scheduling, and other administrative systems. Stay current on trends, innovations, and best practices in early childhood education, camping, youth development, teen engagement, family programming, and experiential education. Develop partnerships and programming that extend the J’s reach into the broader community. Jewish Life, Family Engagement & Community Ensure Jewish values, traditions, holidays, culture, and connection to Israel are meaningfully incorporated throughout Youth & Family programs. Partner with appropriate staff and community resources to strengthen experiential Jewish education across ECC, camp, youth, teen, and family programming. Create accessible opportunities for families with different levels of Jewish knowledge, background, and observance to connect with Jewish life and community. Build experiences that deepen relationships among families and create a stronger sense of belonging at the J. Develop opportunities for volunteerism, service learning, and community engagement for children, teens, and families. Strengthen relationships and partnerships with synagogues, schools, and other Jewish and community organizations where appropriate. Business & Financial Management Develop and manage annual operating budgets for Youth & Family departments in partnership with Finance and department leaders. Establish annual revenue, enrollment, and expense targets and hold departments accountable for achieving approved goals. Monitor financial performance throughout the year and take timely action when enrollment, revenue, or expenses vary from plan. Evaluate program pricing, capacity, staffing models, and financial performance to ensure both mission impact and sustainability. Identify opportunities for earned revenue growth without compromising program quality, accessibility, or the participant experience. Develop meaningful operational and financial reporting and regularly communicate results, trends, risks, and opportunities to executive leadership. Ensure financial practices comply with JCC policies and procedures. Manage appropriate vendor and contractor relationships. Marketing & Communications Partner with Marketing to develop clear, compelling positioning and messaging for Youth & Family programs. Develop coordinated annual marketing calendars tied to registration, recruitment, and enrollment cycles. Ensure program teams provide Marketing with timely content, stories, photos, testimonials, and program information. Utilize digital communications, social media, community partnerships, referral strategies, and direct outreach to strengthen awareness and enrollment. Ensure communications with prospective and current families are timely, accurate, welcoming, and consistent across departments. Safety, Risk Management & Compliance Ensure the highest standards of health, safety, security, and risk management across all Youth & Family programs. Partner with organizational leadership, Human Resources, Facilities, and Security to develop, review, and implement appropriate safety policies and emergency procedures. Ensure programs comply with applicable licensing requirements, governmental regulations, JCC policies, and recognized standards of practice. Ensure required staff training, certifications, background checks, and documentation are completed and maintained. Regularly review emergency preparedness, evacuation, participant supervision, and incident‑response procedures. Address significant safety, staffing, facility, or operational concerns promptly and communicate them appropriately. Facilities & Site Management Partner with Facilities, Finance, Operations, and program directors to identify facility needs affecting safety, program quality, enrollment, and the participant experience. Develop and prioritize recommendations for repairs, improvements, and capital investments supporting Youth & Family programming. Ensure program spaces are welcoming, functional, safe, and appropriate for children and families. Help anticipate future facility needs based on enrollment, program growth, and evolving community needs. Development, Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement Partner with the Development team to identify and advance fundraising opportunities supporting Youth & Family programs. Help articulate program impact, needs, and opportunities to donors, foundations, and other funding partners. Participate, as appropriate, in donor cultivation, grant development, and stewardship. Develop strategies for maintaining relationships with camp alumni, former families, and past participants. Help foster a culture of philanthropy and long‑term connection to the J among participating families. Lay & Community Leadership Build productive relationships with Board and committee members, community partners, donors, and other key stakeholders. Work with appropriate volunteer committees to strengthen understanding and support of Youth & Family programs. Identify and cultivate potential lay leaders and ambassadors. Represent the JCC professionally with community organizations, schools, synagogues, partner agencies, funders, and other external constituencies. Participate in organizational and community planning initiatives relevant to children, teens, and families. Organizational Leadership Serve as an active and collaborative member of the JCC Senior Leadership Team. Participate in organizational strategic planning and translate JCC priorities into actionable departmental goals. Work across departments to strengthen collaboration, eliminate unnecessary silos, improve efficiencies, and create a seamless experience for members and families. Contribute to an organizational culture focused on excellence, accountability, hospitality, innovation, Jewish values, and community connection. Perform other responsibilities as assigned. Expectations of All Employees Support and advance the mission and values of the Valley of the Sun JCC. Provide exceptional service and hospitality to members, participants, families, colleagues, and community partners. Maintain high standards of professionalism, integrity, and confidentiality. Treat colleagues and community members with respect. Collaborate across departments and contribute positively to organizational culture. Maintain knowledge of JCC programs and services and serve as an ambassador for the organization. Participate in appropriate staff meetings, trainings, and organizational activities. Requirements Required Qualifications Bachelor’s degree in education, early childhood education, social work, recreation, nonprofit management, or a related field; advanced degree preferred. Significant progressive leadership experience in youth development, early childhood education, camping, education, family programming, or a related field. Demonstrated experience leading and developing managers and building effective teams. Proven ability to grow programs, increase participation, and manage programs toward financial goals. Strong budgeting, forecasting, and financial management skills. Experience developing and implementing short‑and long‑term program and business plans. Demonstrated ability to use data and performance measures to establish goals, evaluate results, and make decisions. Knowledge of Jewish culture, traditions, and values, and the ability to incorporate Jewish learning and experiences into programs in an accessible and welcoming manner. Strong interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills. Excellent organizational and project‑management skills with the ability to manage multiple program areas simultaneously. Demonstrated judgment and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to make thoughtful decisions in complex or rapidly changing situations. Strong technology proficiency, including Microsoft Office applications and program‑management/data systems. Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion. Availability for occasional evenings, weekends, and other hours required by the needs of programs and the organization. Preferred Qualifications Experience in a JCC, camp, early childhood, youth‑serving, educational, or other mission‑driven organization. Experience with enrollment‑driven programs and customer relationship management systems. Experience with fundraising, grants, and donor engagement. Experience developing community partnerships. Familiarity with registration, financial management, CRM, or other systems used in community‑based organizations. Bilingual or bicultural skills are valued but not required. Characteristics, Skills & Attributes A strategic thinker and strong operator who can translate vision into measurable action. A collaborative leader who builds trust while maintaining clear expectations and accountability. Entrepreneurial and growth‑oriented, with an instinct for identifying opportunities to expand participation and revenue. Passionate about creating exceptional experiences for children, teens, and families. Warm, approachable, and relationship‑driven. Comfortable using data to evaluate performance and make decisions. Financially astute and attentive to both mission impact and sustainability. Able to lead through change with clarity, steadiness, and optimism. Creative, resourceful, and solutions‑oriented. An excellent communicator with staff, parents, children, donors, volunteers, and community partners. Able to make sound judgments and remain calm and effective in challenging situations. Self‑directed while receptive to collaboration, feedback, and guidance. Deeply committed to building an inclusive, welcoming, vibrant, and connected Jewish community. Physical Requirements Ability to work in office, classroom, camp, and program environments as necessary. Ability to sit or stand for prolonged periods. Ability to move throughout JCC facilities and program spaces. Ability to lift up to 50 pounds when required by program responsibilities. #J-18808-Ljbffr Valley of the Sun J