Program Director, K-12 After School Programs

Job Description

Job Description

Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) — a world-renowned education and poverty-fighting organization based in New York — seeks an enthusiastic, dedicated, and mission-aligned Program Director (K-12) to lead our After School Programs.

The Program Director (K-12) will bring a passion for the mission of Harlem Children’s Zone: break the cycle of intergenerational poverty with comprehensive, on-the-ground programming that builds up opportunities for children and families to thrive in school, work, and life.

We are seeking a Program Director to lead the day-to-day operations of a dynamic after-school program, ensuring alignment with HCZ’s mission, values, and long-term goals. The ideal candidate is a proven leader with deep experience in program and administrative systems development, staff coaching, and professional learning design, who is passionate about improving outcomes for children and families in historically underserved communities.

The Program Director will join HCZ's leadership team and partner closely with the Assistant Director to provide strategic oversight and day-to-day leadership for the site. HCZ's After-School Programs offer scholars a safe, supportive, and enriching environment that promotes academic success, self-confidence, and social-emotional growth. Through a wide range of high-quality, project-based experiences, scholars engage in arts enrichment programs such as dance, culinary arts, media arts, and production, alongside health and wellness initiatives, physical fitness activities, and leadership development opportunities.

In addition, scholars participate in college and career readiness programming, life skills development, character education, community service, and conflict resolution activities that help prepare them for future success. The program also offers a variety of team sports and recreational activities, including basketball, soccer, table tennis, track and field, and karate, ensuring every scholar has opportunities to explore new interests, build relationships, and thrive.

We strive to create strong bonds and partnerships among scholars, families, and staff to meet the needs of each individual child and the community overall.

For more information, check out Want to Work at Harlem Children’s Zone? Here’s 7 Things You Need to Know.

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree; Master’s degree preferred
• 5+ years of experience managing in an education, social services, or community-related program

Who you are

• A commitment to HCZ's mission and the communities we serve
• Demonstrated record of meeting and exceeding goals and positively impacting children, their families, and the community as a whole
• Demonstrated excellence at youth development program design, implementation, management, and continuous improvement
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written, including the ability to navigate and manage multiple stakeholders
• Strong knowledge of child safety protocols in New Yok State and the demonstrated to ability to navigate complex stakeholder engagement while ensuring child safety
• Strong people manager with demonstrated success coaching and developing staff to improve scholar outcomes
• Skilled at building, implementing, and refining systems and structures that support high-quality programming and efficient operations
• Highly organized with excellent time management skills and a strong sense of urgency, without sacrificing accuracy or ethical standards
• Strong qualitative and quantitative data analysis and problem-solving skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Google Suite
• Willing and able to work flexible hours based on program needs

What you’ll do 

• Oversee daily operations of our Elementary After-School program serving 350+ scholars
• Ensure scholars receive high-quality academic and enrichment programming
• Lead, supervise, and develop a multidisciplinary team supporting scholars’ academic, artistic, and socio-emotional growth
• Provide intentional coaching and feedback to middle managers and youth-facing staff to strengthen instructional practice, engagement strategies, and overall impact on scholars
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve programmatic and administrative systems that support scholar engagement, staffing, scheduling, attendance tracking, compliance, and budgeting
• Design, implement, and continuously improve professional development for youth-facing staff, aligned to program goals, scholar needs, and HCZ priorities
• Continuously monitor program performance and operational systems to ensure consistent progress toward program goals and scholar outcomes
• Partner and collaborate with other departments and program leaders, to ensure alignment
• Use data, observations, and stakeholder feedback to continuously improve the scholar experience and program quality
• Clarify work policies for staff and ensure they are consistent with HCZ policies and procedures
• Foster strong relationships and effective communication with scholars, parents, staff, and HCZ leadership

Role Strategic Priorities:

• Program Implementation: Lead the strategic planning, execution, and continuous improvement of high-quality, age- and grade-appropriate programs aligned with CCLR goals. Oversee program design, staffing, scheduling, curriculum adaptation, and ensures fidelity across all sites and offerings.

• Operational Excellence: Drive efficiency, accountability, and performance through strong operational systems. Manages budgets, compliance, talent pipelines, and resource allocations while fostering a high-performing, mission-aligned culture across the portfolio

• Program Evaluation: Leverage data and evaluation tools to measure program effectiveness, identify trends, and inform strategic decision-making. Partner with Evaluation and Data Management team to implement a continuous improvement model based on timely, actionable insights.

• Leadership Alignment and Staff Development: Design and executes a comprehensive development strategy that builds staff capacity, promotes internal mobility, and supports a culture of learning and innovation. Facilitates direct coaching and skip-level engagements.

• Scholar Safety and Engagement: Ensure a safe, inclusive, and responsive environment where scholars are consistently engaged, protected, and empowered. Implements proactive safety protocols and programming that meets scholars’ developmental and emotional needs.

Schedule

• This role requires an 8-hour shift Monday through Friday, scheduled between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Final hours will be based on program assignment and operational needs of the after-school site/program.
• Summer Schedule: To support summer camp operations, employees work an 8-hour shift within a schedule that may range from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Summer hours are determined by the site and program assignment you support during the school year.

Benefits

As a member of the Harlem Children's Zone team, you will join a supportive and inclusive community dedicated to helping children, families — and our staff — thrive. We offer highly competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for growth.

Our exceptional benefits include:

• Highly competitive base salaries
• No cost health insurance 
• Annual performance bonuses
• Deferred bonus programs
• Paid time off 
• Employee referral bonus 
• Life Insurance
• Short-and long-term disability
• Additional voluntary benefits
• Wellness discounts
• Commuter benefits
• Financial wellness perks
• Additional Benefits (Discounts on flights, hotels, theme parks, concert tickets, and more.)

The salary range for this position is $85,000 - $95,000 per year. To be considered, interested applicants should apply directly through the posting. No telephone inquiries or recruiters, please. Replies will only be sent to qualified applicants.Harlem Children's Zone and Promise Academy Charter Schools does not provide work visas for candidates who require employer sponsorship to ensure work authorization in the United States. Harlem Children’s Zone is an EOE