Associate Director, School-based Programming (53129)

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Associate Director oversees a portfolio of school-based sites and serves as the primary supervisor, coach, and operational leader for Program Directors. This role ensures high-quality programming, operational excellence, staff development and supervision, and overall compliance. The Associate Director will support the effective day-to-day functioning of school-based programs by monitoring performance, addressing operational challenges, strengthening staff capacity, and ensuring consistency across sites. In addition to site-level oversight, the Associate Director contributes as an active member of the Outstation subdivision’s strategic team, informing portfolio-wide planning, organizational learning, and program development with senior leadership.

Portfolio Leadership & Continuous Improvement

Provide leadership and direction across assigned sites to ensure alignment with organizational priorities, contract expectations, and departmental goals.
Oversee a portfolio of school-based sites to ensure safe, high-quality, and contractually compliant programming.
Conduct regular site visits, observations, and program reviews monitoring quality, enrollment, attendance, staffing, and youth engagement
Provide leadership, guidance, and oversight to Program Directors to drive program quality, contract performance, participant outcomes, and operational excellence across assigned sites
Analyze portfolio-wide trends related to enrollment, attendance, staffing, participant outcomes, fiscal performance, and compliance to identify risks, opportunities, and strategic priorities; create programmatic dashboards to track data.
Develop and implement portfolio-wide systems, practices, and continuous improvement strategies that strengthen consistency, efficiency, quality, and contract performance across assigned sites.
Ensure consistent implementation of program models, SEL frameworks, enrichment activities, and funder deliverables.
Lead or support new site launches, including space setup, staffing, systems implementation, and enrollment.
Provide site-level leadership coverage during Program Director absences or staffing transitions.
Develop and monitor portfolio-wide improvement plans, ensuring corrective actions are implemented when site performance falls below expectations.

Operations, Compliance & Contract Management

Ensure adherence to contractual obligations, licensing requirements, and agency policies, including regulations established by the Department of Education (DOE), Department of Health (DOH), NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), and New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).

Lead program audits, monitor documentation, and support audit readiness across assigned sites
Review incident reports and provide guidance on incident response, corrective action, and risk mitigation.
Provide consultation, guidance, and operational support to Program Directors in addressing challenges related to staffing, enrollment, compliance, reporting, fiscal management, and daily operations, including hiring, retention, budget management, workscope development, and data oversight.
Oversee work scope development, hiring, retention, budgetary spending, enrollment, reporting and data management of respective sites

Staff Supervision & Development

Directly supervise Program Directors through regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and goal setting.
Support Program Directors in managing site staff, including scheduling, retention, and professional development.
Lead recruitment and onboarding efforts in collaboration with Program Directors and Education’s Operations team as needed; identify and develop talent for the organizational pipeline.
Address escalated personnel matters in collaboration with the Program Director, Education Leadership, and Human Resources.
Coach, mentor, and develop Program Directors to strengthen leadership capacity, decision-making, problem-solving, and operational effectiveness.
Establish performance expectations and accountability systems that support consistent leadership practices across the portfolio.
Exercise sound judgment in resolving operational, personnel, compliance, and stakeholder challenges, escalating matters to senior leadership as appropriate.

Fiscal & Operational Oversight

Monitor site-level spending across assigned contracts; flag budget variances and ensure fiscal documentation is complete.

Support Program Directors with purchase order submissions, required backup documentation, and budget tracking against contract lines.
Ensure program systems, data, and operational records are organized, accurate, and audit-ready at all times.
Monitor portfolio-level fiscal performance and support Program Directors in making informed decisions to maximize contract resources and program impact.

School & Community Partnership Management

Maintain active working relationships with school principals, administrators, DOE staff, and families across assigned sites.
Represent programs at funder convenings, network events, and school stakeholder meetings.
Address escalated school or family concerns promptly and professionally.
Collaborate with internal RiseBoro programs to strengthen services and outcomes for youth and families.

Strategic Contribution

Champion a culture of learning and continuous improvement by encouraging reflection, problem-solving, innovation, and the use of data to enhance program quality, participant experiences, and staff effectiveness.
Serve as an active contributor to subdivision-wide strategic planning, bringing site data, enrollment trends, and operational intelligence to inform portfolio decisions.
Participate in cross-portfolio convenings and contribute to organizational learning, program documentation, and continuous improvement efforts.
Partner with the Senior leadership on emerging priorities, structural transitions, and program development.
Perform additional duties as assigned to support departmental operations, agency initiatives, and organizational priorities.

COMPETENCIES

Leadership & Talent Development: Build leadership capacity through coaching, accountability, and staff development.
Program Quality & Continuous Improvement: Use data, observations, and feedback to strengthen program quality and participant outcomes.
Performance, Compliance & Accountability Maintain high standards of compliance, operational excellence, and organizational accountability.
Fiscal & Operational Stewardship: Demonstrate sound judgment in managing resources, budgets, and operational systems.
Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving: Anticipate challenges, develop solutions, and drive continuous improvement.
Partnership & Relationship Management: Build collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders to advance organizational goals.
Ability to understand the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities.
Have a demonstrated commitment to supporting communities who have experienced systemic oppression and bias (e.g. people of color, LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, justice involved persons, etc.)
The Associate Director is expected to exercise sound judgment, make timely decisions, and serve as a key leader in resolving operational, personnel, compliance, and stakeholder challenges across the portfolio.

EDUCATION EXPERIENCE

At least 5 years of experience working in the field of youth education and/or youth afterschool programs
At least 2 years demonstrated successful experience supervising afterschool programs and managing teams

Bachelor’s degree required
SACC credential preferred