Sr. Director, Organizational Health

Arlington, VA • Student Supports • Posted 05/08/2026

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WHO WE ARE

In 2020, 11.6 million children in the U.S.—16% of all children nationwide—lived in poverty, and those children were disproportionately children of color. Students living in poverty often have physical and mental health, social-emotional, cognitive, and identity development needs that schools are not equipped to support. Rooted in community for more than 45 years, Communities In Schools (CIS) strives to bring community resources inside public schools, where they are accessible, coordinated, and accountable. CIS Co-Founder Bill Milliken said, “It’s relationships, not programs, that transform children. A great program simply creates the environment for healthy relationships to form between adults and children.” 

Bill Milliken’s vision is alive through a strong network of trained CIS staff imbedded in schools nationwide building support and relationships inside schools. Today, CIS serves more than 3,500 schools, the overwhelming majority are Title I-eligible schools across two channels: (1) independent affiliates and (2) licensed partnerships. Grounded in the power of transformative relationships to unlock a young person’s potential, CIS has a national, research-based history of delivering local results that support improved student relationships with adults, better-quality relationships with peers, and increased engagement and sense of belonging. These outcomes lead to improved attendance, improved academic success, and improved on-time high school graduation rates. 

MISSION AND VALUES 

Communities In Schools (CIS) is “all-in” for kids. It is our passion—it is our mission. At the National Office, CIS collaborates with local affiliate organizations to provide resources and create communities of caring adults who work hand-in-hand with educators to make sure young people have the tools they need to stay in school and achieve in life. We are the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, and we achieve our mission by hiring bright, creative, and innovative team members who demonstrate a passion for what they do. 

‘Within the national office, we foster a culture inspired by our mission, our values of integrity, accountability, equity, collaboration, and excellence, and a commitment to Equity, and Inclusion. Our culture is centered on three core tenants:  

• We acknowledge contributions and perspectives. 
• We collaborate across roles and departments. 
• We honor a whole-person approach and encourage balance. 

We aim to create a psychologically safe environment where relationships matter, and mutual respect is paramount.  

ABOUT THE ROLE

Do you have experience building, aligning, and scaling systems that strengthen and sustain thriving affiliates across a complex national network?

The Sr. Director, Organization Health (Org Health), reports directly to the VP, Org Health, and leads the vision, strategy, and execution of organizational health across the national affiliate network by setting direction, building systems, and ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery of support through the Network Activation Team. Experience will focus on building, aligning, and scaling systems that strengthen and sustain thriving affiliates across a complex national network. This role is accountable for scaling organizational health practices, strengthening leadership pipelines, and driving alignment between national priorities and affiliate execution.

The Sr. Director enables Network Activation team members to deliver differentiated, high-impact support while ensuring consistency, accountability, and continuous improvement across the network and focuses on enterprise-level strategy, cross-functional alignment, and long-term capacity building to foster resilient, high-performing, and equitable organizations across the network.

PRIMARY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Drive Network Activation Strategy and Team Leadership

• Lead the overall network activation strategy, ensuring strong alignment between affiliates and the national office. 
• Partner with internal departments to ensure coordinated, streamlined affiliate engagement and support. 
• Remove barriers and improve systems that impact affiliate experience and network connectivity. 
• Set the strategic direction, priorities, and operating model for the Network Activation Team. 
• Lead, manage, and develop Network Activation team members, ensuring clarity of roles, expectations, and measurable goals. 
• Design accountability systems to ensure consistent, high-quality support across regions. 
• Coach team on complex leadership situations, regional strategy, and executive-level engagement. 
• Oversee team resourcing, workload distribution, and capacity planning to align with organizational strategic priorities. 
• Review, synthesize and report team insights, data, and trends to inform decision-making and resource allocation. 
• Foster a culture of customer service, continuous improvement, collaboration, and learning across the team, actualizing CIS’ shared principles.

Develop Network Leaders and Strengthen Organizational Capacity

• Define and drive the strategy for organizational health, sustainability, and leadership development across the affiliate network. 
• Ensure alignment with national priorities, frameworks, and standards. 
• Identify network-wide trends, risks, and opportunities and translate them into strategic initiatives and solutions. 
• Design and oversee systems, tools, and frameworks that enable consistent assessment, support, and sustainability of affiliates. 
• Serve as the point of contact for assigned region, providing technical support and consultations, fostering strong connections and alignment to national priorities and resources, and building connections across the network and the national office. 
• Provide nonprofit expertise insight and support to local boards during transitions of leaders or organizational shifts. 
• Ensure equitable and differentiated approaches to support affiliates at varying stages of maturity. 
• Oversee and manage the implementation of state strategies for strategic plan. 

Affiliate Executive Leadership Development and Connectivity

• Set the vision and strategy for executive leadership development and engagement. 
• Inform and curate leadership development content.
• Supervise the design, quality, and impact of leadership initiatives. 
• Guide members in delivering programming, ensuring consistency, scalability, and measurable outcomes.

Other Duties as Assigned

• Contribute to continuous improvement of systems and processes to better serve affiliates and strengthen the network. 
• Participate in organization-wide initiatives and special projects.

SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE THE FOLLOWING SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable differently-abled individuals to perform the essential functions.

Required skills & qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in nonprofit management, organizational leadership, business administration, public administration or a related field. Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum twelve years of progressive leadership experience in strategic planning, program management, or organizational development, preferably in education, nonprofit, or federated-driven organizations.
• Minimum five years of proven experience successfully managing and leading high-performing teams. Broad and effective people management skills including performance management, coaching, mentoring, and staff development.
• Experience working with or within a network of affiliates or distributed organizations, ideally in a national or regional capacity.
• Proven ability to build and sustain strategic partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including nonprofit leaders, staff, and external partners.
• Experience designing and implementing leadership development programs, particularly focused on nonprofit management or inclusion and belonging.
• Demonstrated success in cross-organizational collaboration and alignment of strategic initiatives.
• Experience managing crisis situations or providing high-level consultation to nonprofit affiliate executives or boards.
• Deep knowledge of nonprofit governance, management, and operational best practices, including budgeting, program delivery, and stakeholder engagement.
• Strong understanding of adult learning and training theory, financial governance, and board operations.
• Knowledge of organizational change management, capacity building, and infrastructure development to support sustainable service delivery.
• Awareness of current nonprofit sector trends, particularly those impacting affiliate or network-based organizations.
• Knowledge of coaching and mentorship practices that support leadership development.
• Strong capability in strategic planning, team management, cross-functional collaboration, project management, communication and relationship building, facilitation and training, problem-solving and crisis management, and data-informed decision making. 
• Strong financial skills with experience developing, managing, and adjusting departmental and project-specific budgets.
• Advanced PC skills, particularly in Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt messaging for different audiences and platforms.
• Strong time management, organization, and prioritization skills in a fast-paced environment.
• Willingness to learn and adapt in a dynamic, evolving virtual work environment.
• Collaborative spirit with a genuine interest in supporting colleagues and contributing to a positive team culture.
• Enthusiastic about working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

TRAVEL

Travel up to 25% may be required including travel in the domestic United States with occasional overnight stay(s).

ABOUT US

CIS staff continue to work in a virtual environment; however, the national office is open and available for staff to use as appropriate. 

To ensure the health and safety of staff and job applicants, all interviews will be conducted by phone and/or video conference.

BENEFITS & PERKS

Work that makes a difference—the opportunity to contribute to an important mission!

Competitive and comprehensive compensation and benefits package, including:

• Five weeks of Paid Time Off
• Generous 403b Retirement Savings Plan contribution
• 10 Paid Holidays
• 90% of employee health care premiums paid by the organization
• Summer Work Schedule and Winter Break
• Employer-paid short-term and long-term income replacement programs, and much, much more!

Communities In Schools is committed to a workforce that is representative of the varied communities we are privileged to serve. We provide a work environment that does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, mental or physical disability, genetic information or any other basis protected by applicable law. CIS prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

For more information on Communities In Schools please visit our website.