Program Director
Location: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles
Start Date: Summer 2023
- If you are interested in being considered for positions in more than one location, you only need to apply once! You will have the opportunity to indicate which cities you are interested in during the application process.
Harlem Lacrosse Program Directors help students growing up in low-income communities activate the skills and mindsets to reach their full potential. Program Directors are lacrosse coaches, tutors, and mentors. They maintain a daily presence in the lives of their students, and help them make connections between success on the field, growth in the classroom, and goals for the future. If you are passionate about lacrosse and committed to the belief that all students deserve equitable opportunities to achieve academically, athletically, and socially, the Program Director role could be an outstanding position for you to make an impact.
About Harlem Lacrosse
Harlem Lacrosse’s mission is to empower the children who are most at risk for academic decline and dropout to rise above their challenges and reach their full potential. Harlem Lacrosse inspires children to dream about tomorrow while working hard on the field and in the classroom today.
Founded in 2011 in New York, Harlem Lacrosse has grown to five cities, 19 schools, and 41 programs as of Fall 2022. In addition to developing crucial athletic and social-emotional skills, our students consistently outperform their peers academically, passing their classes, graduating high school, and enrolling and persisting in college at a higher rate than other students in their schools. HL teams have won multiple city-wide championships, and many alumni go on to play lacrosse in college.
About the Role
Harlem Lacrosse’s unique school-based model embeds full-time Program Directors within our partner schools to run academic, athletic, and enrichment programming for middle and high school students. In addition to practices, study halls, tutoring and field trips, Program Directors are constantly present for students to offer high fives, pep talks, individualized push-in and pull-out support, and a listening ear as students navigate the day-to-day. This is a full-time, year-round position.
The Program Director is responsible for the following:
Planning, Managing, and Delivering Program (70%)
- Recruiting the students most likely to benefit from participating in the Harlem Lacrosse program and working actively to understand participant needs and retain them in the program
- Establishing both a strong team culture and individual relationships with students to encourage attendance and engagement
- Setting goals and clear expectations for student participants around team behavior and conduct, and creating routines and structures to help students meet those expectations
- Creating an outcomes-oriented program plan for each season and year, planning and delivering a meaningful set of academic, athletic and enrichment activities
- Scheduling clinics, games, and weekend events with partner towns and lacrosse clubs
- Traveling with the team to clinics, games, and tournaments as well as field trips to professional work environments, educational institutions, museums, cultural or historical sites, and outdoor activities (some overnight travel with the team is required)
- Supporting students on their path to college and/or career through application support with families, campus and career visits, and on-going monitoring and counseling.
- Collecting data about participants' academic, athletic, and social emotional growth through the program, and ensuring that students meet the core growth metrics of our program: increased school attendance, improved academic performance, and growth in physical fitness
Maintaining Relationships with School and Community (20%)
- Being present in the partner school throughout each day and maintaining strong relationships with school faculty, staff, and administrators to monitor student progress and foster a strong partnership between the school and Harlem Lacrosse
- Facilitating regular communication with parents and guardians, informing them of Harlem Lacrosse activities and partnering with them in supporting participants
- Establishing and maintaining relationships with partner towns, colleges, and teams
- Recruiting and managing volunteers and paid assistant coaches
- Collaborating with community organizations to leverage resources within the neighborhood
Organizational Stewardship (10%)
- Consistently demonstrating organizational stewardship by making good use of organizational resources, complying with organizational policies, and contributing to organizational efforts around social media, development and evaluation.
Qualifications and requirements
- Expertise in the structure, rules, and strategy of lacrosse. Ideal candidates will have experience with lacrosse as a player and as a coach.
- Experience working with middle or high school youth in a tutoring, mentorship, and/or coaching capacity. Ideal candidates will have experience mentoring a caseload/group of youth.
- Demonstrated success with setting and achieving significant goals.
- Strong organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple priorities, maintain a rigorous plan for programming, and keep meticulous track of program data and documents.
- Ability to build relationships with students, school faculty and staff, parents, partners, and other Harlem Lacrosse staff. Experience and skill fostering relationships across lines of difference.
- Strong professional judgment and ability to work effectively with minimal oversight.
- Comfort with discussions about diversity, equity and inclusion, and enthusiasm for investigating one’s own identity and honing a racial equity lens.
- Morning, evening and weekend work is often required.
- Local and regional travel, including occasional overnight travel with the team, is required.
- All employees will complete a criminal background check upon hire and throughout employment with Harlem Lacrosse.
Salary and Benefits
Starting salary for this position is indexed to cost of living in each of our cities: $50,000 in Baltimore, $55,000 in Boston, $64,500 in Los Angeles, $58,500 in New York, and $51,500 in Philadelphia. Staff are eligible for annual cost of living and merit-based salary increases.
Harlem Lacrosse offers a comprehensive suite of benefits including paid vacation and sick leave, health insurance with employer contribution to the premium, Flexible Spending and Health Savings accounts, 401(k) with employer match, technology subsidy, ongoing professional development, and more.
How to Apply
The application will go live on our website, harlemlacrosse.org/careers, on February 20, 2023. You will be asked to submit the following as part of your application package:
- Current resume
- Cover letter describing your interest in and qualifications for the position
- A short (60-second) video describing the core values you would emphasize with your team
- Answers to three short-essay questions (we recommend 250 words or fewer for each)
- Contact information for two references who can speak to your qualifications for this role
Application Process:
- February 20 - March 27: Accepting applications
- Mid-March to End of April: Initial phone interviews with members of our Leadership Team and Equity and Talent Team.
- Throughout May: Finalist interviews. Candidates will run an in-person demo study hall and lacrosse practice with a group of Harlem Lacrosse students, and participate in conversations with members of the team. May be modified for covid safety.
Harlem Lacrosse is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages candidates of all backgrounds to apply. Diversity of opinions, experiences, and backgrounds is a key asset. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status. Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and BIPOC are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Harlem Lacrosse we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workspace, so if you are excited about this role but your previous experience may not align exactly with every qualification in the position description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may be just the right candidate for this or other roles with our growing organization.