KaBOOM! seeks Vice President, Programs

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to giving all kids – especially those living in poverty – the childhood they deserve through great, safe places to play. KaBOOM! inspires communities to make play the easy choice and works to drive the national discussion about the importance of PLAYces. KaBOOM! has collaborated with partners to build or improve more than 17,000 playspaces, engage over 1.5 million volunteers and serve nearly 10 million kids. 

Job Summary

KaBOOM! is seeking a seasoned leader to provide vision and leadership for the program department, overseeing six direct reports and a total staff of 40 in the following areas: Project Management (the team that works directly with communities to build playspaces); Community Outreach (the team that identifies communities in need of new playspaces); and Programs, Grants and Operations (the team that runs grant programs for communities to build their own playspaces and provides technical assistance to grantees). These teams play a critical role in supporting the mission of KaBOOM! by working directly with communities across America to identify the need for, design, plan and build great places to play.

The VP, Programs is an integral part of the senior team and is involved in strategic planning, long-term goal identification, budgeting, development of organizational structure, and going to scale planning and implementation. In particular, the VP, Programs works closely with our Vice President, City Partnerships and our Vice President, Partnership Development to build, manage and grow our partnerships with municipal agencies, non-profit anchor institutions, cross-sector funders and the playspace manufacturing industry.

The VP, Programs also serves as a key external spokesperson and thought leader for our organization with the media and stakeholder groups, working closely with our Vice President, Communications & Marketing. This position requires a dynamic and innovative leader with a proven ability to envision and operationalize a strategy. The VP, Programs will serve as a highly visible external representative of KaBOOM! and must be comfortable building strong relationships with diverse partners. Internally, this leader will be responsible for leading the program team to ensure we have the capabilities to maintain our high standards for program execution as we innovate and expand our work and for facilitating a tremendous amount of cross-team collaboration.