New Left Accelerator: Senior Program Director, Empower & Protect

The future of social justice work is multi-entity.  Over the last four years, New Left Accelerator (NLA), our 501(c)(4), and The Capacity Shop (TCS), our separate but affiliated 501(c)(3), have become leading capacity-building providers serving the complex needs of multi-entity organizations. 

Today’s most effective power-building organizations are using multi-entity structures – more than 501(c)3s, often 501(C)(4)s, PACs, and for-profit corporate structures – to build power, increase their impact, and win.  As progressive movements and state ecosystems scale this approach, the need for specialized support grows. We meet this growing need by collaborating with multi-entity experts to develop the financial, operational, and compliance infrastructure that enables organizations to do bold work safely. To learn more about our values and approach to this work, read our core values and Theory of Change.

The Role

The Empower and Protect (E&P) Senior Program Director is a key position responsible for driving the strategic growth and scalability of the E&P program at New Left Accelerator (NLA). This role entails fostering strong relationships with state stakeholders, leading a team of staff, Lead Coaches, and consultants in the execution of capacity-building projects for client groups. In collaboration with the Managing Director of Programs, the E&P Senior Program Director will contribute to program strategy development and implementation, ensuring the delivery of high-quality technical assistance and training services.

The ideal candidate will possess significant experience in program leadership within a multi-entity organization or in an intermediary role focused on developing capacity-building initiatives. We seek a strategic leader and visionary program builder to join our team, with experience building a program to scale. 

Empower & Protect (E&P) Program

The Empower & Protect (E&P) program is designed for scalability across states and 501(c)(4) networks, offering a streamlined approach to operational support. In collaboration with state and network partners, E&P delivers training and essential technical assistance to emerging multi-entity organizations. The program aims to enhance operational capabilities necessary for effective and compliant operations, with a focus on compliance, human resources, and multi-entity financial infrastructure. At NLA, our approach to program execution involves deep state partnership and leader-centric execution, which means that the design of the program is created collaboratively with state partners and is individualized for individual groups. This year, our program aims to scale into 6-8 new states. 

Program Design and Management

• Lead the program redesign to scale into 6-8 new states serving 50 groups, including standardizing curriculum on core finance, compliance, HR, and risk management elements, which is designed in deep partnership with values-aligned state-based partners.
• Drive innovation in capacity-building methodologies by challenging and refining conventional nonprofit consultancy practices, ensuring greater recognition and integration of the diverse experiences, expertise, and knowledge of community leaders.
• Prioritize the integration of leadership insights into program strategies, internal procedures, and collaborative partnerships, fostering a culture of continuous learning and developing innovative solutions to evolving challenges.
• Collaborate with program staff, the leadership team, and program partners to establish strategic direction and implement program redesign initiatives for 2026 and beyond.
• Assist the Managing Director in formulating and executing strategic plans for the Empower & Protect (E&P) program, particularly as it expands into additional states, while leading the implementation process with staff.
• Direct the delivery of the E&P program, ensuring that participating groups receive comprehensive support to enhance their organizational capacity and conduct impactful work securely and compliantly.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the E&P program by participating groups, proactively addressing challenges, and ensuring alignment with the values of New Left Accelerator (NLA) and The Capacity Shop (TCS) in service delivery.
• Oversee the program budget and resource allocation for each participating group.

Program Staff Management

• Responsible for building the team to support the state-based work and expansion into new states.
• Provide direct supervision to project managers and support the Empower & Protect (E&P) program team, including Lead Coaches and consultants, who collectively manage multiple concurrent capacity-building projects.
• Offer coaching, mentorship, and guidance to program staff to ensure the delivery of high-quality services that effectively address the needs of participating groups.
• Supervise program staff in onboarding new groups, conducting comprehensive needs assessments, developing detailed scopes of work, and strategically matching groups with subject matter experts and consultants to facilitate their capacity-building objectives.
• Oversee staff in the collection, analysis, and application of data to evaluate program impact against the established learning framework, generate reports for key state partners, and drive continuous program improvement.

Program Partnership Management

• Collaborate with the new state partners and stakeholders to develop the redesign and curriculum.
•  Ensure continuous alignment of program activities, partnership initiatives, operational processes, and organizational systems with New Left Accelerator's (NLA) core values.
• Collaborate with partners to establish clear, measurable objectives and goals for program participants.
• Cultivate and maintain strong, ongoing relationships with partner organizations.
• Develop and implement strategic engagement plans for partner collaboration.
• Work with the Senior Coaching Director to identify and build a team of Lead Coaches and Subject Matter Leads to support the programmatic work with groups.

Skills and Qualifications

• 5+ years in a Senior Program Director role working in the capacity-building sphere
• 5 years of direct experience managing supervisors, leading teams
• Personal alignment with NLA’s organizational values and experience implementing equity, justice, and liberation values into your work
• Strong understanding of multi-entity organizations, including political campaigns, independent political organizations, 501(c)(4)s, and/or other movement-building organizations
• Ability to coordinate a team of subject matter leads (attorneys, accountants, compliance advisors, etc.) to execute each organization’s body of work
• Experience with program oversight, evaluation, and process-improvement
• Experience building trust and collaboration within a team, including fostering feedback loops and implementing feedback
• Experience with state-based partnership management and engagement
• Strong project management and process design skills, preferably with direct experience using collaborative tools such as Asana, Airtable, and Google Suite
• Experience working in the progressive ecosystem with power-building organizations working to win elections, hold elected officials accountable, and shape how policy is created and implemented
• Experience engaging partners in programmatic evaluation and improvements

Details

Title: Senior Empower & Protect Program Director

Reports to: Managing Director of Programs

Direct Reports: Project Manager 

Hours: Full Time

Location: Remote (must live in the US); Occasional travel (About twice a year)

Compensation: $120,000-140,000

Benefits: NLA offers a competitive benefits package available to all full-time employees, including: 

• Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Short-term Disability, and Health FSA
• Flexible paid time off including vacation and sick time, 11 paid holidays, 1-week Summer Break, and 1-week Winter Break
• Parental Leave
• Professional Development Opportunities
• Working from home stipend
• 401k plan with matching

Our Culture: We maintain an environment where our employees can learn and grow in the organization. We strive to foster a collaborative and transparent environment where everyone is encouraged to contribute to our processes, decisions, strategic planning, and culture.

How to Apply

To apply, please upload your resume and submit the application questions in lieu of a cover letter. The preferred application deadline is June 22, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

This search is being led by NRG Consulting Group. Please reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

Equal Opportunity Employer

New Left Accelerator and The Capacity Shop provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.