The posting
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Number of Positions: 1
Work Location: 100% On-Site
Position Overview
THE OPPORTUNITY City Year New Hampshire (CYNH) is entering one of the most important chapters in its 27-year history. The next Executive Director (ED) will build on a strong foundation of student impact, deep community credibility, and a bold vision for what comes next: expanding proven student impact while building CYNH’s emerging initiative, the 7-Year Promise, into a long-term model of relationships, opportunity, and economic mobility for young people.
We are seeking an exceptional leader, who inspires trust, brings people together, and creates a shared sense of purpose, someone who thinks strategically, turns ambitious vision into excellent execution, builds strong teams and partnerships, and inspires others to invest, collaborate, and contribute to a future in which young people and communities can thrive.
The 7-Year Promise builds on City Year’s proven school-based model by extending relationships and support beyond a single year of service. Through an alumni-powered Student Success Network, CYNH aims to connect students with sustained mentorship, social capital, and opportunity from elementary school through high school, post-secondary pathways, and early career. The next ED will have the opportunity to bring this vision fully to life, building an excellent, evidence-informed, sustainable model that others within City Year and beyond can learn from and build upon.
The role also offers an exciting combination of local leadership and national influence. As both Executive Director of CYNH and a Senior Vice President of City Year Inc., the next leader can shape the future of City Year in New Hampshire, while bringing CYNH’s learning and experience into City Year’s broader national strategy. The work sits at the intersection of education, national service, philanthropy, workforce development, and New Hampshire’s innovation economy, creating opportunities to build partnerships, connect sectors, and expand what is possible for young people.
This is an opportunity to lead from a position of strength, advance an ambitious vision, and help build a model for what long-term investment in young people can look like, locally and nationally.
ABOUT CITY YEAR NEW HAMPSHIRE City Year believes in the power of young people to change the world. Fueled by national service, we help students furthest from opportunity build the relationships, skills, and support they need to thrive in school, work, and life while developing the next generation of leaders committed to strengthening our communities.
City Year brings together young people, ages 17–25, from diverse backgrounds for a year of full-time national service in public schools. As Student Success Coaches, AmeriCorps members build developmental relationships with students and work alongside teachers to provide integrated academic and social development support through City Year’s research-based Whole School, Whole Child® model. The service year also prepares AmeriCorps members for future education, careers, and civic leadership.
City Year New Hampshire was launched in 2000 and, since 2010, has focused its service in Manchester, New Hampshire’s largest city and home to its most diverse school community, where many students and families face significant economic and educational barriers. At the same time, Manchester is emerging as a center of innovation and economic opportunity, including the Manchester–Nashua ReGen Valley Tech Hub and its focus on biofabrication and new workforce and career pathways. This intersection of need and opportunity creates an important role for CYNH: helping ensure Manchester’s young people are prepared to thrive and participate in the region’s future.
CYNH enters this next chapter from a position of strength, with a strong record of program quality and student impact, deep community partnerships, a culture of idealism, and more than 700 alumni. In the 2024–2025 academic year, Student Success Coaches served more than 3,000 students and provided nearly 3,700 hours of targeted math and literacy support.
Job Description
THE LEADER WE SEEK
City Year Executive Directors embody the organization’s core values, believe deeply in the potential of all young people, and lead with integrity, humility, resilience, sound judgment, and a commitment to learning.
The successful candidate will be a leader who:
- Builds trust and brings people together. Leads with integrity, authenticity, empathy, and deep listening; creates a strong sense of community and belonging; and builds bridges across different backgrounds, perspectives, sectors, and interests.
- Builds strong teams and develops leaders. Develops and empowers high-performing teams and leaders, creates clarity and accountability, and fosters a culture in which people feel valued, supported, and collectively responsible for results.
- Turns vision into excellent execution. Translates ambitious strategy into clear priorities, strong systems, effective partnerships, measurable outcomes, and disciplined implementation, while building the organizational capacity for quality and sustainability.
- Thinks strategically and navigates complexity. Anticipates challenges and opportunities, makes sound decisions, adapts effectively, and maintains focus on long-term goals.
- Inspires investment and action. Communicates with authenticity and conviction, builds meaningful relationships, and inspires others to contribute resources, relationships, influence, and leadership toward shared goals.
- Leads for long-term impact. Uses data and learning to improve results; values diverse experiences and perspectives; and is motivated to steward CYNH through an important multi-year chapter of growth and impact.
WHAT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR WILL LEAD
The Executive Director is responsible for CYNH’s overall leadership, strategy, performance, sustainability, and growth, leading with and through a strong team across the following areas:
Organizational Leadership, People, and Culture Lead a growing organization currently including approximately 14 staff and 40 AmeriCorps members. Build and develop a high-performing staff team and strong leaders, while fostering a culture grounded in City Year’s values: trust, equity, accountability, collaboration, learning, belonging, and excellence.
Student Impact and the 7-Year Promise Ensure high-quality implementation of City Year’s Whole School, Whole Child® model and strong student outcomes, while bringing the 7-Year Promise from vision into an excellent, sustainable model of practice. Build the people, systems, partnerships, measures, and learning processes necessary for effective implementation; strengthen the alumni-powered Student Success Network and Manchester School District partnership; and use evidence and learning to continuously improve the model and share what is learned.
AmeriCorps Member Experience and Leadership Development Ensure CYNH attracts, develops, supports, and retains a strong and inclusive corps of AmeriCorps members. Strengthen the member journey from recruitment through successful completion of service and beyond, creating the conditions for members to thrive, grow as leaders, and pursue future education, careers, and civic leadership. Guide responsible corps growth from approximately 40 members in FY27 toward 60 by FY31.
Revenue Generation and Financial Stewardship Serve as CYNH’s chief fundraiser, mobilizing staff and board leaders to secure resources for annual operations, the 7-Year Promise, and future growth. Build and steward a diversified mix of public and private revenue and personally cultivate corporations, foundations, major donors, and other partners. The first five-year phase of the 7-Year Promise calls for approximately $18 million in total investment, including a $12 million private philanthropy goal.
Ensure disciplined management of CYNH’s approximately $3.5 million annual operating budget and stewardship of district, city, state, federal, and philanthropic resources. Align investments with strategic priorities, build appropriate reserves, and manage growth responsibly to strengthen long-term financial resilience.
Board, Partnerships, and External Leadership Partner with and mobilize CYNH’s advisory board to advance strategy, generate resources, strengthen partnerships, and expand CYNH’s influence and impact. Build trusted relationships across Manchester and New Hampshire with school, civic, business, philanthropic, government, and community leaders.
Serve as a visible ambassador for CYNH and engage local, state, and federal elected officials’ policymakers, and other leaders to strengthen support for City Year, national service, student success, and service as a workforce and civic leadership pathway. Maintain a strong partnership with the state AmeriCorps commission and ensure effective oversight of AmeriCorps grants, performance, reporting, and compliance.
Alumni, Communications, and Community Influence Activate CYNH’s growing alumni community as mentors, connectors, ambassadors, and civic and workforce leaders, including through the 7-Year Promise and Student Success Network. Guide strategic storytelling, media, public speaking, and community engagement that elevate the voices of students, AmeriCorps members, alumni, and partners and strengthen understanding and support for CYNH’s mission.
PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER
The next Executive Director will build on CYNH’s strong foundation, while leading a multi-year chapter of execution, growth, and long-term impact. Key priorities include:
- Deliver exceptional student impact and deepen strong school, district, and community partnerships.
- Bring the 7-Year Promise fully to life as an excellent, evidence-informed, sustainable model with clear outcomes and learning that can contribute to the broader field.
- Build and develop a high-performing staff team, strong leaders, and a culture of trust, shared accountability, learning, and excellence.
- Secure and diversify the public and private investment required for annual operations, the 7-Year Promise, and responsible growth.
- Grow and strengthen the AmeriCorps corps, while expanding CYNH’s contribution to New Hampshire’s civic leadership and workforce pipeline.
- Lead CYNH as both a deeply rooted New Hampshire organization and an active contributor to City Year’s national strategy, learning, and future.
QUALIFICATIONS
The strongest candidates will bring many, though not necessarily all, of the following:
- Significant leadership experience in a nonprofit, public-sector, education, business, philanthropic, or other complex, mission-driven environment.
- Demonstrated success building trust, bringing people together, and developing and leading high-performing teams and leaders.
- A track record of translating ambitious strategy and vision into excellent execution, measurable results, and sustained organizational performance.
- Proven ability to generate revenue and mobilize stakeholders through fundraising, philanthropy, business development, public funding, or comparable responsibilities.
- Strong strategic judgment and the ability to lead effectively through complexity, change, and growth.
- Exceptional relationship-building, listening, communication, and public-speaking skills, with the ability to work across sectors and differing perspectives.
- Resilience, humility, adaptability, integrity, a learning orientation, and a demonstrated commitment to inclusive leadership.
- Deep commitment to student success, national service, and the potential of young people, along with an established network in New Hampshire or demonstrated ability to build trusted local relationships quickly.
Experience in K–12 education, youth development, national or community service, workforce development, philanthropy, civic leadership, or long-term mentoring is valuable, but not required.
We recognize that exceptional leaders bring different combinations of professional expertise, lived experience, and perspective. We encourage candidates who are inspired by CYNH’s mission and this leadership opportunity to apply even if their experience does not align with every qualification listed above.
COMPENSATION
The salary range for this role begins at $150,000, is commensurate with experience, and is eligible for up to 10% at-risk pay.
BENEFITS
City Year offers a comprehensive benefits package that helps our employees live their best lives and grow personally and professionally.
Employment at City Year is at-will.
City Year does not sponsor work authorization visas.
As an equal opportunity employer, City Year is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
Fair Labor Standards Act
Family and Medical Leave Act
TO APPLY
The initial deadline to apply is November 13, 2026; applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after this date. The search process will move promptly, and candidates will be evaluated according to the order of submission. Please submit your cover letter and resume via the online application.
Benefits
Full-time employees will be eligible for all benefits including vacation, sick days and organization holidays. You may participate in all benefit programs that City Year establishes and makes available to eligible employees, under (and subject to all provisions of) the plan documents that govern those programs. Currently, City Year offers medical, dental, vision, life, accidental death and dismemberment and disability coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA), and other benefits including 401(k) plan(s) pursuant to the terms and conditions of company policy and the 401(k) plan document. For more information, click here.
Employment at City Year is at-will.
City Year does not sponsor work authorization visas.
