Vice President, Program Implementation - Remote Eligible

Vice President of Program Implementation

Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) envisions a future where all children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence. As a national nonprofit organization, SHP's mission is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Creators of the lifesaving, evidence-informed Know the Signs prevention programs, SHP teaches the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis, socially isolated, or at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to get help. SHP also advances school safety, youth mental health, and responsible gun ownership at the state and federal levels through nonpartisan policy and partnerships. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.

SHP strives to ensure its culture and work environment reflect the values of belonging, community, engagement, and respect. We actively seek to understand and respond to the diverse perspectives and lived experiences of individuals across socioeconomic backgrounds, rural and urban communities, and diversity of thought, in addition to traditional protected categories. We are committed to ensuring that every SHP employee feels heard, valued, and a true sense of belonging. SHP encourages individuals who share our commitment to these core values and to our mission to apply.

We are a U.S. based organization and most of our staff work remotely. This role will require 30-40% travel (on an as-needed basis).

About the Role

The Vice President of Program Implementation will lead the development and execution of nationwide implementation strategies to ensure fidelity and effectiveness of K–12 educational programs delivered during the school day and in afterschool settings. This executive role will be accountable for designing scalable implementation models, aligning professional learning with educator and student needs, and building cross-functional systems that support the sustained adoption and impact of a portfolio of educational products. The ideal candidate will bring extensive experience in program delivery, instructional leadership, and district-level and/or nonprofit organizational partnerships, with a strong understanding of how to support diverse school communities through synchronous and asynchronous methods. Under limited supervision of the Chief Program Officer, the VP of Program Implementation will ensure SHP's youth violence prevention programs for students, educators, out-of-school time professionals, and other school community members are increasingly scalable, high-quality, research-based, and effective from conception through delivery. Programs include student lessons, teacher resources, professional learning, and the implementation supports to ensure their success. This is a standout opportunity for a proven strategic and innovative leader with a strong command of K-12 product strategy, implementation science, educational pedagogy, culturally relevant approaches, and youth engagement as applied to upstream violence prevention programs.

Job Responsibilities Include (but are not limited to)

• Develop and lead the national strategy for program implementation to drive usage, fidelity, and impact across diverse K–12 settings.
• Establish a professional learning strategy with a focus on adult capacity building as a driver for adoption.
• Develop a product strategy for the program portfolio that defines strategies and growth metrics for scaling specific programs and services on an annual basis. Communicate the product roadmap for organizational alignment.
• Collaborate with innovation learning, research, and field teams to ensure that implementation strategies are aligned with intended program outcomes and research-based best practices.
• Lead the vision for integrating implementation across in-school and afterschool environments, ensuring alignment with district priorities and instructional time constraints.

Digital Program Delivery

• Develop a multiyear strategy for educational technology platform implementation across all programs in the portfolio, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.
• Define year over year user growth metrics based on organizational baselines towards an established growth of 11M annual users by 2028.
• Identify and evaluate an educational technology platform, analyze associated cost models, and create a business case for adoption.
• Lead the pilot, rollout, and training for the platform, establishing protocols for operational fidelity.
• Translate youth engagement strategies into the digital space by integrating gamification, personalization, and interactive learning.
• Implement data-driven systems to monitor platform usage, assess effectiveness, and optimize functionality.

Implementation Design and Delivery

• Develop a train-the-trainer model for student and adult programs to ensure scalability and implementation fidelity.
• Design differentiated implementation pathways tailored to district contexts.
• Establish clear guidance on roles, responsibilities, and delivery models.
• Lead the development of tools, frameworks, and protocols that support fidelity of implementation.

Partnership and Capacity Building

• Collaborate with district and school leaders to co-design implementation plans.
• Develop strategies to support educators' and leaders' knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for successful program adoption.
• Oversee the development and delivery of implementation support services.
• Identify and manage external partnerships with national organizations and universities.

Operational Excellence and Impact Measurement

• Define and oversee scalable implementation operations.
• Define and monitor KPIs and benchmarks to measure effectiveness.
• Work with data and research teams to collect and analyze feedback.
• Manage departmental budgets, staffing, and resourcing plans.

People Leadership and Management

• Build and manage a high-performing implementation team.
• Cultivate a culture of collaboration, accountability, and innovation.
• Mentor and develop staff through strategic delegation.
• Adaptive and relational; evidence of experience leading through influence and emotional intelligence.
• Cultivate a nurturing and inclusive environment.
• Establish clear goals and accountability measures.
• Identify team growth opportunities.
• Strategically plan and implement team expansion.

Departmental and Organizational Leadership

• Foster relationships with external stakeholders.
• Develop internal processes that communicate the product strategy.
• Co-develop process and implementation of evaluation plans.
• Ensure evaluation findings are translated into actionable strategies.
• Serve as a liaison between Programs, Development, and Finance Departments.
• Partner with the VP of Engagement to define how the adult program portfolio supports the organizational engagement strategy.
• Conduct annual workforce, strategic, and operational planning processes.

Qualifications

• Proven experience (10+ years) in K–12 education, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role overseeing implementation or program delivery.
• Deep knowledge of instructional practices, curriculum integration, change management, continuous quality improvement, and school systems operations.
• Demonstrated success in leading large-scale program implementation across multiple states or school districts.
• Strong strategic thinking and planning skills with the ability to translate complex goals into actionable, scalable plans.
• Strong expertise in designing professional learning for educators, leading change management efforts, and applying systems thinking to drive impact.
• Exceptional communication, facilitation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally with product, marketing, and research teams. Ability to travel as needed (25%) to support district and nonprofit partnerships and implementation success.
• Experience building and leading highly effective and results-driven teams.
• Proven ability to understand and anticipate the relationship between future business trends and external education/youth development trends.
• Experience advising on developing credible, validated, and breakthrough strategies to advance organizational priorities.
• An understanding of effective strategies for youth and adult-centered learning and how those are applied within implementation methods.
• A strong command of national education trends, regularly benchmarking initiatives of peer organizations to ensure all programs, training, and initiatives are best-in-class in violence prevention.
• An exceptional ability to write, design, and advise on developing curriculum, training, and other program resources.
• Experience identifying new opportunities to strengthen existing strategies and leverage opportunities to advance the direction of work.
• Ability to and comfort with taking calculated business risks, considering the future state of programs and initiatives.

Preferred Skills and Traits (a plus)

• Advanced degree in K-12 Education, Implementation Science, Public Health, Public Administration, Organizational Leadership, or related field.</li