Program Director - Elementary (South Ozone Park)

Program Director, Elementary School Program, South Ozone Park (PS 124) Queens

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) is committed to providing its employees opportunities for growth in a supportive community environment. With a flexible schedule and generous benefits package, SAYA provides its employees a healthy work-life balance in a fast-growing youth development nonprofit. 

SAYA: Belong. Grow. Thrive. 

Organization Description 

South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) is an inclusive, South Asian-focused 501(c)3 youth development organization. Through our innovative, holistic approach, we work toward educational equity by providing opportunities and resources to less privileged New York City youth, ensuring they are empowered academically, emotionally, and socially to become engaged community members. 

Established in 1996, SAYA provides valuable life skills and holistic, impactful programming to underserved New York City youth. As one of the first South Asian organizations created in the United States, SAYA is the only organization of its kind in the NYC metropolitan area providing inclusive and secular comprehensive youth development services while centering our community’s experiences. Today, SAYA provides programming at eleven elementary, middle, and high schools in Queens and Brooklyn, along with our Elmhurst-based community center - serving a growing number of youths across all sites each year. 

A key tenet of our work is cultivating vital social and emotional learning (SEL) skills such as belonging, confidence, and self-efficacy through intentionally designed, research-based curricula. Across our organization, services tailored for different age groups include leadership and identity development, academic support that bridges learning gaps, comprehensive college preparation, and activities that nurture creativity and build positive peer connections. 

Position Summary 

The Program Director is responsible for the overall day-to-day management, success, and quality of the elementary after-school program. This includes ensuring a safe, supportive, and enriching environment for students, supervising a team of 1 full time Program Coordinator and 15–20 part-time staff, and serving as the primary liaison between the school, SAYA and funding agencies. The Program Director will ensure that all programmatic, contractual, and compliance goals are met while maintaining a high standard of care and innovation in youth development. 

Reports to: Senior Director of Elementary and Middle School Programs 

Supervises: Program Coordinator, Mentors and Activity Specialists

Responsibilities: 

Program Management & Implementation 

● Oversee day-to-day operations of the after school program 

● Ensure a safe, inclusive and structured environment that promotes youth engagement and learning 

● Lead the planning and implementation of high-quality activities that are nurturing, physically and emotionally safe and aligned with the school's curriculum and SAYA’s primary focus areas and initiatives 

● Establish rapport with youth and provide mentoring, guidance and overall direction for their personal development 

● Advocate on behalf of students and families and make appropriate referrals to families for outside support services when needed 

● Initiate and organize special events such as performances, parent engagement events, field trips, etc. 

Staff Supervision & Coaching 

● Build a team of youth development professionals, including Mentors and Activity Specialists 

● Supervise, coach and support a team of one Program Coordinator and 15-20 part-time staff including Mentors and Activity Specialists 

● Lead regularly scheduled team meetings and individual supervisory meetings with staff 

● Foster a positive staff culture that values collaboration, accountability and continuous improvement 

● Provide ongoing professional development and performance evaluations to staff 

School & Community Partnerships 

● Build and manage partnership with school administration, teachers/key school personnel, program/organizational partners, subcontractors and vendors 

● Attend school and community events as needed to represent the program 

● Build and maintain strong, positive and welcoming relationships with parents through regular communication, meetings and events 

● Prepare and distribute written materials to promote SAYA programming, including flyers, brochures, newsletters, and postings on school bulletin boards 

● Collaborate with colleagues to collect and utilize data to evaluate program impact, inform promising practices, celebrate successes and identify areas of improvement 

Contract and Budget Management & Compliance 

● Meet all compliance and safety requirements set forth by SAYA, the school in which the program operates, NYC Public Schools, NYC Department of Youth & Community Development and NYS Department of Health

● Ensure the NYC Department of Youth & Community Development database is updated weekly including enrollment, attendance, workscope, program schedule, and staffing 

● Assist in the development and monitoring of the program’s budget in collaboration with the leadership team and finance department 

● Track spending and resource allocation to ensure cost-effective operations and compliance 

The above is intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by this position. Other functions may be assigned, and management retains the right to add or change the duties at any time. 

Qualifications 

● Bachelor’s degree in education, social work, youth/child development, non-profit management, public administration or a related field; graduate degree preferred. 

● Minimum of five to seven years’ experience working in education, social work, and/or youth development. 

● Experience working with elementary or middle school aged youth. 

● Knowledge and understanding of youth development, after school and public education arenas specifically in New York City. 

● Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills. 

● Ability to develop partnerships, work with and in teams. 

● Ability to multi-task, problem-solve and produce results in a fast-paced environment. 

● Ability to work collaboratively and manage multiple priorities, people and projects effectively. 

● Experience building and supervising a team. 

● Energized by the idea and process of creating and implementing new initiatives. 

● Strong writing and oral communication skills. 

● Highly organized, detail oriented and trustworthy. 

● Ability to analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources. 

Key Competencies 

Collaboration & Communication Thrive on building relationships with youth, school staff and administration, parents and SAYA colleagues. 

-Develop and maintain partnerships with ease. 

-Enjoy working with and in teams. 

-Comfortable mediating conflicts among various stakeholders. 

Creativity 

-Desire to seek continuous opportunities to strategically improve elementary school programs. 

-Demonstrate flexibility and implement programming under various conditions and challenges.

Mentorship 

-Skilled at mentoring staff to support them in developing professional skills. 

-Implements a transformational and adaptable leadership and managerial style. 

-Ability to foresee potential outcomes of managerial decisions on various stakeholders. 

-Comfortable navigating difficult conversations effectively, knowing when to step in and when to allow staff to handle a situation themselves. 

Compensation: 

• $70k-$75k commensurate with experience 
• PTO starting at 18 days
• Sick & Safe Leave of 7 days provided 
• 10 paid holidays + additional paid week off during winter holidays 
• 60 days of fully paid FMLA leave 
• Employer sponsored medical benefits with generous employer contributions for employee and dependents 
• Retirement plan with up to 3% match contribution from SAYA 
• Optional dental, vision, transit, and FSA benefits 
• Flexible schedule policies 

Additional Information 

● While we value work/life balance, due to the nature of this position, this role will sometimes require work on evenings and weekends. 

SAYA is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Employer.