Seattle Executive Director in Seattle, Washington at Back on My Feet

About Back on My Feet

Back on My Feet is a national nonprofit that uses the power of running and community to help people experiencing homelessness and addiction transform their lives. Operating across 14 markets, we meet members where they are — before sunrise, on the road, in community — and challenge them to do something hard together. That challenge is where transformation begins. Since our founding, we have believed that when you change how someone sees themselves, you change what they believe is possible. Running is how we start. The rest follows.

Our Strategic Anchors

Everything we do is guided by four anchors. They are not aspirational — they are operational.

We Drive Real Impact — We measure success by transformation, not activity. The Executive Director is the local owner of that standard. Every program decision, every partner conversation, every day-to-day call must be traceable to one question: are we creating transformation that wouldn't happen without us?

Running Is Our Foundation — Running is not a feature of our program. It is the mechanism through which transformation begins. The Executive Director is responsible for ensuring running stays structurally central to local delivery — not as a requirement on paper, but as a living, daily practice that members, volunteers, and staff experience as real.

We Build Local Roots for Lasting Impact — Real transformation happens in communities, not across them. The Executive Director is the face of BoMF in their chapter: embedded, trusted, and accountable. The chapter should feel like BoMF. It should also feel like home.

Our People Are the Movement — Back on My Feet runs on people. The Executive Director is responsible for the humans who make this possible in their chapter: members, alumni, volunteers, and local staff — ensuring they are supported, developed, and connected to something larger than any single chapter.

The Position

The Executive Director (ED) is responsible for leading the local chapter to achieve program objectives, fundraising targets, and managing and growing the annual local budget in alignment with Back on My Feet's Four Strategic Anchors: We Drive Real Impact, Running Is Our Foundation, We Build Local Roots for Lasting Impact, and Our People Are the Movement. This role oversees a team of local staff, manages the stewardship of the local Advisory Board, and operates within a matrix structure: reporting to the VP of Program through their Territory Director for mission and delivery, and to the Partnerships team for revenue.

The Executive Director is the operational leader of their chapter. They own day-to-day program delivery, local fundraising and development, partner and volunteer relationships, and team performance. They are not managers waiting for direction. They are a local owner, accountable for the full P&L and mission outcomes of their chapter.

Key Responsibilities

Program Strategy, Implementation & Delivery

Own and drive local implementation of the BoMF program model, ensuring running is structurally central to all member touchpoints, from Circle Ups (BOMF’s community based running practice) to workforce development.Strengthen and expand BoMF's local presence by cultivating new facility partnerships and deepening engagement with existing partners, ensuring sustained growth in program KPIs.Oversee delivery of BoMF's workforce development program; grow and strengthen partnerships with referral agencies, corporate partners, and employment partners to provide members with needed support and services.Ensure program model fidelity. If running culture drifts, energy erodes, or standards slip, the ED owns the identification and correction of that drift at the local level, in coordination with the VP of Program and Chief Running Officer.Source and share member stories, outcomes, and program data with national teams on a defined cadence to support organizational reporting, marketing, and donor engagement.

Leadership & Staff Management

Hire, manage, and develop local staff, fostering a collaborative, high-performing environment grounded in BoMF's Strategic Anchors.Set clear expectations, provide ongoing feedback, and hold staff accountable to program and operational KPIs.Build a local team culture where running, community, and transformation are not talking points, they are operating principles.Collaborate with Program leadership on annual goals, performance reviews, and professional development for local staff.

Volunteer Engagement & Management

Manage and grow a robust volunteer community to support chapter goals and initiatives, ensuring volunteers have a shared understanding of BoMF's mission and adhere to BoMF policies and procedures.Recruit, train, and retain individual and corporate volunteers to support Circle Ups, workforce development, events, and fundraising goals.Ensure volunteers receive consistent, timely, and mission-aligned communications about program activities, expectations, and culture.

Fundraising & Donor Relations

Develop and execute an overall local fundraising strategy to meet or exceed annual fundraising targets and chapter budget goals, carrying primary P&L responsibility for the chapter.Cultivate and steward relationships with local donors, corporate partners, and foundations.Identify and secure diverse local funding sources, including grants, individual donors, and corporate sponsorships.Plan and manage local fundraising events to generate revenue and community awareness, in coordination with the national Partnerships Team.Collaborate with the Partnerships Team on national partnerships, relationships, and campaigns; ensure neither function commits the other without prior alignment.Build, engage, and grow the local Advisory Board to advance fundraising, partnerships, and program objectives.

Operations & Administration

Ensure accurate and timely tracking of program, donor, and partner data in Salesforce to support real-time KPI assessment and organizational reporting.Manage the local chapter budget, tracking performance against targets, and escalating variances proactively.Proactively collaborate with BoMF national staff to provide impactful stories and event details for media coverage and donor communications.Perform other duties as assigned.

Reporting Structure

The Executive Director reports to their Territory Director, who in turn reports to the VP of Program, for all program-related functions, including program model fidelity, member outcomes, volunteer engagement, staff development, and chapter operations.

For revenue-related accountability, including local fundraising and corporate engagement, the ED carries a dotted-line relationship to the Head of Partnerships (directly or via Territory VP). Performance decisions affecting program standing are owned by the VP of Program. Revenue accountability is jointly tracked with the Head of Partnerships. Both functions must operate in close coordination to avoid conflicting direction in the field.

What We're Looking For

You lead locally with ownership. You treat your chapter like it's yours, because it is. You don't wait for direction from national on day-to-day decisions. You own the outcomes.You let the Strategic Anchors guide everything you do. You don't just understand the direction, you build toward it, make decisions through it, and hold your team accountable to it.You believe in the transformative power of running. Not as a feature of the program, but as the mechanism through which lives change. You build community. You know that trust is built over time, on the road, before the rest of the world is awake. You invest in relationships with members, volunteers, partners, and donors with the same consistency you bring to Circle Up.You hold a high bar and a warm culture. You lead with directness and warmth. You don't confuse kindness with softness, or accountability with harshness.You bring challenges forward. You are transparent with national leadership, your team, and your partners. You don't manage sideways or create noise you solve. You're operationally sharp. You can hold a budget, manage Salesforce, run a donor meeting, and lead a 5am run, sometimes all in the same day.

The Standard

The expectation for this role is clear: deliver consistent, measurable transformation in your chapter, and lead the people who make that possible with the same standard you hold them to.

Within 90 days, the Executive Director should demonstrate:

Active relationships established with all key local partners, the Advisory Board, and major donors, with a clear stewardship cadence in place. A grounded understanding of the local program model, running culture health, and volunteer community, with a point of view on where to invest and where to correct. Baseline KPIs defined, tracked in Salesforce, and reviewed with leadership. A local fundraising plan in place, with identified pipeline and near-term revenue actions. Staff operating with clarity on expectations, KPIs, and feedback cadence.

Key Performance Indicators

Program Impact

Members served, employed, housed Circle Up consistency and quality Sustained impact

Partner Portfolio & Activation

Partner portfolio health: number of active facility, employer, and referral agency partners New partner activations Workforce development program utilization and outcomes

Fundraising & P&L

Annual revenue vs. target P&L performance: variance to budget Donor retention and new donor acquisition

People & Volunteers

Volunteer retention and satisfaction Staff performance against individual KPIs Team vacancy rate and time-to-fill

Organizational

Salesforce data integrity and reporting compliance Member and alumni story pipeline maintained in partnership with national Marketing

Qualifications and Experience

Bachelor's degree, OR equivalent combination of education, training, and 4+ years of relevant work experience. Demonstrated experience in program management, community organizing, nonprofit operations, or a related field. Fundraising and/or development experience, comfort cultivating donors, managing a portfolio, and closing local gifts. Volunteer management experience highly preferred. Understanding of homelessness, social services, recovery, and the nonprofit landscape. Strong written and verbal communication skills, including excellent public presentation skills and the ability to communicate effectively with diverse populations. Willingness and ability to adhere to unconventional work schedule (e.g., morning Circle Ups starting between 5:00–5:30am; evening and weekend activities) Willingness to engage running as a personal practice. You don't have to be fast, but you must be willing to lace up. Proficiency with technology required, including CRM or case management software Ability to travel within the local chapter and occasionally to national meetings. Ability to lift 50 pounds The pay range for this role is:90,000 - 100,000 USD per year(Seattle Office)