EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AT NIRH/ NIRH ACTION FUND in Remote, New York at Axis Talent Partners

About National Institute for Reproductive Health

The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) and the NIRH Action Fund are advocacy organizations that secure and expand reproductive freedom at the state and local level. For thirty years, NIRH has worked proactively: passing laws that expand access to reproductive freedom, building political infrastructure, and partnering with state and local advocates to create the conditions for durable, lasting change.

NIRH operates through an integrated C3/C4 model that combines policy development, campaign strategy, narrative work, and electoral investment. That integration is not incidental — it is the architecture of how we win. Through three Policy Labs anchored to our core issue areas — public funding for reproductive health care, birth justice, and reproductive data privacy — NIRH incubates and scales policy solutions in partnership with advocates across the country. The NIRH Action Fund runs electoral and political investments in target states, building the political power that makes policy wins stick.

Our work centers the people most impacted by barriers to care: Black, Indigenous and other communities of color, people with low incomes, and immigrants. Reproductive freedom is not only a legal question — it is a question of who actually has the power and resources to exercise it.

The Organizational Moment

NIRH is at an inflection point. Over the past year, the organization has launched three policy campaigns (Public Funding, Birth Justice, and Reproductive Data Privacy) and corresponding Policy Labs, deepened its C4 strategy, and strengthened its internal operations. These investments have clarified something important: NIRH’s three core issue areas — and corresponding policy campaigns — are not just a set of projects. They are the strategic spine of the organization’s work, and they cut across departments, shape political and narrative strategy, and define where NIRH wants to move the field.

As NIRH prepares to operate within a fully campaign-centered model for FY27 and beyond, the complexity of aligning campaigns, Policy Labs, narrative strategy, C4 activity, and movement infrastructure has grown significantly. The organization is not simply maintaining what exists — it is actively building an integrated architecture. That work demands a senior leader whose charge is to make that architecture function.

Position Summary

The National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH) and the NIRH Action Fund are seeking a full-time Executive Vice President (EVP) to be the engine behind our mission: our chief programmatic leader, operational anchor, and the closest strategic partner to the President.

The EVP is the connective tissue of a campaign-centered organization. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with the President, this leader will translate vision into action — turning strategy into day-to-day execution while managing and developing NIRH’s VP-level programmatic leadership team. The EVP will ensure that four programmatic departments — Campaigns & Political Strategy, Policy & Research, Communications, and Programs & Partnerships — move forward with shared purpose and clarity. This is a role for a builder: someone energized by designing the structures and systems that allow great work to scale, and with the track record to prove it.

Essential Leadership Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Executive Partnership

The EVP serves as the President’s primary internal partner, ensuring that strategic vision translates into programmatic execution and organizational coherence.

• Translate the President’s strategy into annual plans, department goals, and integrated team-level work; narrate progress, risks, and results back upward

• Provide candid strategic counsel on organizational priorities, capacity, sequencing, and risk

• Support C3/C4 alignment in partnership with the President and VP of Campaigns & Political Strategy

• Identify emerging operational risks and opportunities; support board development and governance as needed

• Maintain continuity and stability through leadership transitions and moments of growth and change

Key Qualifications

• Experience serving as a senior-level deputy, Chief of Staff, EVP, or second-in-command in a complex organization

• Strong systems thinking and the ability to translate big-picture vision into executable plans

• Fluency navigating C3/C4 organizational structures; experience supporting C3/C4 coordination in campaign settings strongly preferred

• Familiarity with the reproductive freedom field or a closely adjacent social justice movement strongly preferred

• Collaborative, team-player mindset and genuine commitment to building something durable — not personality- or ego-driven leadership

Campaign Architecture & Programmatic Integration

The EVP ensures that NIRH’s issue campaigns operate as integrated, multi-year bodies of work rather than parallel efforts, and that cross-cutting initiatives are stewarded with strategic coherence.

• Ensure coherence across the Public Funding, Birth Justice, and Reproductive Data Privacy campaigns

• Integrate the Policy Labs and other large-scale projects within the campaign architecture rather than as standalone engines

• Steward cross cutting structures and programs including but not limited to, the organization's approach to ballot initiatives, partner retention and activation, and elected official engagement

• Adjudicate between competing programmatic priorities with equity, clarity, and campaign-centered logic

Key Qualifications

• Genuine fluency across policy, communications, campaigns, and/or partnerships — not surface familiarity, but the ability to hold the logic of each and integrate them

• Campaign architecture experience: understanding how multi-year issue campaigns integrate research, narrative, political strategy, and field execution

People Leadership, Management & Culture

The EVP directly manages NIRH’s four VP-level programmatic leaders and plays a critical role in fostering a culture of clarity, accountability, trust, and care across a remote-first organization. The EVP partners closely with the VP of Finance and Operations and the People Operations Manager on systems that support staff development and performance.

• Manage and develop the VPs of Campaigns & Political Strategy, Policy & Research, Communications, and Programs & Partnerships

• Hold the VP team accountable to shared organizational and campaign goals, not solely departmental outcomes

• Coach VPs to operate as cross-functional strategists and organizational leaders

• Support the successful onboarding and integration of additional VP-level hires as the organization grows

• Build trust-based relationships with staff at all levels, including junior staff; foster transparency and psychological safety

• Model and reinforce clear decision-making processes and internal communication norms

• Support conflict resolution and performance conversations with nuance and care

• Champion a culture rooted in equity, inclusion, and reproductive and social justice values

Key Qualifications

• Deep, practiced management skill — including the ability to coach leaders, build trust across all levels of staff, navigate complex interpersonal dynamics, and make confident decisions with equity and transparency

• Proven experience managing leaders who themselves manage complex, multi-state or multi-stakeholder teams

• Strong relational leadership skills; able to build trust across differences and organizational levels

• Experience navigating sensitive people management issues with both care and accountability

• Movement grounding in reproductive and/or social justice; reproductive and birth justice experience strongly preferred

• Anti-racist, equity-centered leadership with humility, a learner orientation, and willingness to be wrong

Organizational Infrastructure & Systems Leadership

NIRH is in active transition toward a more structured, campaign-centered architecture. The EVP will lead the design and implementation of the internal infrastructure that makes this model work.

• Establish shared conventions, workflows, and coordination structures across departments

• Lead development and implementation of internal operational systems — planning cycles, performance monitoring, and cross-team workflows

• Implement project management practices that bring structure and clarity to campaign coordination

• Design systems that function well in a fully remote environment

Key Qualifications

• Organizational change management experience — building systems from scratch, shifting culture, and bringing staff along through meaningful institutional reinvention

• Remote organization experience, including intentional relationship-building and systems design

• Strong project management discipline: staying organized across many moving parts, tracking complex interdependencies, and bringing structure and clarity to work that currently feels disjointed

• Experience in nonprofit operations or organizational development, ideally in a growing or evolving organization

Location, Travel & Availability

This is a remote role open to candidates located anywhere in the continental United States, with a commitment to shared availability during 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Eastern time (with reasonable accommodations and flexibility as needed).

Travel of approximately 3–4 days at a time, 1–2 weeks per quarter (i.e. approximately 8 trips per year), is expected for team gatherings, conferences, and annual Board meetings.

Compensation & Benefits

The annual salary range for this position is $215,000 – $225,000, commensurate with experience. As part of a total compensation package, benefits include but are not limited to:

• Employer paid medical, dental, and vision insurance

• Generous time off including vacation days, paid holidays, sick days, personal days, and your birthday off

• 401k employee matching

• Flexible Spending Accounts

• Employee Assistance Program

• Fully remote from anywhere in the US

• Work from home stipend

To Apply

National Institute for Reproductive Health and NIRH Action Fund have engaged Axis Talent Partners to lead this search process. With a strong track record of recruiting successful leaders from diverse backgrounds, Axis is a consultant and executive search firm that partners with social impact organizations to center equity and inclusion in search processes. Interested candidates should submit an application, including a resume and responses to the application questions, detailing their qualifications for the position and their interest in NIRH’s mission.

Axis Talent Partners is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and to providing equitable and inclusive access throughout the hiring process. Interview questions will be provided in advance. Alternative interview formats (e.g. phone only, closed captioning transcription, etc.) and flexible scheduling (e.g. extended interview times) will be made available. For any additional candidate accommodation requests, please contact Nadia Khan at nadia@axistalentpartners.com.

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National Institute for Reproductive Health/NIRH Action Fund is an equal opportunity employer. In order to provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all individuals, employment decisions at NIRH/NIRHAF will be based on merit, qualifications, abilities, and on the needs of NIRH/NIRHAF. This organization does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, religion, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ancestry, marital status, veteran status or other military status, alienage or citizenship status, genetic carrier status, AIDS, AIDS-related complex or HIV status, or any other characteristic protected by Federal, State or local law.