Senior Director of Programs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at Fort Lauderdale Independence

Title: Senior Program Director

Reports to: VP of Program Compliance & Data Governance

Job Classification: Full Time/Salaried

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Programs provides strategic and operational leadership for FLITE Center’s comprehensive continuum of programs and services supporting youth transitioning from foster care to independent adulthood. The position provides senior-level oversight of Housing, Health & Wellness, Keys to Independence, and other assigned youth programs for Broward and Palm Beach counties; ensuring services are integrated, youth-centered, trauma-informed, compliant, fiscally responsible, and focused on measurable outcomes.

The Senior Director is responsible for strengthening coordination among housing stability, physical and behavioral wellness, independent living, employment, education, transportation, resource navigation, and other supportive services. The position ensures youth have access to coordinated resources that address the barriers affecting their ability to achieve stability and long-term self-sufficiency.

Working closely with executive leadership, Finance, Data/Compliance, Development, Community Engagement, and program leadership, the Senior Director ensures programs achieve established outcomes, meet grant and contractual requirements, maintain appropriate documentation and data quality, and continuously improve the quality and effectiveness of services.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Program Leadership & Oversight

• Provide strategic and operational oversight of FLITE Center’s Housing, Health & Wellness, Keys to Independence, and other assigned youth programs.
• Establish annual program goals, priorities, performance measures, and implementation plans aligned with FLITE Center’s strategic objectives.
• Ensure programs operate in accordance with organizational policies, funding requirements, contractual obligations, and established standards of service.
• Promote an integrated service-delivery model that connects youth across programs Identify service gaps, emerging youth needs, operational challenges, and opportunities for program expansion or improvement.
• Develop and implement standardized program procedures and accountability measures.
• Provide executive leadership with regular updates regarding program performance, staffing, compliance, funding, risks, and youth outcomes.

Housing Program Oversight

• Provide senior-level leadership and oversight of FLITE Center’s housing programs and housing-related supportive services.
• Oversee housing initiatives that may include Emergency Landing Spaces, Shared Living, affordable housing/tax-credit programs, housing navigation, rental assistance, and other supportive housing services.
• Monitor housing placement, occupancy, utilization, retention, exits, and housing stability outcomes.
• Ensure youth receiving housing services are connected to employment, education, wellness, financial capability, life skills, and other resources necessary to maintain long-term stability.
• Ensure housing programs comply with applicable grant, contractual, affordable housing, HUD, LIHTC, state, local, and other requirements, as applicable.
• Strengthen partnerships with housing authorities, landlords, property managers, affordable housing developers, and community organizations.
• Ensure appropriate procedures are maintained for housing eligibility, intake, placement, documentation, inspections, recertification, incidents, and program exits.
• Monitor housing risks and barriers and implement strategies designed to prevent youth homelessness and housing instability.

Health & Wellness Program Oversight

• Provide leadership and oversight of FLITE Center’s Health & Wellness programs and initiatives, ensuring youth have access to appropriate physical, behavioral, emotional, and preventive health resources.
• Ensure Health & Wellness programming is trauma-informed, youth-centered, culturally responsive, and aligned with organizational and grant requirements.
• Oversee the development and implementation of wellness initiatives addressing areas such as mental health, behavioral health, substance-use prevention, healthy relationships, health education, self-care, and overall well-being.
• Strengthen referral relationships with behavioral health providers, healthcare organizations, community health agencies, and other wellness partners.
• Ensure appropriate protocols exist for identifying and responding to youth experiencing behavioral health concerns, emotional distress, or other wellness-related crises.
• Monitor referrals and follow-up to ensure youth are successfully connected to appropriate providers and resources.
• Ensure Health & Wellness staff maintain required documentation, participant data, assessments, referrals, service records, and outcome information.
• Monitor Health & Wellness program outcomes and use data to evaluate effectiveness and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure assigned health and wellness grants and funded initiatives meet established deliverables, reporting requirements, and performance expectations.
• Promote integration of wellness services into housing, education, employment, and independent-living planning.

Keys to Independence Program Oversight

• Provide senior-level oversight of FLITE Center’s Keys to Independence program, ensuring program activities support youth in achieving transportation independence and removing transportation-related barriers to employment, education, housing stability, and self-sufficiency.
• Ensure program operations are conducted in accordance with applicable contracts, funding requirements, eligibility standards, and program guidelines.
• Monitor youth enrollment, participation, progress, completion, and established program outcomes.
• Ensure accurate and timely documentation of participant eligibility, services, expenditures, milestones, and outcomes.
• Establish processes to support youth in navigating applicable requirements associated with obtaining a learner's permit, driver's license, driver education, testing, insurance, or other approved transportation-related services.
• Coordinate with appropriate community partners, service providers, and state or local agencies to facilitate youth access to transportation resources.
• Monitor program expenditures and participant assistance to ensure compliance with approved budgets and funding restrictions.
• Identify transportation barriers affecting youth participation in employment, education, healthcare, housing, and other services and develop strategies to address those barriers.
• Ensure Keys to Independence services are integrated with the youth's broader transition and independent-living goals.
• Monitor program performance against contractual and grant deliverables and implement corrective strategies when performance goals are not being achieved.

Integrated Youth Services & Resource Navigation

• Establish a coordinated continuum of services connecting Housing, Health & Wellness, Keys to Independence, Employment, Education, Life Skills, Crisis Intervention, and Resource Navigation.
• Ensure youth receive individualized services based on identified needs, strengths, goals, and barriers.
• Develop internal referral and communication procedures that allow youth to move efficiently between FLITE Center programs.
• Promote collaboration among program teams to prevent duplication of services and gaps in care.
• Ensure youth experiencing crises are appropriately connected to internal resources, community providers, or emergency services based on the nature and severity of the situation.
• Monitor youth engagement and service outcomes across programs to evaluate the effectiveness of FLITE Center’s overall continuum of care.
• Incorporate youth voice and feedback into program planning, evaluation, and continuous quality improvement.

Grant Management, Compliance & Reporting

• Provide senior-level oversight of grants and contracts supporting Housing, Health & Wellness, Keys to Independence, and other assigned programs.
• Maintain comprehensive knowledge of grant scopes of work, budgets, deliverables, performance measures, reporting requirements, and contractual deadlines.
• Translate grant requirements into clearly defined responsibilities and performance expectations for program leadership and staff.
• Monitor program performance against grant goals and identify potential areas of underperformance or noncompliance.
• Ensure participant files, service documentation, attendance, referrals, outcomes, and supporting records meet funder and organizational requirements.
• Oversee and/or contribute to required monthly, quarterly, annual, and other funder reports.
• Collaborate with Data/Compliance to ensure program data is accurate, complete, timely, and supported by appropriate documentation.
• Participate in funder monitoring, audits, site visits, program evaluations, and corrective action processes.
• Collaborate with Development and executive leadership on grant renewals, proposals, funding opportunities, program narratives, and expansion initiatives.

Budget & Fiscal Oversight

• Collaborate with Finance and executive leadership in developing and managing program budgets.
• Monitor program expenditures, participant assistance, staffing allocations, housing expenses, wellness services, transportation-related assistance, and other program costs.
• Ensure expenditures align with approved grant budgets and funding restrictions.
• Support timely grant invoicing by ensuring required program documentation is submitted to Finance.
• Identify anticipated budget variances, financial risks, and resource needs and communicate them to leadership.
• Promote responsible stewardship of grant-funded and organizational resources.

Staff Leadership & Development

• Provide direct supervision and leadership to assigned Directors, Program Managers, Housing leadership, Health & Wellness leadership, Keys to Independence staff, and other program personnel.
• Establish clear performance expectations tied to program goals, grant deliverables, compliance requirements, and youth outcomes.
• Conduct regular leadership and supervision meetings to review program performance, caseloads, staffing, budgets, compliance, and operational challenges.
• Develop program leaders through coaching, professional development, accountability, and succession planning.
• Ensure staff receive appropriate training related to trauma-informed care, housing, wellness, crisis response, transportation services, documentation, confidentiality, grant compliance, and youth-centered practices.
• Participate in recruitment, interviewing, onboarding, performance evaluations, corrective action, and staff development in collaboration with Human Resources.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, accountability, quality service, and measurable results.

Community & Strategic Partnerships

• Develop and maintain relationships with housing providers, healthcare and behavioral health organizations, transportation partners, government agencies, educational institutions, workforce partners, funders, and community organizations.
• Represent FLITE Center at community meetings, systems-of-care initiatives, funder meetings, and collaborative planning efforts.
• Identify strategic partnerships that expand resources and opportunities available to youth.
• Work collaboratively with Community Engagement and Development to strengthen external relationships, program visibility, and community investment.

Cross Departmental Collaboration

· The Director will work closely with Housing, Health & Wellness, Programs, Development, Finance, Data/Compliance, Human Resources, and Executive Leadership to ensure youth receive coordinated services and that organizational resources are effectively utilized.

· The Director is expected to reduce service silos by establishing effective communication and referral processes across departments so that youth can move seamlessly between FLITE Center programs based on their individual needs

• Master’s degree in social work required.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressively responsible experience in nonprofit, child welfare, housing, behavioral health, human services, youth development, or related program operations.
• Minimum of 3–5 years of senior leadership or management experience, preferably overseeing multiple programs, managers, or multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated experience with housing programs and housing stability services strongly preferred.
• Experience overseeing health, behavioral health, wellness, transportation, independent-living, or other supportive youth services preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing government, foundation, or other grant-funded programs.
• Experience with program budgets, grant reporting, compliance monitoring, audits, data management, and performance measurement required.
• Experience working with youth transitioning from foster care or other systems of care strongly preferred.