CEO

ROME GROUP; Missouri; On-site; USD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Nurses for Newborns seeks a strategic Chief Executive Officer to lead growth, fundraising, and program expansion from its St. Louis headquarters.

The role guides staff across Missouri and Tennessee, builds partnerships with hospitals, government agencies, and philanthropy, and ensures financial stability and program quality. Reporting to the Board, the CEO will steward NFN’s mission, cultivate major gifts, and articulate the organization’s vision to donors, partners, and the public while

Responsibilities

• Lead growth of NFN's programs and financial resources to meet rising demand.
• Serve as NFN's primary public voice to donors, partners, and the media.
• Build and sustain partnerships with hospitals, health systems, and government agencies across Missouri and Tennessee.
• Develop and support high-performing staff across a geographically distributed footprint.
• Ensure fiscal stability, governance, and program quality across two states.

Job description

Chief Executive Officer, Nurses for Newborns

Founded 35 years ago on the conviction that every baby deserves the healthiest, safest start possible and every family deserves the confidence and support to provide it, Nurses for Newborns has grown into a trusted resource for families across Missouri and Tennessee. Today, a team of registered nurses, community health workers, and social workers delivers free, voluntary, in-home services to families navigating the critical early days of pregnancy and infancy. In 2025 alone, the team completed more than 10,000 home visits, with the vast majority of families served achieving positive outcomes.

After many years of steady leadership, NFN’s long tenured Chief Executive Officer is retiring, and the organization is seeking a growth‑oriented, mission‑driven leader to build on an excellent foundation, deepen its impact, and guide the agency into its next chapter.

The next CEO will lead growth of the agency’s programs and financial resources to meet rising demand for services, and will serve as NFN’s primary public voice, an inspiring storyteller who brings credibility in infant and maternal health to donors, partners, and the media. This person will build and sustain partnerships with hospitals, health systems, government agencies, and community organizations across Missouri and Tennessee, and will support and develop high‑performing staff teams across a geographically distant footprint, ensuring consistent culture, communication, and quality of care. Sound financial management and organizational oversight will be essential to preserving NFN’s fiscal stability and sustainability, as will leading fundraising and donor cultivation efforts that grow and diversify philanthropic, grant, and governmental funding.

The CEO will also work closely with the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards to advance strategy, governance, and long‑term sustainability.

Candidates will find an organization with excellent, well documented outcomes and an outstanding reputation, supported by 61 employees serving families across 40 counties in Missouri and Tennessee. NFN operates on a $6.5 million budget with strong reserves and consistent fiscal stability, and benefits from an engaged and supportive Board of Directors, a Tennessee Advisory Board, and more than 2,000 volunteers.

As Chief Executive Officer, this leader will be the face of Nurses for Newborns and the steward of its mission, setting vision and strategy, deepening the agency’s programmatic and financial strength, and building trust with staff, board, donors, and community partners across two states.

Success in this role means bringing credibility to conversations about infant and maternal health, translating that credibility into fundraising and partnership success, and leading with the warmth and clarity that has long defined NFN’s culture.

The position is headquartered in St. Louis, with travel requirements of four to six times per year to Nashville, Tennessee.

The ideal candidate is a strategic, relationship‑oriented leader who is comfortable in the boardroom, at a donor’s table, and in conversation with front‑line nursing staff. This person will bring a genuine passion for NFN’s mission to provide home‑based services that promote the health, safety, and well‑being of babies and their families, along with strategic thinking and a growth orientation that can take an already strong agency to its next level. A collaborative, transparent leadership style that builds trust with a board, staff, and community stakeholders is essential, as is experience leading and supporting teams across multiple locations or a distributed geography.

Strong candidates will also bring experience building and sustaining partnerships with healthcare systems, government agencies, and community organizations, a proven record of successful fundraising and donor cultivation including major gifts, campaigns, and grants, and strong financial acumen with experience in nonprofit budgeting, financial oversight, and organizational sustainability.

Nurses for Newborns offers a starting salary range of $140,000 to $180,000, plus excellent benefits.