Chief Operating Officer

American Camp Association; United States; Remote; USD 190,000 - 225,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Diversity and inclusivity commitment

Job summary

A nonprofit organization focused on camps is seeking a Chief Operating Officer to lead its day-to-day operations and drive operational growth. The ideal candidate will have over 10 years of senior leadership experience and deep knowledge in the camp field. Responsibilities include fostering an inclusive environment, managing budgets, and overseeing team development. This position is fully remote and requires strong organizational leadership skills, particularly in operational management. Be part of a community dedicated to empowering diverse youth through leadership.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of senior organizational leadership experience.
• Deep professional knowledge and experience in the camp field preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in operational leadership and organizational management.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day operations of all functional teams.
• Drive operational growth by setting ambitious goals.
• Ensure ACA's practices reflect an inclusive and welcoming environment.

Skills

Visionary Leadership

Analytical

Project Management

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

Bachelor’s degree

MBA or advanced degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Headquarters: Martinsville, IN (Indianapolis)

Work Location: Remote

Travel: Up to 40%

Salary Range: $190,000 to 225,000

ABOUT The American Camp Association:

The American Camp Association (ACA) is a community of camp professionals who, for over 100 years, have joined together to share our knowledge and experience and to ensure the quality of camp programs. Because of our diverse 10,000 plus membership and our exceptional programs, we’re uniquely able to unleash the life-changing power of camp. Our work gives more children and adults the opportunity to learn powerful lessons in community, character-building, skill development, and healthy living — lessons that can be learned nowhere else. Learn more at http://acacamps.org

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

To support and advance the mission of ACA by:

• Directly leading the day-to-day operations of all functional teams that provide programs, products, and services to the general public, the full field of camp, and to our members.
• Effectively driving the association’s operational growth by setting ambitious goals, establishing a strong culture of accountability, leading innovation that strengthens ACA’s value proposition, and creating an environment of continuous learning and improvement.
• Being an innovative, thoughtful, communicative, and productive member of the ACA leadership team.
• Exhibiting strong organizational leadership to ensure ACA achieves its goals and objectives while being a strategic thought partner to the CEO.
• Providing recommendations to the CEO regarding the growth and alignment of staff resources required to meet and exceed the strategic objectives of the organization.
• Overseeing internal workflows and organizational development; ensuring communication and information flow throughout the organization, including with affiliate organizations, is efficiently managed to provide all employees and managers with current, pertinent, job-related information.
• Ensuring that ACA’s practices and resources reflect an inclusive, welcoming, and culturally responsive environment and increasing ACA’s diversity of representation across the organization.
• Fostering a relentless focus on aligning ACA’s programs, products, and services to the needs of the field of camp, keeping abreast of emerging needs and challenges.
• Providing leadership to ensure effective hiring, training, motivation, and development of ACA staff and operational teams.
• Given that ACA’s business model is built on volunteer support and leadership, creating and maintaining robust systems to recruit, train, support, lead, and recognize ACA’s local, regional, and national operational volunteers and volunteer committees.
• Establish strategic internal and external communications systems to effectively drive understanding and achieve ACA strategic goals and objectives, incorporating marketing tactics and initiatives as required.
• Representing ACA to key collaborators, partners, and allied organizations, building key relationships to further ACA’s strategic goals and objectives.
• Along with the CEO and CFO, setting budget priorities and leading the development and implementation of ACA’s operational budget.
• Ensuring that all association operations comply with federal, state, local, and/or company policies and regulations.
• Keeps up to date on overall activities of ACA teams, identifying problem areas and taking corrective actions as needed.
• Performing other related duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Providing direct team leadership to 4 employees: Chief Marketing Officer, Senior Director of Volunteerism, Senior Director of Programs, and the Senior Director of Research, Innovation, and Learning.
• Carrying out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization's policies and applicable laws.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in related field or equivalent work experience; MBA or advanced degree in a related discipline preferred.
• 10+ years of senior organizational leadership experience
• Deep professional knowledge and experience in the camp field preferred.
• Demonstrated experience in operational leadership and organizational management, including finance, budgeting, talent management, program development and delivery, and organizational systems design.
• Proven ability to develop and effectively lead teams to achieve results focused on strategic imperatives and stakeholders’ needs.
• Strategic vision and agility – able to think strategically, anticipate future consequences and trends, and incorporate them into the organizational plan; ability to translate strategy into action.
• Demonstrable experience working with and managing volunteers in a member-based association.
• Change management - experience and knowledge of best practices in executing transformation and change management throughout an organization.
• Ability to effectively build organization and staff capacity, developing a top-notch workforce and the processes that ensure the association runs smoothly.
• Versatility, flexibility, and a willingness to work within constantly changing priorities with enthusiasm
• Proficient in Microsoft Office; Word, Excel, and other relevant software.

PREFERRED SKILLS

• Visionary Leadership--Displays passion and optimism; Inspires respect and trust; Mobilizes others to fulfill the vision; Provides vision and inspiration to peers and subordinates.
• Judgment--Displays willingness to make decisions; Exhibits sound and accurate judgment; Supports and explains reasoning for decisions; Includes appropriate people in decision-making process; Makes timely decisions.
• Motivation--Sets and achieves challenging goals; Demonstrates persistence and overcomes obstacles; Measures self against standard of excellence; Takes calculated risks to accomplish goals.
• Planning/Organizing--Prioritizes and plans work activities; Uses time efficiently; Plans for additional resources; Sets goals and objectives; Organizes or schedules other people and their tasks; Develops realistic action plans.
• Professionalism--Approaches others in a tactful manner; Reacts well under pressure; Treats others with respect and consideration regardless of their status or position; Accepts responsibility for own actions; Follows through on commitments.
• Problem Solving--Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner; Gathers and analyzes information skillfully; Develops alternative solutions; Works well in group problem solving situations; Uses reason even when dealing with emotional topics.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) — Knowledge, skills, and experience in expanding DEI across the field of camp and ACA, and the ability to work with individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, creating an open, inclusive, and welcoming work environment and valuing the voices of others.
• Project Management--Develops project plans; Coordinates projects; Communicates changes and progress; Completes projects on time and budget; Manages project team activities.
• Oral Communication--Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; Listens and gets clarification; Responds well to questions; Demonstrates group presentation skills; Participates in meetings.
• Written Communication--Writes clearly and informatively; Edits work for spelling and grammar; Varies writing style to meet needs; Presents numerical data effectively; Able to read and interpret written information.
• Teamwork--Balances team and individual responsibilities; Exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views; Gives and welcomes feedback; Contributes to building a positive team spirit; Puts success of team above own interests; Able to build morale and group commitments to goals and objectives; Supports everyone's efforts to succeed.
• Analytical--Synthesizes complex or diverse information; Collects and researches data; Uses intuition and experience to complement data; Designs workflows and procedures.

HOW TO APPLY

The American Camp Association has exclusively retained Impact Search Advisors / OneDigital to lead the recruitment efforts for our next Chief Operating Officer. For consideration, all interested candidates should submit a completed application, cover letter and resume prior to February 27th, 2026 at https://nonprofithr.applytojob.com/apply/Y1ghBjwjUI

For further details or any inquiries about this opportunity, please contact Hakimu Davidson, Executive Recruiter with Impact Search Advisors / OneDigital, at [e-mail].

At the American Camp Association, we believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the heart of a thriving camp experience. We empower positive change in the world when youth and adults of all backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and abilities are valued and actively engaged in camp and camp leadership. Together, we endeavor to create an expansive and inclusive camp community that is open and promotes equity across a diversity of ideas, experiences, perspectives, and voices.

American Camp Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or other employment practices for reasons of age, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, medical condition, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, genetics, or any other non-job-related factor. We value the contribution that the diversity of our applicants can bring.