Club Executive Director

Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford; Hartford (CT); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford seeks a Club Executive Director to lead a vibrant youth-serving location, ensuring safe, welcoming environments and high-quality programming. You will supervise staff, set clear expectations, and drive enrollment, attendance, and family engagement while upholding BGCA standards.

The role requires a strong, hands-on leader who can manage budgets, grants, and compliance, build partnerships, and guide program quality and youth experiences across all club operations.

Qualifications

• Four-year degree or equivalent work experience.
• Minimum 2 years of supervisory experience.
• Experience managing budgets and grants.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage all club staff with a focus on safety, program quality and youth outcomes.
• Oversee enrollment, attendance, and partnerships with families and community partners.
• Ensure compliant operations with budgets, grants, and reporting requirements.
• Represent the club to schools, volunteers, funders, and community partners.

Skills

Staff supervision

Budget management

Program quality oversight

Youth development

Community partnership building

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Description

The Club Executive Director is the senior leader responsible for the overall success of an assigned Boys & Girls Club location. Serving as the Club's manager, staff leader, and primary connection to members, families, and community partners, the Club Executive Director ensures the site is safe, organized, welcoming, and consistently delivers high-quality experiences for young people.

This role requires a highly accountable, visible and hands-on leader who knows what is happening throughout the Club, anticipates problems, establishes clear expectations, develops staff and ensures that commitments are followed through from start to finish. The Club Director is accountable for youth safety, program quality, staff performance, enrollment and attendance, family engagement, facility readiness, resource stewardship, and the overall culture of the Club.

Key Job Responsibilities

Leadership and Staff Management

• Set clear expectations and hold staff accountable for performance, professionalism, attendance, safety, and program delivery.
• Build a cohesive, mission-driven team through regular communication, coaching, observation, and feedback.
• Recruit, onboard, schedule, and retain qualified employees, interns, and volunteers.
• Address performance concerns and staff conflicts promptly and appropriately.
• Develop emerging leaders and create opportunities for staff to grow.

Safety and Club Operations

• Maintain consistent oversight of all areas of the Club and know what is happening throughout the building.
• Ensure staff follow youth supervision, incident-reporting, emergency-response and other safety procedures.
• Respond calmly and decisively to emergencies, behavioral concerns, and unexpected operational challenges, escalating serious concerns promptly.
• Ensure the facility is clean, secure, functional, welcoming, and ready for youth each day, coordinating repairs and building needs with Facilities & Safety.

Program Quality and Youth Experience

• Oversee programs and activities to ensure they are structured, engaging, age-appropriate, and aligned with organizational goals and Boys & Girls Clubs of America standards.
• Monitor program quality through direct observation, data, and member feedback, ensuring expectations are met.
• Build meaningful relationships with members while ensuring appropriate boundaries and consistent behavior-management practices.
• Maintain meaningful relationships with members and work with staff and families to address member needs, disciplinary concerns, and barriers to participation.

Club Performance and Results

• Develop and implement strategies to increase enrollment, daily attendance, retention, and program participation.
• Monitor membership and participation data, ensure records are accurate, and use results to guide outreach and improvement efforts.
• Build strong relationships with parents and caregivers through proactive, respectful, and responsive communication.
• Own the Club's performance against organizational goals, site targets, approved budget, grant commitments, and corrective action plans.
• Partner with Finance and Program Services leadership to develop the annual budget, review budget-to-actual results and address variances responsibly.
• Ensure assigned grants are implemented as promised, including required programs, participation, staffing, purchases, documentation, and outcomes.
• Maintain accurate and timely program, attendance, spending, and grant records; communicate emerging risks or resource needs early enough for corrective action.
• Use data and operating information to identify concerns, improve systems and make timely decisions.

Community Representation

• Serve as the primary site-level representative to schools, parents, neighborhood organizations, volunteers, funders, and community partners.
• Build and maintain partnerships that expand opportunities, resources, experiential learning and support for members.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen the Club's visibility, reputation and connection to the surrounding community.
• Coordinate partner activities and ensure external relationships align with organizational priorities, youth-safety requirements and the needs of the Club.
• Participate actively in Club Director meetings, cross-site initiatives and organizational events and share ideas, resources and best practices with colleagues.

Other Responsibilities

• Plan and support Club events, family activities and special initiatives.
• Transport youth in BGCH vehicles as required and permitted.
• Attend required meetings and trainings.
• Perform other related responsibilities as organizational needs evolve.

Supervisory Responsibility

Manages all full-time and part-time staff in the Club site. Will also supervise interns, volunteers, seasonal staff and others assigned to Club activities or programs.

Expected Hours of Work

• School Year: Monday through Friday, primarily 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
• Summer Camp: Monday through Friday eight hours between 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., as designated by supervisor
• Occasional morning, evening, weekend and overnight work may be required.
• Work may require local and occasional distant overnight travel.

Benefits & Employee Experience

At Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford, we want our employees to feel supported both at work and beyond. Full-time employees have access to a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Health & Wellness: Medical, dental, vision, and voluntary life insurance, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and wellness initiatives and resources designed to support employee well-being.
• Financial Security: Employer-paid life insurance equal to 2x annual salary, AD&D coverage, and a 401(k) retirement plan. BGCH matches 50% of employee contributions up to 8% of pay (for a maximum employer match of 4%) and provides an additional 4% Safe Harbor contribution, made quarterly for eligible employees.
• Time to Recharge: Generous paid time off and 16 paid holidays, including a week-long holiday break in December.
• Training & Development: Ongoing opportunities to build skills and grow professionally through organization-wide training, role-specific development, leadership development, coaching, and other learning opportunities.
• Connection & Employee Voice: Organization-wide Town Halls keep employees connected to BGCH priorities and progress, while regular employee surveys provide opportunities to share feedback and help shape the employee experience.
• Community & Culture: Employee wellness activities, resources, and organization-wide events, including our annual holiday celebration.

Requirements

• Four-year degree from an accredited college or university or the equivalent work experience which is two years for every one year of college (8 years)
• A minimum of 2 years supervisory experience, including coaching, performance management, scheduling, hiring, and onboarding
• Demonstrated ability to manage daily operations and make sound decisions under pressure.
• Experience using data, goals and performance information to improve results.
• Experience managing a youth-serving, educational, community-based or multi-program site.
• Experience with budgets and grants, compliance.
• Strong verbal, written, organizational and interpersonal communication skills.
• Computer proficiency, including Microsoft Office and the ability to learn required data systems.
• Strong commitment to youth safety, inclusion, ethical conduct and professional boundaries.
• Valid Connecticut driver's license and ability to obtain the required Public Service License endorsement within six months of employment.
• Ability to obtain and maintain CPR and First Aid certification.