Director of Leadership Development

Leadership-Roundtable; United States; Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 165,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive non-profit salary

401k with up to 5% match

Full health, dental, vision insurance

Disability and life insurance

Generous holiday package

Job summary

Leadership Roundtable seeks a Director of Leadership Development to empower Catholic leaders to realize their potential and enhance ministries. You will deliver management and leadership formation through our programs and support services to senior Church leaders in person and online.

The role requires synthesizing client data into actionable insights, presenting recommendations, and supporting implementation while guiding spiritual practices for groups, in a mission-driven, evangelizing

Qualifications

• Substantial senior leadership experience — roughly fifteen years in Catholic institutions or mission-driven organizations.
• A practicing Catholic in good standing with credibility in the Church community.
• Proven ability to build trust across clergy and lay leaders to foster collaboration.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and diplomacy with confidential information.
• Experience directing multi-stakeholder initiatives and large convenings.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, editing and proofreading.

Responsibilities

• Plan, lead, and deliver core programs and services, in person and virtually, with compelling materials.
• Guide clients through priority setting and short/long-term implementation planning.
• Deliver leadership, management, and soft-skills training using varied instructional methods.
• Collect and synthesize client data, draw insights, and propose concrete actions.
• Lead prayer and spiritual practices to ground client work in Christ.
• Maintain trusted relationships with Church leaders across the United States.
• Develop new engagements with dioceses and Catholic organizations; renew existing ones.
• Initiate exploratory conversations with prospective clients and scope engagements.
• Write proposals with scope, pricing, and terms in collaboration with the Executive Partner.
• Represent Leadership Roundtable at conferences and gatherings including the Summit.

Skills

Senior leadership

Religious leadership

Communication

Diplomacy

Travel willingness

Education

Master's degree in related field

Job description

Organizational Overview

Leadership Roundtable partners with lay, ordained, and religious leaders to advance best practices in leadership, management, and governance — helping Catholic leaders across every sector of the Church build a culture of operational excellence and co-responsible standards-driven leadership.

We exist because we believe that well-run Catholic institutions thrive when leaders identify and uphold high standards, include laity and clergy together in decision-making, and build a holistic culture of operational excellence grounded in transparency and accountability. Institutions like these are the Church's best opportunity to grow and further engage the faithful to forward the mission of evangelization, service to human flourishing, and spiritual enrichment, and faithfulness to Christ's message.

We envision a Catholic Church renowned for excellence in leadership, governance, and effectiveness — one in which co-responsibility, transparency, and accountability strengthen trust and thereby enliven the Church's mission in the world.

Position Overview

The Director of Leadership Development helps Catholic leaders realize their full potential so that the Church can carry out its ministries more effectively. This role delivers management and leadership formation, grounded in Leadership Roundtable's programs, tools, and support services, to the most senior leaders in the Catholic Church.

This person accompanies Catholic leaders (bishops, vicars general, chancellors, congregational leaders, and senior lay leaders) through Leadership Roundtable’s standards-based consulting and training services, both in person and virtually.

This person should have demonstrated consulting and presenting experience: synthesizing client data into themes and insights, translating those insights into practical recommendations, supporting clients through implementation, and initiating and expanding engagements.

Key Responsibilities

Service Delivery and Accompaniment

• Plan, lead, and deliver Leadership Roundtable’s core programs and services, in person and virtually, and develop the presentations and materials that support them.
• Lead clients through a full planning process of priority identification, goal setting, and short- and long-term implementation planning; partner with them through execution and assess outcomes.
• Deliver leadership, management, and soft-skills training to adult learners using a variety of instructional techniques and formats, including facilitated team exercises, role play, group discussion, and case work.
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize client data; draw conclusions, identify possible action steps, and help clients understand the data and reports.
• Lead prayer and other spiritual practices for groups in order to ground and center client change and work in Christ.

Client Relationships and Development

• Maintain trusted relationships with Church leaders across the United States.
• Initiate relationships and promote Leadership Roundtable support services among dioceses, religious institutes, Catholic charities, foundations, seminaries, and national Catholic organizations.
• Renew and expand existing engagements; pursue follow-on opportunities that surface during delivery.
• Lead initial exploratory and assessment conversations with prospective clients; diagnose need and scope an appropriate engagement.
• Write proposals, working with the Executive Partner on scope pricing and terms.
• Represent Leadership Roundtable at conferences and professional associations.
• Attend and contribute to Leadership Roundtable convenings, including the annual Summit and other special gatherings.

Successful Candidates Must Have/Be:

Required

• Substantial senior leadership experience — roughly fifteen years of progressively responsible leadership — either within Catholic institutions or in mission-driven organizations, foundations, or professional services, paired with demonstrated fluency in the structure, culture, teachings, and governance of the Catholic Church.
• A practicing Catholic in good standing. This role represents Leadership Roundtable to bishops, clergy, religious, and lay leaders across the Church; credibility and personal witness within the Catholic community are essential to it.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust with senior leaders across very different worlds — clergy and lay, ecclesial and corporate and build trust and relationships across ideological divisions turning them into concrete collaborations.
• Strong judgment, discretion, and diplomacy, with a track record of handling sensitive matters and confidential information.
• Proven ability to direct complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives through others, including large convenings.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills, including editing and proofreading.
• Ability to travel approximately 30% of the time, including multi-day trips.
• Genuine commitment to Leadership Roundtable's mission and values.

Preferred

• Master's degree in a related field: nonprofit management, business, pastoral ministry, theology, communications, or public policy.
• Prior work in a diocese, Catholic nonprofit, Catholic university, foundation, apostolate, bishops' conference, or national Catholic organization.
• Existing relationships across Catholic dioceses, ministries, or philanthropic networks.
• Experience planning conferences, retreats, bishop briefings, advisory councils, or high-level convenings.
• Fundraising, sponsorship, or donor-relations experience.

• Competitive non-profit salary based on experience and qualifications
• Option to participate in pre-tax retirement (401k or ROTH) with up to 5% of employee deferral contributions eligible for match
• Benefits: full health, dental, vision, shorter term and long term disability and life insurance are provided
• Generous holiday package including: 10 vacation, 10 sick, 20-21 holidays days per calendar year including Christmas to New Years and the 4th of July week.

Leadership Roundtable is a lay-led Catholic organization, and this position requires a practicing Catholic in good standing. Within that, we are committed to building a team that reflects the full breadth of the Church we serve. We actively welcome applications from women, from people of color, and from candidates whose professional paths have taken them outside traditional Church-institutional careers.