Director of Leadership Programs, ULI Dallas-Fort Worth

Urban Land Institute; Dallas (TX); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Urban Land Institute in Dallas–Fort Worth seeks a Director of Leadership Programs to oversee the Center for Leadership, Mentorship Forum, UrbanPlan, and the Small Scale Developers Summer Program. The role reports to the Executive Director and leads day-to-day delivery, budgets, and sponsor relationships.

You will manage multiple programs end to end, partner with volunteers, and build scalable processes so programs can run with reduced direct involvement.

Qualifications

• 5 to 8 years of progressively responsible program management experience in a nonprofit or association.
• Ability to manage a portfolio of concurrent programs end to end from planning to evaluation.
• Strategic planning capability with track record of improving programs over time.
• Budgeting, revenue tracking, and expense management experience including tuition or sponsorships.
• Strong stakeholder and volunteer management skills with senior executives and committees.
• Hands-on working style owning programs from annual plan to logistics, contracts, and billing.
• Excellent listening, written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Outstanding organizational and meeting management skills; able to juggle multiple projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day management and delivery of leadership development and education programs.
• Oversee program budgets, revenue tracking, and operational execution.
• Shape program priorities with volunteer committees and convert into well-run experiences.
• Guide curriculum and sessions for Center for Leadership, Mentorship Forum, UrbanPlan, and related programs.
• Manage finances, tuition collection, sponsorship commitments, and vendor relations.
• Develop structures so programs can run without constant supervision and scale impact.
• Support grant-seeking and partnership development with the Executive Director.

Skills

Program management

Stakeholder management

Volunteer management

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Microsoft Office

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

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Director of Leadership Programs, ULI Dallas-Fort Worth

Regular Employee Dallas, TX, US

30+ days ago Requisition ID: 1616

Salary Range: $80,000.00 To $90,000.00 Annually

ABOUT ULI

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. Founded in 1936, ULI is the oldest and largest cross-disciplinary network of real estate and land use experts in the world, with more than 45,000 members representing the full spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines across private enterprise and public service. ULI's mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide.

ABOUT THE TEAM

ULI's District Councils deliver that mission locally, giving members education, networking, and the chance to lead and give back in their own market. With about 1,300 members across North Texas, ULI Dallas-Fort Worth (ULI DFW) is the region's preeminent organization for leadership in responsible land use, real estate, planning, and development.

You'd be joining a small, tight-knit team: an Executive Director, a manager focused on sponsorship and membership, and a Senior Associate who leads marketing and communications. This Director role is the fourth seat, and it's the one that owns ULI DFW's flagship leadership and education portfolio: the Center for Leadership, the Mentorship Forum, UrbanPlan, and the Small Scale Developers Summer Program. Between them, these programs run a genuinely full calendar: roughly 10 Center for Leadership classes each semester, another 10 to 20 through the Mentorship Forum, and at least 25 UrbanPlan implementations a year.

THE ROLE

Reporting to the Executive Director, ULI Dallas-Fort Worth, the Director leads the day-to-day management and delivery of the leadership development and education portfolio, with responsibility for program budgets, revenue tracking, and operational execution. Working closely with the Executive Director, District Council leadership, and volunteer committees, the Director helps shape program priorities and turns them into well-run, high-impact experiences for members and participants.

Delivering these programs well is the core of the job, but the Executive Director is also looking for a Director who brings good judgment to the table, not just someone who runs the calendar as inherited. That means noticing when a program could use a fresh angle, flagging it, and helping figure out what to do about it. Out in the market, it also means being able to spot a real opportunity, for example, recognizing when UrbanPlan would be a strong fit for a school, municipality, or community partner, and knowing how to bring it back.

At the same time, this is a small team doing the work of a much bigger department, so the role sits at every altitude. The same week you're shaping a program's long-term direction with a volunteer chair, you may also be setting up a room, printing name tags, or hauling boxes of program materials, because there isn't a coordinator to hand that to. This role is a great fit for someone who genuinely thrives in a small, all-hands-on-deck team: someone energized by variety, who takes real pride in the details, and who finds it satisfying to help build something bigger than any one task.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

Leadership Programs: Center for Leadership & Mentorship Forum

• Develop and implement strategy for the Center for Leadership and Mentorship Forum in partnership with volunteer co-chairs, aligning goals, participant experience, and long-term impact with ULI DFW priorities.
• Guide Program Chairs and Day Chairs on curriculum, ensuring sessions, panels, tours, and keynotes advance real thought leadership on key industry topics.
• Own execution end to end: agendas, speakers, participant communications, pre-work, logistics, and weaving in relevant ULI resources and research.
• Manage program finances, including budgets, revenue and expense tracking, tuition collection, and sponsorship commitments.
• Build enough structure and volunteer ownership that these programs can run without you in the room every time, so your time in the room is spent elevating how members think about the program's value, not just keeping it running.
• Lead the mTAP project process (applications, reviewer coordination, evaluation, client engagement, documentation) and serve as secondary point of contact for other Advisory Services projects, including National Advisory Services Panels.

Education Programs: UrbanPlan

• Partner with UrbanPlan Chairs and committee members to grow the program, with a focus on deepening engagement with universities, public officials, and community leaders.
• Own delivery logistics: workshop scheduling, contracts, billing, and follow-up.
• Build and maintain the volunteer pipeline through recruitment, onboarding, training, and annual tracking.
• Serve as the liaison to ULI HQ on curriculum updates, training requirements, and program tools, while monitoring delivery quality.
• Know the program well enough that when you're out in the market talking with other real estate professionals, you can recognize where UrbanPlan belongs and bring it to the table.

Small Scale Developers Summer Program

• Develop and implement program strategy in partnership with third-party vendors and volunteer co-chairs.
• Support Program Chairs on curriculum, ensuring sessions and speakers connect participants to ULI DFW members.
• Own execution: agendas, speakers, participant communications, logistics, and integration of ULI resources.
• Manage program finances, including budgets, tuition collection, and sponsorship commitments.

Strategic Initiatives & Operations

• Support ULI DFW's broader strategic initiatives through program development, content, and external stakeholder engagement.
• Lead grant-seeking and partnership-development efforts in conjunction with the Executive Director, connecting with regional land use leaders and ULI HQ.
• Contribute to District Council growth, including revenue development and expense management.
• Support sponsorship and resource development, particularly for education and leadership-focused prospects.
• Look across the full program portfolio for ways individual programs reinforce each other, for example, bringing an UrbanPlan session into the Center for Leadership curriculum, or aligning program days, rather than letting each program run in a vacuum.
• Identify third-party partners who can help extend ULI DFW's reach; the programs can't scale if the team tries to deliver everything alone.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR

Required

• 5 to 8 years of progressively responsible experience in program management, ideally within a nonprofit, association, or member-led organization.
• Demonstrated ability to manage a portfolio of concurrent programs end to end, from planning and budgeting through delivery and evaluation.
• Strategic planning capability, with evidence of shaping and improving programs over time, not just running them as inherited.
• Proven experience in budgeting, revenue tracking, and expense management, including tuition or registration income and sponsorship commitments.
• Strong stakeholder and volunteer management skills, with the confidence to work with senior business executives and guide volunteer committees without formal authority.
• A genuinely hands-on working style; this role owns its programs at every altitude, from the annual plan down to logistics, contracts, and billing.
• A strong listener who is comfortable in a room of senior real estate professionals: someone who can pick up on what's said and unsaid, and ask the one or two sharp questions that help members land on the right path.
• Outstanding written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Advanced organizational and meeting management skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects at once and stay composed in a fast-paced, small-team environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
• Ability to attend frequent ULI DFW events throughout the region, including early morning and evening events, travel to one to two national meetings per year, and lift up to 30 pounds.

Preferred

• Knowledge of, or existing relationships within, the Dallas-Fort Worth real estate and land use community.
• Real estate, land use, or built environment sector experience.
• Experience with grant seeking, sponsorship development, or partnership building.
• Familiarity with graphic design tools such as Canva.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

In your first 90 days, success looks like understanding the programs and building real relationships with committee chairs, to the point where you can build and start executing the calendar of events with confidence.

Beyond that, success is starting to see the portfolio as a whole rather than four separate programs: identifying where efficiencies exist, where programs can reinforce one another, and where third-party partners can help ULI DFW extend its reach and impact without the team trying to do everything alone.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

The salary range for this position is $80,000 to $90,000. Actual compensation will be based on experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. This position is eligible for ULI's comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and life insurance, generous vacation leave, and a retirement plan with employer match.

WORKING CONDITIONS

This is a hybrid role based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. You'll be in the office Mondays and Wednesdays, when the team gathers for staff meetings, but the rest of the week flexes around where the work is, since this role is member-facing and often out in the community. Regular attendance at ULI DFW programs is expected, including early mornings and evenings, along with travel to one to two national ULI meetings per year.

ULI is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.