Senior Director, Next Generation

National Audubon Society • Washington, DC

1d • $115,000 - $162,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, Next Generation leads the Next Generation initiative, an essential pillar of Audubon’s Community Building milestone, alongside conservation action centers and partner centers, community chapters, and other strategic partner networks. For the first time, this role unites Audubon’s work to engage youth and young adults under a single strategic leader, bringing consistency; commitment to long-term, measurable impact; and intentional connection across K–12 education, campus chapters, and early‑career pathways. The Senior Director will directly manage the Audubon campus chapters team and partner closely with state, regional, and country teams across the hemisphere; Audubon Conservation Action Center and partner-centers staff; and the People and Culture department to implement the Next Generation strategy. The ultimate outcome of building a strong pipeline of conservationists is to create a robust, hemispheric constituency capable of driving bird and habitat conservation and policy changes everywhere Audubon works. By curating consistent core programming and implementing a clear ladder of engagement, this role ensures young people progress from learning to action to leadership—strengthening Audubon’s long‑term impact across the Americas.

Requirements

• 10 years of experience, and three years in a leadership capacity, in youth and young adult engagement, including education, civic engagement, community organizing, or movement‑building.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience will also be considered.
• Demonstrated ability to design and lead complex, multi‑stage programs with long‑term impact goals.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and people‑management skills, including experience leading teams and influencing across teams without formal authority.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential.
• Skilled in creative problem-solving, with the ability to articulate strategic vision to help team members and the organization achieve long-term goals.
• Ability to spend time with staff in person, as needed.
• Willingness to travel out of state and internationally, as needed, and work occasional nights and weekends, when necessary.
• Willingness to travel up to 25% of the time.
• Commitment to Audubon’s organizational values of care, collaboration, change, integrity, impact, and innovation.
• Experience fostering inclusive and collaborative work environments is valued.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working across regions, sectors, or cultures is strongly preferred.
• Proficiency in written and spoken Spanish is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead Audubon’s Next Generation pillar within the Community Building milestone, aligning youth and young‑adult engagement with Flight Plan goals and organizational strategy.
• Unite and align programs serving children, students, and emerging professionals into a cohesive pipeline with consistent, measurable outcomes and pathways between stages.
• Ensure programs are designed with consistent core frameworks that can be adapted to local context while advancing shared outcomes across the hemisphere.
• Provide strategic oversight of implementation of priority programs, including K12 engagement and leadership development, Audubon Campus Chapters, and Audubon fellowships, internships, and workforce development programs.
• Manage and develop the campus chapters team, fostering an inclusive, high‑performing, and mission‑aligned team culture through establishment of work objectives and priorities, reviewing and revising these objectives on an ongoing basis to guide and mentor team members in their work progress.
• Lead adaptation and expansion of Audubon Campus Chapters across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada; increase conservation action and civic engagement at institutions that are new to the conservation movement.
• Partner closely with People and Culture to align internship and fellowship programs with long‑term engagement, leadership development, and workforce pathways, including impact tracking over time.
• Design and operationalize a ladder of engagement that intentionally connects Next Generation participants to community chapters, partner networks, and conservation action centers over time.
• Establish and monitor metrics related to scale, equity, retention, progression, and civic engagement, using data to inform strategy and continuous improvement.
• Represent Audubon as a thought leader in youth and young‑adult engagement, building equitable partnerships across organizations and regions and increasing visibility of Audubon’s next generation work.
• Play a key role in organizing the biannual Audubon Leadership Conference, under the leadership of the Managing Director, Community Building and in partnership with Conservation leaders, Next Generation leaders, and partners.
• Support a culture of philanthropy, including public funding efforts.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the Americas including through joint planning and execution of shared priorities.
• Maintains and fosters culture of safety.
• Other job-related duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Salary range based on geo-differentials: $115,000 - $129,000 / year = Albuquerque, NM; Charleston, SC; Columbia, SC; Fargo, ND; Fort Collins, CO; Lincoln, NE; Miami, FL; New Orleans, LA; Salt Lake City, UT; Tallahassee, FL
• $129,000 - $145,000 / year = Albany, NY; Anchorage, AK; Baltimore, MD; Chicago, IL; Palm Desert, CA; Roseville, MN; Sacramento, CA; Washington, DC
• $144,000 - $162,000 / year = New York, NY; Oakland, CA

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed