Senior Director of Youth Development

ASPHALT GREEN INC • New York, NY

2d • $135,000 - $150,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Asphalt Green is a nonprofit organization that transforms lives and builds community through sports, fitness, and play for all. Across our sports, aquatics, fitness, camps, and community programs, our staff help New Yorkers of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities access high-quality movement, wellness, and community-centered programming. The Senior Director, Youth Development helps lead and strengthen Asphalt Green’s youth development programs across camp, adaptive, school-based, community, and entry-level sports programs. In this role, you will manage and coach program leaders, build shared standards, improve program quality, and help create a consistent, welcoming, and developmentally supportive experience for young people and families across Asphalt Green programs. This position is a good fit for a people-centered leader who has deep youth development experience, understands how to manage teams across multiple programs or sites, and can turn big ideas into clear systems that staff can actually use. This is a great role for someone with proven youth development leadership experience on a large scale opposed to theoretic experience. Youth programs are a major part of Asphalt Green’s mission and community impact. This role helps make sure those programs are well-run, inclusive, safe, engaging, and connected to the needs of young people, families, schools, and community partners. The Senior Director, Youth Development will help build a stronger youth development ecosystem by supporting Program Directors, improving consistency across programs, strengthening participant pathways, and using feedback and data to improve the experience over time.

Requirements

• 8 to 10 years of progressive leadership experience in youth development or a related field such as education, recreation, sports, camp, community programming, or health and wellness.
• Experience leading large-scale or high-volume youth programs, such as camps, after-school programs, school-based programs, community access initiatives, or multi-site programs.
• Experience managing, coaching, and developing program leaders, including full-time, part-time, or seasonal staff.
• Strong understanding of youth development principles, inclusive program design, and age-appropriate programming.
• Experience supporting programs that serve young people with different backgrounds, abilities, needs, and experience levels.
• Ability to build partnerships with schools, nonprofits, municipalities, public agencies, or community organizations.
• Strong communication, planning, and problem-solving skills.
• Financial and operational awareness, including the ability to balance mission impact with sustainable program models.
• Commitment to Asphalt Green’s mission of advancing health, fitness, and personal growth through sport, fitness, and play for all.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with adaptive programming, access-based initiatives, or inclusive sports programming.
• Experience working in a nonprofit, community-based, school-based, sports, recreation, or youth-serving organization.
• Experience using data, feedback, or program evaluation to improve youth programs.
• Experience supporting grant-funded programs, funder reporting, or partnership-based programming.
• Experience building program standards, staff training tools, leadership frameworks, or participant pathways.
• Familiarity with CRM, registration, payroll, scheduling, or data systems used in program operations.
• Bilingual or multilingual skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for youth development programs, including camp, adaptive, school-based, community, and entry-level sports programs.
• Create and uphold a shared youth development framework that supports access, inclusion, quality, and age-appropriate growth across programs.
• Help program leaders align their work with Asphalt Green’s mission, values, instructional standards, and community needs.
• Strengthen participant pathways so young people can enter programs, stay engaged, build skills, and move into more advanced opportunities when appropriate.
• Identify ways to improve program quality, consistency, and participant experience across a high-volume, multi-site portfolio.
• Lead, coach, and support Program Directors and staff across the youth development portfolio.
• Set clear expectations for program leaders and help them understand what strong program delivery looks like.
• Build leadership capacity by providing regular feedback, practical tools, coaching, and follow-through.
• Help teams work through challenges related to staffing, communication, participant needs, program quality, and daily operations.
• Foster a culture of inclusion, excellence, accountability, and care that reflects Asphalt Green’s values in daily practice.
• Champion program design that is welcoming and accessible to young people of different backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and experience levels.
• Support adaptive and access-based initiatives that help reduce barriers to participation.
• Work with program leaders to define clear outcomes for participation, retention, program quality, and youth development impact.
• Partner with the Data team to support tracking, evaluation, and learning cycles that guide continuous improvement.
• Use participant, family, staff, and community feedback to make thoughtful decisions and strengthen program effectiveness.
• Build alignment across youth development, competitive athletics, operations, finance, data, marketing, and development teams.
• Help teams use shared systems, standards, and expectations while still allowing programs to respond to their specific communities.
• Serve as a key advisor to the Chief Program Officer on youth development strategy, program performance, and long-term planning.
• Support planning and coordination across multiple locations and program areas.
• Balance mission impact, participant experience, staffing realities, and sustainable program models.
• Build and strengthen partnerships with schools, community organizations, nonprofits, public agencies, and other youth-serving partners.
• Provide program insight to the Development team to support funding, sustainability, and grant-related storytelling.
• Partner with Marketing to communicate Asphalt Green’s youth development philosophy, program value, and community impact.
• Represent Asphalt Green with partners, funders, and sector peers when appropriate.

Benefits

• Complimentary Asphalt Green membership.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Paid holidays, vacation, and sick time.
• Hybrid work eligibility for eligible roles.
• Voluntary insurance options, including short and long-term disability, critical accident, and life insurance.
• Plum Benefits discount program.
• Commuter benefits and parking discounts at UES and BPC.
• 401(k).
• Medical FSA and Dependent Care FSA options.

What This Job Offers

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