Chief Program Officer

Chief Program Officer (CPO)

📍 Location: Single National Position with travel. Preference for candidates based near CEO office in (New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, Atlanta or Philadelphia) Other CEO locations may be considered. 
💼 Position: Executive Team | Chief Program Officer
🌎 Impact: 31 sites nationwide, thousands of lives transformed annually

Transform reentry. Redefine opportunity. Lead with impact.

At CEO, we believe everyone deserves the chance to build a strong future after incarceration. For three decades, we’ve been at the forefront of national reentry work — opening doors to careers, community, and stability for thousands of people each year. Now, we’re seeking a Chief Program Officer (CPO) to help write the next chapter of this story.

This is more than a leadership role. It’s an opportunity to shape the future of reentry nationwide — designing, scaling, and innovating programs that change lives and set a new standard for what’s possible.

The Opportunity

As CPO, you’ll join our executive team as a visionary strategist and catalyst for impact. You’ll oversee a 31-site portfolio spanning vocational training, supportive services, and social enterprise — ensuring our programs not only meet the moment, but push the field forward.

Your leadership will be grounded in evidence, driven by equity, and centered on the voices of participants. You’ll champion innovation, inspire a high-performing team, and cultivate partnerships that amplify our reach and influence. 

As part of our mission, we strongly encourage individuals who have lived experience of incarceration or involvement in the justice system to apply for this role.

Who We Are

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides employment services to people recently released from incarceration. Across the United States, 8,000-9,000 people participate in CEO each year, transitioning to employment that supports themselves, their families, and their communities.

What began as a demonstration project of the Vera Institute of Justice in the 1970s to address employment barriers facing the formerly incarcerated following release in New York City has grown into the leading reentry employment organization in the country, where over 30,000 formerly incarcerated individuals have secured full-time employment since 1996.

What You'll Do

• Set the vision: Shape and implement a bold strategy for reentry programming nationwide.
• Drive innovation: Build and refine vocational pathways and supportive services aligned with labor market needs.
• Lead at scale: Oversee a complex, multi-site portfolio, ensuring excellence and accountability at every level.
• Amplify impact: Partner with employers, funders, government leaders, and advocates to expand opportunity.
• Inspire people: Lead, mentor, and grow a diverse, mission-driven team of program leaders across the country.

Who You Are:

You are an experienced executive leader with a passion for equity and proven success scaling programs that deliver measurable outcomes. You know how to navigate complexity — from multi-million-dollar budgets to cross-sector partnerships — while keeping people at the center.

• 12+ years of senior leadership in nonprofit, government, philanthropy, or social enterprise
• A track record of designing and scaling programs with meaningful results
• Demonstrated success managing complex operations and high-performing teams
• Deep commitment to justice, equity, and inclusion, with knowledge of reentry or related systems
• A relationship-builder who thrives in dynamic, outcomes-driven environments

 

Why Join Us:

This is a chance to make an enduring impact — not only on the lives of the people we serve, but on the field of reentry itself. You’ll join a collaborative executive team, lead a talented national staff, and partner with communities, policymakers, and funders who share our belief in second chances.

At CEO, your leadership will help transform the narrative of reentry — proving that with the right support, people coming home can thrive, contribute, and lead.

Total Rewards:

We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package that reflects how much we value our people. Our benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage with competitive contributions, health reimbursement and flexible spending accounts, and paid parental leave to support families. We invest in your future with a retirement plan that includes employer contributions, along with free financial wellness coaching and resources for mental health and wellbeing through our Employee Assistance Program. 

We also recognize the importance of balance and rest. That’s why we provide a robust paid time off package — including 20 vacation days, 12 sick days, 12 paid holidays, 2 personal days, and 1 floating holiday.

Beyond benefits, CEO fosters a culture of learning, connection, and teamwork. From our affinity group program and lunch-and-learns and team outings, we create opportunities to grow, share, and build community together.

This is an exempt position with a tiered compensation system designed to ensure fairness, market alignment, and equity across our geographical territories. CEO’s salary structure consists of multiple tiers, with ranges determined based on the cost of labor in specific markets. For this role, the salary range falls within the overall range $213,600 - $312,500. CEO’s current salary tiers are structured as follows:

• Tier 1+:$277,700 - $312,500
• Tier 1: $240,000 - $285,000
• Tier 2: $230,000 - $260,000
• Tier 3+: $218,900 - $246,000
• Tier 3: $213,600 - $240,000

CEO’s pay philosophy is centered on experience and internal equity, meaning that individuals with less experience typically start at the lower end of the entry salary ranges above. Higher salary placement is usually reflective of the additional comparable experience, expertise, skills, and contributions employees bring from similar roles. This approach ensures compensation aligns with an employee's background while providing room for growth within the salary range.

 

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES

These responsibilities are representative, but not all-inclusive, of the responsibilities of this role:

Strategic Leadership

• Partner with the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Executive Team, and colleagues across CEO to set program vision and strategy
• Develop, refine and implement the long-range vision and strategic plan for CEO’s programming, while ensuring that the budget, staffing, and resources, and priorities are aligned with CEO’s organizational mission and values
• Translate organizational priorities into measurable program goals
• Establish effective goal-setting and decision-making processes for Program that enable CEO to achieve its long- and short-term goals and objectives
• Plan and execute the development of new programs in coordination with all CEO departments and external stakeholders including, but not limited to funders, partner organizations, contract customers, and government leaders
• Provide thought leadership in reentry, workforce development, and social impact
• Cultivate partnerships with employers, community organizations, government agencies, and funders.
• Represent the organization at conferences, coalitions, and national policy forums.
• Work closely with the CSO to connect program learnings with advocacy efforts

Program Oversight

• Oversee the coordination, integration, and delivery of the multi-site national program portfolio, contracts, and related services, promoting collaborative relationships between program areas and ensuring that the expectations of funders, partners, constituents, clients, and other stakeholders are consistently met
• Directly supervise Program Leadership team, including direct service and administration departments, that manage more than locations
• Build and refine vocational programming and social enterprise services aligned with labor market needs
• Strengthen the impact, and implementation of wraparound supportive services and advanced training for participants
• Offer guidance on response to government and foundation requests for proposals and applications in partnership with development and senior staff; coordinate planning and activities necessary for development of program model strategy and implementation
• Work closely with the CFO to budget and monitor programmatic operations to ensure sound fiscal and system management and proper allocation of resources
• Analyze and assess programs based on data collected and implement corrective measures if required

Operational Excellence & Impact 

• Lead development of program standards, policies, and performance metrics
• Ensure data-driven decision-making through evaluation and reporting systems
• Ensure compliance with funder, regulatory, and contractual requirements, liaising and gathering guidance from the Legal & Compliance and Employee Experience departments
• Represent Program on the Executive Team, engaging members overseeing operational department teams to ensure effective coordination
• Provide guidance on how to deploy resources efficiently and effectively toward organizational goals, working with staff to balance workload and effort and provide regular feedback so that key staff can continuously improve their supervision and mentoring skills
• Foster a results-oriented, collaborative and high-achieving culture with accountability across all departments so that program objectives and defined goals are accomplished and celebrated

Team Management & Support 

• Attract, develop, and retain a strong staff; manage a highly effective and efficient organization as measured by achievement of priority goals
• Lead, mentor, and inspire a diverse, high-performing program team, championing and upholding CEO’s management philosophy 
• Build leadership capacity within program teams nationwide
• Lead and support senior management in aligning their teams with the company’s people strategy and organizational values
• Facilitate cross-departmental collaboration and strengthen internal communications with staff throughout the organization
• Serve as a key stakeholder on various CEO committees
• Travel as needed to meet with staff and external constituents

Key Competencies for the Role

• Strong understanding of the criminal justice system and the challenges of reentry
• Commitment to centering participants and advancing equity and inclusion
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, with the ability to represent the organization externally across a wide range of stakeholders and constituencies 
• Strong relationship builder with the ability to find common ground, build consensus and strengthen collaboration among diverse stakeholders 
• Ability to successfully navigate in a fast-paced, outcomes-driven and entrepreneurial environment 
• Ability to simultaneously manage multiple large and complex projects and priorities; experience with data and deadline-driven, detail-oriented project management as well as managing and prioritizing individual and team workflows 
• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice and advancing meaningful change for people impacted by the legal system; practitioner of equitable and inclusive practices, policies and strategies
• Deep commitment to innovation and a strong sense of how to use technology, data, and systems to improve service and efficiency
• Ability to support the collaborative construction, accessible articulation, and enthusiastic implementation of annual strategic goals and tactical implementation plans

More About Us

Center for Employment Opportunities believes that everyone deserves the chance to shape a stronger future for themselves, their families, and their communities. People who are justice involved are highly encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels. CEO is committed to the CROWN Act, and creating an open space where our employees can present as their true authentic selves.

All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, gender, gender identity, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior record of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, current employment status, caregiver status, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law. We value diverse experiences, including with regard to educational background and justice system contact.

Please note that due to the volume of resumes received, we are unable to contact each applicant regarding the status of each position or reply to candidates' inquiries via phone or email.