Deputy Director

Reports to: Founder & Executive Director

Direct reports: Program Leads (regional and virtual), Marketing Lead, Operations Lead

Location: Preference for candidates based in Atlanta or New York City; open to other locations for the right candidate

Salary range: $95,000–$115,000, commensurate with experience, plus benefits

Classification: Full-time, exempt, senior leadership

About the Role

Black Girls Smile seeks a Deputy Director to serve as the organization’s second-in-command, in true partnership with the Executive Director to drive organizational strategy and build BGS’s human capital. This role owns the day-to-day leadership of the organization across our programming, operations, marketing, and administrative functions. This is not simply about freeing up the Executive Director’s time; it’s about actively shaping and advancing where BGS is headed, and strengthening the people and systems that get us there. This person exercises real, independent decision-making authority.They resolve what doesn’t need the ED’s involvement and bring forward what does, with clear options and a recommendation attached. This senior leader is accountable for organizational excellence not by doing the work directly, but by developing the people, systems, and processes that deliver it. Our work spans Atlanta, NYC, and virtual programming, and this role is central to creating consistency and driving collaboration across that multi-regional model.

Responsibilities and Duties

Staff Leadership, Culture & Management (35%)

• Directly manage Program Leads (regional and virtual), the Marketing Lead, and the Operations Lead; ensure quality and consistency across all functions
• Recruit, onboard, and evaluate staff in partnership with the ED, aligning performance with BGS’s mission and values
• Provide regular supervision, coaching, and professional development support to direct reports
• Maintain strong working relationships with key contractors (e.g., NYC programming facilitators, marketing support) to ensure quality and consistency of externally delivered work
• Foster a positive, collaborative, and accountable team culture across a distributed, multi-regional team

Cross-Functional Strategy, Alignment & Executive Partnership (25%)

• Serve as the connective tissue across operations, marketing, programming, and development, making sure every team is working from the same priorities and driving collaboration between functions
• Run the organizational operating rhythm: annual planning, OKRs, accountability cadences, internal communications, and clear roles and decision-flow across the team
• Serve as the organization’s decision filter: resolve what doesn’t need the ED’s involvement, and bring forward what does with framed options and a recommendation
• Serve as strategic thought partner to the ED, helping shape and advance organizational strategy and the development of BGS’s people and capacity
• Prepare board meeting materials and support board committee coordination

Programmatic Consistency, Impact & Narrative Change (20%)

• Create consistency in programming, impact reporting, and narrative change across all regions (ATL, NYC) and virtual programming
• Oversee the development of shared metrics, reporting structures, and storytelling that reflect BGS’s collective impact across all sites
• Ensure the Junior Advisory Board’s voice is meaningfully incorporated into programmatic and organizational decision-making, in partnership with Program Leads
• Advise the ED on opportunities for programmatic growth, innovation, and cross-regional learning

Operational & Organizational Health (20%)

• Own technology strategy for the organization: drive decisions on tool usage, integration, and automation to increase team efficiency, and ensure training and adoption so tools actually meet the team’s needs (implementation may be supported by others; this role drives the strategy)
• Hold and oversee BGS’s relationships with Legal, Compliance, and Accounting/Finance partners, ensuring sound organizational practices across each area
• Partner with Finance and Operations support on budget management and reporting

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive nonprofit leadership, including 3+ years managing managers, ideally with time as a #2 (Deputy Director, COO, Chief of Staff, or equivalent)
• Track record leading multi-site or multi-program operations; experience with organizations operating across multiple regions or a hybrid virtual/in-person model preferred
• Deep alignment with BGS’s mission and lived commitment to the mental wellness of Black girls, women, and gender-expansive individuals
• Demonstrated ability to hold senior staff accountable while building trust and culture; comfortable holding firm lines, delivering candid feedback, and making decisions quickly
• Comfort holding authority and making decisions on a founder’s behalf; decisive, discreet, low-ego, and steady under pressure
• Ability to build streamlined systems and processes that support a small, growing team without adding unnecessary bureaucracy
• Experience overseeing or working closely with legal, compliance, or finance/accounting functions
• Experience incorporating community or stakeholder voice (e.g., youth advisory boards) into organizational strategy and decision-making
• Experience working with a board of directors; familiarity with founder-led organizations strongly preferred
• Strong technology fluency, with experience driving adoption of tools (e.g., Notion, Asana, Airtable, or comparable systems) across a team

What Success Looks Like in Year One

• Program Leads, the Marketing Lead, and the Operations Lead report a clear accountability rhythm and know where decisions live
• Programming, marketing, operations, and development are visibly working from the same priorities, with the Deputy Director as the connective point across teams
• Reporting on programming, impact, and narrative is consistent across Atlanta, NYC, and virtual programming
• The Junior Advisory Board has a clear, working channel into programmatic and organizational decisions
• A clear technology and workflow strategy is in place, with the team trained and tools integrated in ways that measurably increase efficiency
• Legal, compliance, and finance relationships are running smoothly, with clear oversight and no gaps in organizational health
• The ED’s day-to-day operational load is meaningfully reduced, and the decision filter is working: the ED is looped in only on what genuinely requires input