Executive Director

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR — NONPROFIT OPERATIONS & PUBLIC SAFETY

Kansas City, Missouri | Full-time, Exempt | $90,000–$110,000 annually

Reports to:

Chief Executive Officer

Lyrik's Institution is a Kansas City nonprofit working to reduce violence and increase economic mobility for youth and young adults ages 13–25 affected by poverty, trauma, and systemic instability. Through Cognitive Behavioral Modification (CBM), workforce pathways, case management, school-based interventions, street outreach, leadership development, and cross-sector coordination, we connect young people with the relationships, skills, and opportunities needed for long-term stability.

We are seeking an experienced Executive Director to serve as the senior operational leader and primary driver of day-to-day organizational execution. Reporting to the CEO, you will turn vision, Board-approved direction, grant commitments, and strategic priorities into clear operating plans, coordinated programs, staff accountability, documented decisions, and measurable results.

This is an active institution-building role for a leader who can create structure without losing relationships, cultural grounding, urgency, community trust, or the dignity of participants, families, staff, and partners. The strongest candidate will combine nonprofit operations expertise, strategic judgment, emotional intelligence, disciplined follow-through, and a commitment to youth development and community violence prevention.

• Translate organizational strategy, CEO priorities, Board direction, and grant obligations into annual and quarterly operating plans.
• Establish clear owners, deadlines, resources, dependencies, success measures, and escalation paths for major initiatives.
• Build repeatable systems, standard operating procedures, dashboards, and decision processes that strengthen accountability and organizational continuity.

• Oversee daily operations across programs, departments, staffing, schedules, facilities, technology, documentation, and administrative workflows.
• Lead a consistent operating cadence of leadership meetings, CEO briefings, department reviews, performance reviews, and annual planning.
• Maintain action trackers, ownership charts, decision logs, risk registers, calendars, and cross-department handoff systems.

• Oversee quality implementation across school-based services, street outreach, case management, workforce development, behavioral health coordination, leadership development, and ecosystem-building initiatives.
• Ensure participants move through engagement, stabilization, programming, referrals, workforce pathways, leadership opportunities, and follow-up through clear ownership and warm handoffs.
• Monitor program fidelity, participation, progression, outcomes, documentation quality, service gaps, and capacity constraints.
• Protect confidentiality, cultural responsiveness, participant dignity, and strength-based practice.

• Supervise, coach, and develop leadership staff, program leads, and assigned personnel.
• Set clear expectations for roles, decision boundaries, documentation, performance, communication, and escalation.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, retention, succession planning, professional development, and staff wellness in partnership with the CEO and approved HR support.
• Address performance or capacity concerns early and constructively.

• Partner with the CEO and finance function to monitor approved budgets, spending, restricted funding, operational needs, and sustainability risks.
• Keep programs, staffing,…