Chief Program Officer

Lantern Community Services Inc New York, New York, United States

Job Posting

Title:

Chief Program Officer

Classification: Full-Time, Exempt

Reports to: Executive Director

Location: Manhattan, NY (relocation package available)

Status &

Hours:

Full-time; occasional evening and weekend hours may be required to support events and organizational priorities.

Compensation: $200,000 – $225,000 annual salary, plus a relocation package for candidates moving to the New York City area.

Who We Are: Lantern Community Services helps New Yorkers impacted by homelessness move from surviving to thriving by pairing safe, supportive housing with wraparound services that build lasting stability and independence. If you believe a steady home can be the start of everything else, you'll fit right in with our mission-first team. Lantern was also recognized as a Top 2026 Workplace by City & State New York
—a great place to do meaningful work with people who care!

Where You Will Work: Based in Manhattan, with regular presence across Lantern's emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing sites throughout New York City.

About The Role:

This is a true seat at the table. As Chief Program Officer, you'll set the direction for Lantern's programs and help shape the future of the organization alongside the Executive Director. Lantern already has strong program leaders in place, so this role is about strategy, not day-to-day supervision: you'll look across our entire ecosystem of emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing, decide which of our innovative programs to grow, and bring the vision that takes them further.

If you want to build rather than maintain, and you're ready to do it in New York City, we want to hear from you.
Candidates relocating from outside New York are encouraged to apply; a relocation package is available.

Essential Functions:

• Set the vision: Define the short- and long-term strategic direction for Lantern's emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing programs, including case management, integrated service programming, and evidence-based models.
• Grow what's working: Identify Lantern's most promising programs and innovations, decide which to scale, and champion new initiatives that benefit clients and staff.
• Bring the outside in: Track sector trends and emerging best practices and ktranslate them into organizational strategy.
• Shape the whole organization: Partner with the Executive Director on agency-wide strategy, funding priorities, and partnerships with philanthropic organizations, corporations, and local service providers.
• Lead with Establish program success metrics with senior staff, quality assurance, and developers of evidence-informed practices; partner with QA to build a transparent, agency-wide data dashboard; and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Prove the impact: Present outcomes and their implications to executive leadership and the fund development team, ensuring programs are effective, compliant with funder requirements, and backed by evidence; work with Finance and Fund Development to keep program spending aligned with contracts.
• Elevate a strong leadership team: Guide and mentor approximately seven senior program leaders, empowering them to run their areas while you focus on the bigger picture.
• Invest in people: Work with Human Resources to assess staff development needs, shape training that keeps service delivery true to its models, and open doors for staff to engage with industry peers.
• Champion the culture: Embed trauma-informed, client-centered practice and Lantern's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility across all programs.
• Be Lantern's voice: Represent Lantern on committees, task forces, conference…