Deputy Director

The Deputy Director serves as Rainbow Fleet’s senior internal operating leader and a strategic partner to the Executive Director. The position is responsible for translating organizational strategy and priorities into coordinated execution across programs, grants, people operations, and administrative functions.

The Deputy Director directly supervises the Program Directors, Grants & Claims Director, and Operations Personnel and establishes the leadership rhythms, expectations, communication, and accountability necessary for those functions to operate effectively together.

As second-in-command, the Deputy Director serves as the primary point of leadership for day-to-day organizational operations, resolving issues at the appropriate level and elevating matters to the Executive Director when they involve significant organizational risk, strategic direction, financial exposure, Board governance, or external relationships.

The Deputy Director works in close partnership with the Executive Director to maintain alignment between Rainbow Fleet’s long-term direction and its daily execution. The role is expected to exercise substantial independent judgment and decision‑making authority within established organizational strategy, policies, budgets, and regulatory requirements.

• Translate strategic priorities established by the Executive Director and Board into operational plans, responsibilities, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
• Lead the day‑to‑day coordination of Rainbow Fleet’s programs and administrative functions.
• Establish effective operating rhythms for leadership meetings, cross‑functional planning, decision‑making, accountability, and follow‑through.
• Identify operational barriers, competing priorities, gaps, and dependencies across departments and lead their resolution.
• Ensure organizational policies, procedures, systems, and workflows support effective and consistent operations.
• Make routine and significant operational decisions within delegated authority, escalating matters appropriately based on organizational impact or risk.

• Directly supervise, coach, and develop the Program Directors, Grants & Claims Director, and Operations Personnel.
• Establish clear expectations for leadership performance, accountability, communication, collaboration, and decision‑making.
• Hold leaders accountable for addressing performance, staffing, workflow, and team issues within their areas of responsibility.
• Support managers in resolving employee and operational concerns at the appropriate level rather than unnecessarily escalating routine management matters.
• Partner with Operations Personnel on people operations, including recruitment processes, onboarding, performance management systems, employee relations practices, policies, and organizational compliance.
• Identify leadership and organizational capacity needs and recommend appropriate staffing, development, or structural changes to the Executive Director.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, equitable, and accountable organizational culture consistent with Rainbow Fleet’s mission and values.

• Provide executive‑level oversight to Program Directors while maintaining appropriate ownership of program operations at the director level.
• Ensure programs operate consistently with organizational strategy, contractual requirements, quality expectations, and established outcomes.
• Facilitate coordination among programs when resources, participants, funding requirements, staffing, or organizational priorities intersect.
• Monitor program performance and organizational indicators to identify trends, risks, and opportunities requiring leadership attention.
• Support…