Executive Director, URJ Camps & Immersives

About the role

The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) seeks a senior leader to serve as Executive Director, URJ Camps & Immersives. This role serves as the strategic and operational leader of a multi-site portfolio, effectively stewarding a mission-driven enterprise that spans camps and immersive experiences across North America.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall strategy and performance of a multi-site portfolio of camps and immersive experiences, with accountability for impact, sustainability, long-term growth, and deep integration across URJ teams, priorities, and shared goals.
• Develop and execute multi-year portfolio strategies that align mission, program offerings, financial models, and market opportunities.
• Establish and use key performance indicators across impact, participation, retention, financial health, and philanthropy to guide decision-making.
• Oversee portfolio-level financial planning, forecasting, and resource allocation in partnership with Business Strategy & Management.
• Ensure disciplined and values-aligned decision-making around investments, cost structures, and prioritization.
• Balance near-term operational performance with long-term transformation and investment.
• Use data, market insights, and demographic trends to inform program design, pricing strategies, and geographic reach.
• Drive strategies that expand participation, strengthen retention, increase accessibility, and support sustained growth across summer and year-round experiences.
• Position enrollment growth as an outcome of program excellence, strong value proposition, and effective market engagement.
• Identify opportunities to deepen impact beyond the summer season, including academic-year offerings, alumni engagement, leadership pathways, and other URJ flagship experiences and offerings.
• Strengthen and scale recruitment and engagement pipelines through partnerships with URJ flagship experiences and offerings, congregations, youth movements, federations, and other communal organizations.
• Translate program impact into clear, compelling narratives that strengthen market positioning, support recruitment, and deepen connection among families, alumni, and partners.
• Model and operationalize a “Team OneURJ” mindset, holding leaders accountable for enterprise thinking, shared outcomes, and collaboration beyond individual sites or portfolios.
• Lead, develop, and support camp directors as senior leaders responsible for the URJ, including all URJ experiences and offerings, people, and operational outcomes.
• Drive organizational alignment across portfolio and broader URJ, advancing shared standards, systems, and ways of working that strengthen collective impact and reduce fragmentation.
• Build leadership capacity and succession pipelines to ensure long-term strength and continuity.
• Serve as a visible and trusted leader to staff, families, donors, alumni, and community stakeholders.
• Drive strategies that expand participation, strengthen retention, increase accessibility, and support sustained growth across summer and year-round experiences.
• Support and develop camp directors and camp boards as effective partners in fundraising and external relationship building for portfolio, overall youth engagement, and the broader URJ.
• Personally engage in major donor cultivation and stewardship, using compelling storytelling to connect vision, impact, and investment opportunities at both the portfolio and enterprise level.
• Maintain executive accountability for safety, compliance, and risk management across all sites.
• Ensure high standards in medical care, mental health support, facilities, and staff training.
• Partner with central teams to ensure operational consistency, preparedness, and resilience across the portfolio.
• Drive strategies that expand participation, strengthen retention, increase accessibility, and support sustained growth across summer and year-round experiences.
• Build leadership capacity and succession pipelines to ensure long-term strength and continuity.
• Serve as a visible and trusted leader to staff, families, donors, alumni, and community stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of senior leadership experience leading complex organizations, portfolios, or business lines within camps, youth-serving organizations, education, nonprofit networks, or mission-driven enterprises.
• Demonstrated success leading and developing senior leaders, including setting strategy, driving performance, and building leadership capacity.
• Strong business and financial acumen, including experience with budgeting, forecasting, pricing strategy, and long-term sustainability planning.
• Proven experience driving growth and impact through program development, market expansion, audience engagement, or related strategies.
• Experience leading organizational change, including evolving structures, systems, or operating models.
• Experience managing complex, multi-site or multi-functional operations, including oversight of facilities, safety, compliance, and risk management.
• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain relationships with diverse stakeholders, including staff, lay leaders, donors, families, and community partners.
• Experience partnering on or leading fundraising efforts, including major gifts, capital campaigns, or strategic partnerships.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, with experience fostering communities of belonging.
• Ability to navigate camp environments, including walking and standing for extended periods, working outdoors in variable conditions, and occasionally lifting up to 15 pounds.
• Availability for onsite leadership during summer months.