Vice President of Expeditions

Position Summary

The National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) seeks an experienced and visionary leader who is energized by the opportunity to direct a complex, diverse, and global business unit directly involved in advancing the NOLS student experience. As a key executive team member and reporting directly to the NOLS President, the Vice President of Expeditions will act decisively to chart a fiscally sustainable and innovative path for the Expeditions team.

The Vice President of Expeditions will have the vision and determination to set the Expedition team’s trajectory, the humility to listen carefully and seek input from the key stakeholders, and the judgment and experience to introduce the program and operational change to enable the future evolution of the school. The Vice President of Expeditions will be responsible for the budget and growth targets for the NOLS Expedition portfolio of programs, their mission alignment, and future success.

Key Responsibilities

• Guide a global team who provides exceptional leadership education.
• Head development and implementation of all expeditionary programs to include: all wilderness courses, alumni courses, custom education, and youth programs.
• Oversee 13 campus locations worldwide, and support multiple departments.
• Plan annual financial budget, projection, and reporting cycles for a division that includes 30M+ in revenue.
• Orchestrate collaborative, data-informed processes to design annual course mix; and evaluate and adjust the course mix as necessary to respond to enrollment, staffing, and other shifting factors.
• Lead oversight of curriculum, pedagogy, program quality, faculty assessment and supervision. Establish systems to monitor and strategically improve program effectiveness.
• Engage with the Board of Trustees, serve on other leadership and steering committees as requested.

Your Skills

The ideal candidate will excel at building financially sustainable, and robust programs. You will have an ambitious vision, a clear strategic plan, and an effective execution strategy, all in service to NOLS students and alumni today and tomorrow.

The Vice President of Expeditions will be a collaborative, results-driven leader who is ready to engage, listen, model respectful discussion/debate, set clear priorities and expectations, and be prepared to manage change effectively.

Critical Leadership Capabilities

• Organizational leadership experience in crisis response. Extensive experience leading a large business unit within a complex non-profit or similar institution; a history of building strong teams of highly functioning and collaborative individuals, as well as an exemplary background in recruitment and retention of talented staff.
• Considerable breadth of knowledge; strong intellectual curiosity, interest in, and capacity for, learning across a wide range of fields; and a sincere excitement about and commitment to the mission of NOLS.
• Demonstrated ability that will translate to prevention of and response to fatalities, medical and behavioral incidents, and other emergencies for programs, students, clients and staff.
• Genuine appreciation and passion for the outdoors, wilderness expeditions, the sanctity of wild places, and the NOLS mission. An advocate for the important skills learned and leadership developed in the backcountry and classroom.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with experience acting as a key collaborator and team player, creating productive and respectful relationships across diverse and disparate stakeholders on behalf of an organization.
• Outstanding communication skills, including public speaking and experience serving as the face of, and advocate for, an organization, with evidenced ability to handle difficult situations with diplomacy and judgment.
• Experience at a senior leadership level in one or more of the following areas: higher education leadership, adventure travel management, outdoor retail management, or leadership of a significant non-profit and/or outdoor education enterprise.
• Demonstrated experience in leading equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in a multicultural, global environment and a track record of impact on organizational culture, systems, practices, and strategies that drive measurable progress on the dimensions of access, equity, belonging, and outcomes.

Other Personal Characteristics

• Be an empathetic and community centric leader, with a focus on fostering relationships at all levels and operate within a transparent and collaborative team culture.
• You thrive in dynamic settings with demanding and shifting priorities, adeptly managing ambiguity, diverse stakeholder relationships, and intricate competing demands.
• Champion of daring ideas and embracer of calculated risks. Be confident to invite dialogue, listen carefully, make decisions, and share credit.
• Creative thinker able to respect, honor, and balance the long-standing strengths of an organization while envisioning and implementing innovative approaches.