Sr. Director of Shelter

About Covenant House New York

Join a Legacy of Hope and Empowerment at Covenant House New York!

For over 50 years, Covenant House New York (CHNY) has been at the forefront of transforming lives by providing comprehensive shelter, housing, and wrap-around support services for vulnerable homeless, runaway, and exploited youth. As the largest provider of these essential services in New York City, CHNY impacts the lives of over 1,500 young people aged 16-24 every year.

At CHNY, our doors are open to all young people in need, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression. Our dedicated team offers various services, including shelter, housing, education, employment, health, mental health support, youth development, and anti-human trafficking initiatives. We operate with harm reduction and trauma-informed principles to ensure the best care for our youth.

But our mission goes beyond immediate support. We are passionate advocates for systemic change, influencing public policy, and raising awareness of the critical issues surrounding youth homelessness. Our ultimate goal is to provide a safe refuge and empower young people to build a brighter future founded on compassion, unconditional love, and absolute respect.

Join us in making a difference in the lives of countless young people. Join a team that inspires long-term transformation and hope.

About the role

The Senior Director of Shelter will oversee Covenant House New York’s (CHNY) shelter programs.  This includes our Youth Shelter located in Manhattan serving youth ages 16-21; Homeless Youth Adult Program HYA located in the Bronx for youth ages 21-24 and Mother & Child Shelter for youth ages 16-21 located in the Bronx.  The Senior Director of Shelter will be an integral part of the planning to design and implement new program models and metrics for new sites. It will be the responsibility of the Senior Director to create and maintain linkages to other nonprofit organizations and service providers for the benefit of the youth in these programs.  The Senior Director will lead their team to achieve the goals of Shelter Programs expectation: stabilize and address any immediate trauma experienced by the youth in our care, address immediate needs, and assist the youth in advancing towards their individualized goals with obtaining transitional housing or possible reunification if appropriate.  Additionally, the Senior Director of Shelter will  collaborate with senior CHNY leadership to ensure programming meets the needs of our clients, programmatic goals are accomplished, the program is compliant with regulatory and other requirements (including 24/7 staff coverage), and staff are engaged in training and other activities to develop professionally. The Senior Director will be the champion of evidence-based and other proven models at their sites and will ensure staff are trained and are implementing the models with fidelity.

What you'll do

• Program Design and Implementation
• • In conjunction with CHNY leadership and staff, takes a lead role in new Shelter program design including but not limited to: collaborating with performance measurement and compliance staff to determine programmatic goals and metrics for the program; creating a program manual and policies; determining staffing and shift structures for each site; and creating job postings and descriptions that meet the needs of the sites.
  • Collaborates with operations and facilities leadership and consultants on the development of new sites including but not limited to physical plant layout, furnishings, and security and building maintenance systems.
  • Ensures that all program components meet regulatory and other requirements.
  • Ensures implementation and refinement as needed of program and policies as the new sites open and programs launch.
  • Develops linkages with community organizations to support the work of the program.

• Management and Compliance

• Ensures high quality day-to-day operations of multiple Shelter sites that are funded by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development.
• Hires, trains, supervise and develop a program team with a strong sense of accountability for achieving positive outcomes and complying with CHNY policies and other entities' regulations and requirements.
• Ensures programmatic compliance with regulatory and other requirements. Ensures and/or conducts dry audits of programs and takes a lead role in live aud