job opportunities

Program Director

Location: Carteret County, North Carolina

Start Date: Late January, early February 2026

Classification: Full-time exempt

Reports to: Executive Director

Anticipated Pay Range: $70,000-90,000 (commensurate with experience)

About Lighthouse Environment Partners

Lighthouse Environment Partners is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2023 that empowers partners to develop and implement solutions for local communities, organizations, and ecosystems to thrive through community-centered work in eastern North Carolina. We specialize in partnership coordination, community engagement, and grant management to support historically disinvested rural communities facing complex challenges.

Who We’re Looking For:

A program owner who can lead multi-partner work, manage staff, and run federal-style grant execution that is audit-ready—with excellent metrics, documentation, and reporting as a non-negotiable.

What You’ll Do Here:

  • Lead multiple programs and grants from planning through delivery 

  • Manage and mentor the Community Resilience Organizer to deliver consistent, community-centered engagement that converts into deliverables

  • Deliver excellent metrics, documentation, and reporting

General Description

The Program Director reports to the Executive Director and will manage multiple programs for Lighthouse Environment Partners. This includes leading a flagship coastal resilience initiative in Carteret County focused on nature-based solutions that reduce flooding, support land retention, and strengthen sustainable land and water management, as well as other existing programs related to wastewater, flooding, education and land retention. (Note: details about specific funders and award announcements will be shared later in the process, as applicable.)

This role requires an experienced operator who can set priorities, build systems, enforce deadlines, and ensure reporting readiness across staff, partners, and contractors.

Key Job Functions

  • Provide program leadership and delivery across Lighthouse’s portfolio (programs, grants, community activities, and partner deliverables)

  • Supervise the Community Resilience Organizer; set goals, provide coaching, ensure follow-through, and maintain a healthy execution cadence (1:1s, planning, feedback)

  • Ensure community engagement work is well-planned, well-documented, and clearly tied to program deliverables and required metrics

  • Own implementation of multi-partner initiatives that advance nature-based flood mitigation, ecosystem resilience, infrastructure, and working lands/land retention strategies

  • Coordinate partners and deliverables across organizations (technical partners, agencies, community groups)

  • Track metrics and maintain documentation that supports reporting (attendance, outreach logs, meeting notes, deliverable acceptance, approvals, partner submissions)

  • Manage contractors/subawards and keep scopes, deliverables, and documentation organized and submission-ready (including procurement awareness aligned with 2 CFR 200 when applicable)

  • Produce reporting inputs tied to required targets (e.g., plans developed, people meaningfully engaged, workshops/meetings held, designs produced, acres impacted, etc.)

  • Work with the Executive Director to identify and sustain key local private, public, and philanthropic relationships that advance program goals

  • Utilize and manage project management tools and shared systems to administer projects actively and effectively 

  • Run the internal operating system: project plans, timelines, meeting agendas/notes, decision logs, action trackers, file hygiene, and monthly status updates; refine and build as needed

  • Collaborate with Communications to develop and deliver program content for newsletters, social media, and other outreach initiatives (including collecting stories, photos/permissions, and impact metrics)

  • Collaborate with Development/grant-writing support to advance program funding and continuity, including providing reporting-ready inputs (program narratives, metrics, budgets, workplans, and documentation) for proposals, renewals, and amendments.

Required Experience, Skills & Background

  • Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field

  • Minimum 4–7+ years of relevant experience (program management, grants management, project delivery, or similar)

  • Experience managing staff (direct supervision required); demonstrated ability to coach, set accountability, and improve performance

  • Demonstrated experience managing federal grants or federal pass-through funds (or equivalent compliance-driven grant environments)

  • Excellent writing skills (clear reporting narratives, partner follow-ups, meeting notes that turn into action, support for grant-writing)

  • Experience working closely with rural and underserved communities

  • Exceptional metrics, documentation, and reporting discipline 

  • Strong project management experience coordinating multiple stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables

  • Comfort supporting administrative requirements tied to grants (documentation, procurement coordination, partner reporting, file hygiene)

  • Independent self-starter with exceptional interpersonal and communication skills

  • Ability to work some nights/weekends as necessary to carry out key job functions (community meetings/events)

  • Travel within the region required (site visits, partner meetings, community workshops)

  • Proficiency with CRM/project tools (Asana/Trello, Google Workspace)

Desired Experience, Skills & Background

  • Experience working in coastal resilience, conservation, land use, restoration planning/design, working lands, or related fields

  • Experience managing subawards/consultants and coordinating multi-partner deliverables

  • Familiarity with rural community-based engagement and long-term relationship building in Carteret County

  • Proficiency with Airtable, Google Drive

Benefits

  • Flexible working environment

  • Healthcare, vision, and dental

  • Flexible vacation schedule

EEO Policy

Lighthouse Environment Partners is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

How to Apply

Please upload CV and Cover Letter at this link.