Deputy Director

About NICWA:
NICWA protects the safety, health, and cultural identity of all Native children and families—today and for future generations—by upholding culturally based services, community strength, and Tribal sovereignty.

About the Role:
The deputy director serves as NICWA's chief internal operations officer, ensuring organizational effectiveness, operational excellence, and internal alignment, while the executive director focuses primarily on external engagement, advocacy, fundraising, and strategic partnerships. This role is essential to translating external engagement strategy into internal execution, managing day-to-day operations in a hybrid work environment, and ensuring organizational capacity supports mission delivery.
The deputy director provides strategic leadership for all internal operations, including financial management, human resources, facilities, travel, risk monitoring, compliance, and operational systems. This role supervises key operational leaders and coordinates cross-functional work to ensure seamless organizational functioning. During the executive director's absence, the deputy director serves as acting executive director and provides organizational leadership.
This position is internally focused by design: building and maintaining organizational capacity, operational infrastructure to support virtual and onsite work, and team effectiveness that enables NICWA's external impact and mission success.

Primary Responsibilities:
- Oversees all internal operations, including finance, human resources, facilities, travel, and administrative systems
- Provides oversight of fiscal operations, including budget development, financial planning, cash flow management, and financial reporting, in collaboration with the fiscal director
- Oversees all personnel functions, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, benefit administration, professional development, and staff retention as well as trains and coaches supervisors for consistent implementation of policies and procedures
- Oversees administration of all NICWA contracts and grants, including proposal development, implementation, compliance, evaluation, and reporting
- Facilitates coordination between the executive director's external strategy and internal operational execution
- Leads development and implementation of operational policies, procedures, and systems that support organizational effectiveness
- Ensures compliance with all legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements, including nonprofit gover-nance, employment law, grant compliance, state charitable requirements, and organizational policies
- Works with the executive director and senior leadership to translate the external strategy into internal operational priorities and annual objectives
- Leads organizational development and change management initiatives, including structure, systems, and capacity building
- Provides staff support to board committees and prepares board materials and reports on operational matters
- Serves as acting executive director during absences with full authority for organizational leadership and crisis response
- Leads development and maintenance of organizational risk management, business continuity, and emergency response plans

How to Apply:
See more information at: https://www.nicwa.org/careers/
Questions about the role may be directed to Sarah Kastelic at [email protected]. Completed application materials, including a cover letter (2 page maximum), current resume, and NICWA employment application with contact information for three professional references may be sent to Operations Coordinator Andrea Zaragoza at [email protected] by March 9, 2026.