Chief Program Officer

What You'll Do

Coro California is seeking a Chief Program Officer (CPO) to join the organization at a pivotal moment of growth and integration. As Coro brings together its Southern and Northern California programs into a unified statewide portfolio, the CPO will play a critical role in shaping the future of Coro's leadership development work. The CPO is the organization's senior leader responsible for program excellence, curriculum innovation, and delivery at scale. This leader will oversee all leadership development programs and service offerings, build the systems and infrastructure that enable consistency and quality, and lead a strong, experienced program team through a period of evolution and opportunity.

This role requires a leader who can move fluidly between vision and execution, strategy and facilitation, and people leadership and operational rigor—someone who understands that transformational programs are built through both human-centered leadership and disciplined systems.

As a key member of Coro California's executive leadership team, the CPO will ensure that programs are impactful, culturally responsive, financially sustainable, and aligned with Coro's mission to strengthen democracy.

Key Responsibilities

Leadership, Strategy & Program Stewardship

• Partner with the CEO and executive leadership to define and advance a cohesive, statewide program strategy that reflects Coro California's mission, values, and growth goals.
• Lead program-related goal setting and strategy
• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing program team across regions, fostering collaboration, accountability, and a shared standard of excellence.
• Build and maintain the organizational systems, processes, and infrastructure needed to operationalize program excellence at scale.
• Ensure programs are designed and delivered with fidelity, consistency, and responsiveness to participant, partner, and community needs.
• Establish clear frameworks for staffing capacity, workload management, and program planning to support sustainable execution.
• Provide the CEO with data-informed insights, recommendations, and decision support related to program performance, impact, and future offerings.

Program Design, Curriculum & Innovation

• Oversee the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of Coro's leadership development programs across the state.
• Guide the development of cutting-edge, mission-aligned curriculum grounded in best practices in adult learning, adaptive leadership, and civic leadership development.
• Ensure curriculum and program design reflect the evolving realities of cross-sector civic leadership in California.
• Identify opportunities to align, scale, and replicate core programs statewide while supporting regionally responsive offerings where appropriate.
• Use research, evaluation, and participant feedback to assess program impact at both individual and systems levels, and to inform innovation and iteration.

Program Delivery & Experiential Learning

• Model excellence in facilitation and training, bringing deep expertise in adult learning and cohort-based leadership development.
• Maintain direct engagement with programs to stay grounded in participant experience and inform ongoing design decisions.
• Support the stewardship and relationship management of program-related partnerships, contracts, and client engagements.
• Build strong relationships with participants, alumni, and partners to strengthen engagement, outcomes, and long-term impact.
• Partner closely with the Chief Partnerships Officer and revenue teams to ensure programs are market-relevant, compelling, and financially sustainable.

Who You'll Work With

You will report to the President & CEO.

You will directly manage the Senior Vice President, Training & Programs (Southern California) and Vice President, Training & Programs (Northern California), and oversee a statewide program team of approximately seven staff members.

• Deep alignment with Coro's mission and a commitment to nonpartisan, cross-sector leadership development.
• 10+ years of senior leadership experience in program design, curriculum development, and adult learning, ideally within mission-driven or civic organizations.
• Demonstrated expertise in facilitation and experiential learning for adult and executive audiences.
• Strong understanding of adaptive leadership, systems thinking, and leadership development in complex civic environments.
• Proven ability to lead and scale high-quality programs while maintaining depth, integrity, and participant experience.
• Track record of building, managing, and developing strong teams through periods of change.
• Experience partnering with revenue, development, or business teams to ensure program sustainability.
• Data-informed decision-maker with experience using evaluation and metrics to guide strategy.
• Strong operational, project management, and communication skills, with the ability to engage diverse audiences including staff, board members, alumni, funders, and partners.
• Effective verbal and written communication across varied audiences, including internal staff, board members, program participants, alumni, and other external stakeholders.

Coro has a hybrid work policy with employees expected to work in-person from their regional (San Francisco or Los Angeles) office every Wednesday and on-site as needed for program, development, and event-related activities. Monthly statewide travel is expected.

This full-time, exempt role is based in the Greater Los Angeles or Bay Area, CA, with a preference for candidates located in or near the Greater Los Angeles region.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Since Coro's founding in 1942, in addition to preparing future leaders, the organization also explored questions about the inextricable links between diversity and the establishment of a thriving democracy. Specifically:

• Are there blocks within human nature that work against the acceptance of diversity, which is so necessary in a democracy?
• Is there a "political intelligence" that any human being, of whatever age, ethnic allegiance, experience and so on, can use to resolve differences and make decisions?

For decades, Coro programs have explored these questions with a fundamental belief that we need more people who can work and lead across difference — and that knowing, appreciating, and having meaningful relationships with a diversity of ideas, perspectives, and lived experiences, often embodied by race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, and political ideology, is a requirement for leading in a thriving democracy.

Learn more about What We Believe at Coro. Visit Coro's DEI&B living statement here.

Coro is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind and are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities or sincerely held religious beliefs, observances, and practices. If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability or religious practice, please contact us at ejavey@coronorcal.org.

We are committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of experiences, perspectives, and communities across our region. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.