Job Title: Program Director
Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt, Regular Nights & Weekends Expected
Reports To: Assistant Executive Director
About the Opportunity:
Valley Beth Shalom is one of the largest and most vibrant synagogues in the country—and we’re looking for a creative, energetic, relationship-driven Program Director to help bring Jewish life to life.
This is not just an event management job. This is a mission-driven leadership role where you will shape meaningful Jewish experiences, spark connections, build community, and help ensure VBS feels like home for thousands of adults, families, and seekers of all ages.
If you love dreaming big, designing engaging moments, collaborating with passionate clergy and professionals, and bringing people together through joyful and purposeful Jewish experiences—you will thrive here.
Job Summary:
The Program Director plays a central role in strengthening the fabric of community at VBS. As part of the Membership Engagement & Program Team, this position designs, manages, and executes a wide range of synagogue programs, services and events—from inspiring adult learning and immersive holiday celebrations to volunteer initiatives, concerts, and intimate gatherings that deepen connection and Jewish identity.
The Program Director is a creative thinker, a strong relationship builder, and an organized project manager. They partner closely with clergy, staff, and lay leaders to bring ideas to life, ensure a cohesive synagogue-wide program calendar, and elevate the member experience at every touchpoint.
Key Responsibilities:
Programming Leadership
- Dream up, develop, and bring to life innovative and inspiring engagement opportunities for the VBS community.
- Plan and implement clergy-led programs including adult learning, concerts, lectures, and signature experiences—from vision to execution.
- Lead major VBS holiday programming across the Jewish calendar.
- Coordinate Chesed and social action initiatives alongside clergy and volunteer leadership.
- Support and staff special programs and community-building events throughout the year.
- Recruit, train, empower, and celebrate volunteers as essential partners in program success.
- Collaborate with operations, marketing, and administrative teams to ensure program excellence—logistics, registration, AV, supplies, and staffing.
- Manage and review event requests to safeguard thoughtful scheduling and flow of campus activity.
- Work with lay committees to craft meaningful programs and foster volunteer leadership.
Calendar & Coordination
- Lead the annual synagogue calendaring process and ensure alignment across all departments.
- Participate in weekly clergy and calendar meetings to plan, refine, and coordinate programming, logistics and ensure smooth execution.
- Work closely with the marketing team to keep the public calendar accurate, attractive, and up to date.
Membership Engagement
- Partner with the Membership Engagement Team to design programs that deepen connection, foster belonging, and support recruitment and retention.
- Help shape targeted engagement initiatives for various demographics aligned with the annual engagement plan.
Administrative & Organizational Leadership
- Prepare, manage, and track program budgets alongside clergy and the Assistant Executive Director.
- Collect and analyze attendance and engagement metrics to inform future programming.
- Participate in Senior Leadership Team meetings to advance synagogue-wide priorities.
- Support other duties and projects as assigned.
Skills & Qualifications:
- Strong understanding of Jewish holidays, traditions, and culture; comfort leading Jewishly infused programming.
- Experience in and love for event planning, coordination, and execution.
- Excellent project management, multitasking, and organizational skills.
- Familiarity with digital tools—calendars, project management systems, communication platforms, and databases.
- Thrives in a collaborative, mission-driven team environment, and understands the importance of lay-staff partnership.
- Strong interpersonal skills; comfortable working with clergy, senior leadership, lay leaders, and community members.
- Creative, flexible, enthusiastic, and committed to building joyful, meaningful Jewish experiences.