Director, Wish Relations

Position Summary:

The Director of Chapter Wish Relations is a highly visible, chapter‑facing role that supports the advancement of wish granting and wish enablement across the network. The role will manage a team of leaders that is deployed across the enterprise to support chapter wish granting efforts through program assessments, program management, and wish staff education and training. Additionally, the team will provide hands-on assistance to ensure wishes continue to be granted when chapters need interim support, including medical leaves of absence.

The Director will partner with Chapter & Mission Advancement leadership to strategically determine how best to support chapters in delivering high‑quality, efficient, child‑focused wish experiences while ensuring consistency with enterprise standards, strategy, and best practices. The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker, a change leader, a trusted advisor, and a collaborative leader who models best in class service and drives continuous improvement across the chapter network.

Knowledge & Abilities:

• Demonstrated expertise in wish fulfillment operations, program design, child and family centered practices, and mission compliance.
• Ability to assess complex systems and translate insights into actionable, strategic plans for improvement.
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and coaching skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across all levels of chapter and national leadership.
• Strong consultation, collaboration, negotiation, and change leadership skills.
• Ability to identify operational challenges, facilitate solutions, and support implementation of best practices.
• Strong project management, prioritization, and follow through skills with sound judgment in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to engage and support chapter leadership and mission teams.
• Knowledge of nonprofit, federated network operations and the unique needs of local chapters.
• Skilled at creating clarity, aligning stakeholders, and driving toward measurable mission outcomes.

Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Manage and support the team in their partnership with chapters, ensuring key goals, support and strategies are aligned with clearly defined deliverables.
• Serve as a trusted mission program advisor to chapter CEOs and mission leaders to engage in strategy conversations and support leaders on high change periods.
• Implement a defined shared service model to support chapter wish granting and provide strategic consultation to mission leaders and program staff.
• Develop annual strategies to continue to leverage the power of the network and chapter talent through chapter-to-chapter collaboration and support.
• Evaluate and allocate strategic resource investments with measured ROI.
• Facilitate cross chapter workgroups and forums to share best practices, address common challenges, and disseminate scalable tools and resources.
• Serve as a key liaison between chapters and Chapter & Mission Advancement teams, elevating chapter needs, innovations, concerns, and emerging trends to inform enterprise decision making.
• In collaboration with VP and Sr. Director for Mission Advancement sources, develops, curates, and maintains templates, tools, and best practices for enterprise-wide use, ensuring clarity, consistency, and applicability across chapters.
• Support chapters in implementing wish related components of local and enterprise strategic plans.
• Support chapters in achieving KPIs related to wish journey and wish experience. Analyze mission data, dashboards, and operational trends to elevate insights, identify gaps, and recommend improvements.
• Builds and maintains strong, trust-based relationships with chapter leaders to ensure alignment with enterprise strategy and mission priorities.
• Partner in content creation for national conferences, Board and CEO trainings, meetings, and summits to strengthen the network and our mission.
• Partner with CRLs, Mission, Volunteer Engagement and Chapter Operations Support teams to activate resources for distressed chapters.
• Participate in the development and delivery of training for chapter mission staff, including onboarding, coaching, and professional development resources.
• Support chapters in adhering to wish standards, compliance requirements, safety guidelines, and documentation expectations.
• Promote a culture of excellence, learning, collaboration, and innovation across chapters and national partners.
• Responsible for hiring, performance management, training, supervising, and all aspects of coaching staff reporting to this position.

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor's degree required, nonprofit management, business or related field preferred.
• 7+ years of leadership experience in a federated non-profit organization required and Make-A-Wish experience preferred.
• Excellent knowledge of nonprofit resources and best practices in the areas of program delivery, volunteer recruitment, training of Boards and staff, community development, budgeting/financial management, operations, finance, and nonprofit regulatory requirements.
• Demonstrated experience in project management, research, and data analysis, change management, program delivery, business planning and board/committee support.
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office applications required, including demonstrated expertise in Word and Excel

Working Conditions:

• Ability to thrive in a remote environment.
• Travel required for internal and external meetings, 15-20%.
• May require work outside a traditional Monday – Friday work week, and outside normal business hours. This includes weekends and early evening weeknights.