ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

Covenant House California (CHC) is a nonprofit organization that provides sanctuary and support for youth overcoming homelessness, ages 18-24. CHC believes that no young person deserves to be homeless; that every young person in California deserves housing, food, clothing, education, and most importantly, to be loved. CHC provides a full continuum of services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational, and spiritual well-being of young people.

CHC’s doors are open to youth and staff regardless of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. We believe that youth and team members deserve to be in an environment that is inclusive and affirming; where everyone is treated with dignity and respect and valued and appreciated for who they are. Maintaining a diverse community of youth and staff is key to our ability to achieve our mission most effectively. We are also committed to being a leader in advancing anti-racism, and to promoting opportunities for the free expression of the lived experiences of our youth and staff.

We are looking for people who, like us, believe that every young person deserves a place to belong. We think it takes all kinds of people to create diverse solutions to end youth homelessness, and we are on a committed journey to build an inclusive and equitable work culture that brings out the best in everyone. In our Los Angeles location, which is our flagship site, we offer a full continuum of housing and support services to young people. For over 35 years, our services have grown and expanded, and we serve more than 900 young people every year.

Covenant House California offers an excellent benefits package, (most benefits effective date of hire), including medical, vision, dental, an EAP program, 403b retirement account, and a generous vacation package.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) provides executive leadership in developing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating the organization’s strategic direction and operational performance. The CSO works closely with the Chief Executive Officer, Covenant House California (CHC) executive leadership, management, staff, board of directors, Covenant House International (CHI) and community partners to ensure that organizational strategies, programs, services, and resources are aligned with the mission, vision, values, and long-term goals of the organization.

The CSO provides leadership and hands-on support of work efforts across strategic planning, performance management, performance and quality improvement, quality assurance, risk management, human resources management, data management, advocacy, and organizational effectiveness. The position establishes systems of accountability, continuous improvement, and data-informed decision-making while identifying opportunities to strengthen organizational capacity, service quality, sustainability, and community impact.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Strategic Planning and Organizational Strategy

Lead the development, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the organization’s strategic plan.

Translate the organization’s mission, vision, and strategic priorities into measurable goals, objectives, initiatives, and performance indicators.

In partnership with the Executive Leadership Team, establish annual operating priorities and ensure alignment between strategic objectives, departmental work plans, budgets, and organizational resources.

Ensure alignment between CHC’s strategic plan and the priorities outlined in CHI’s Journey Home.

Monitor progress toward strategic goals and provide regular reports and recommendations to the CEO and Board of Directors.

Conduct environmental scans, organizational assessments, and trend analyses to identify opportunities, emerging needs, threats, and areas for growth.

Develop strategies to strengthen organizational sustainability, effectiveness, innovation, and competitive positioning.

Facilitate cross-functional collaboration to ensure consistent execution of strategic initiatives.

Lead organizational change initiatives and support leadership and staff through periods of growth, restructuring, or transformation.

Performance Management

Develop and oversee an organization-wide performance management framework.

Establish key performance indicators (KPIs), benchmarks, targets, and accountability measures.

Partner with department leaders to ensure performance expectations are clearly defined, measurable, and aligned with strategic priorities.

Work closely with the institutional giving team to ensure KPI alignment with funder objectives, and that accurate data is available for funder reporting.

Oversee the quality assurance teams monitoring of individual, departmental, programmatic, and organizational performance, and partner with the executive leadership team to ensure accountability.

Establish regular performance review processes and dashboards for leadership and management.

Identify performance gaps and develop corrective action and improvement plans.

Promote a culture of accountability, transparency, continuous learning, and results.

Provide executive leadership with analysis and recommendations regarding organizational performance.

Performance and Quality Improvement

Implement and lead the organization’s Performance and Quality Improvement (PQI) program.

Establish systems for continuous quality improvement across programs, services, and administrative functions.

Analyze performance trends, outcomes, complaints, incidents, audits, surveys, and other indicators to identify improvement opportunities.

Develop and monitor quality improvement plans and corrective action plans.

Promote the use of root-cause analysis and other problem-solving methodologies.

Ensure improvement activities result in measurable and sustainable outcomes.

Report quality and performance findings to executive leadership and the Board as appropriate.

Quality Assurance and Compliance

Oversee organizational quality assurance systems and processes.

Establish policies, procedures, standards, and monitoring mechanisms to ensure consistent service quality.

Ensure that CHC is meeting wellness metrics and compliance benchmarks established by CHI.

Serve as the site lead for CHI’s wellness review, and ensure CHC’s review readiness.

Oversee quality assurance team’s internal reviews, funder audits, compliance monitoring, and program evaluations.

Ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, contractual requirements, accreditation standards, and organizational policies.

Monitor findings from audits, inspections, investigations, and external reviews and ensure timely corrective action.

Identify systemic issues and recommend policy, process, or operational changes.

Promote a culture in which quality, safety, compliance, and continuous improvement are organizational priorities.

Risk Management

Develop and oversee an enterprise-wide risk management framework.

Implement a Risk Management team approach to, assess, prioritize, and monitor organizational, operational, financial, regulatory, workforce, technology, data, and reputational risks.

Oversee maintenance of organizational risk registers and mitigation plans.

Oversee processes for incident reporting, investigation, and resolution and work closely with site Child Protection Officer to ensure proper notification to CHI where appropriate.

Work with executive leadership and department heads to develop appropriate risk mitigation and contingency strategies.

Monitor emerging risks and recommend proactive measures to protect the organization and its stakeholders.

Ensure significant risks are communicated to the CEO.

Support business continuity, emergency preparedness, and organizational resilience initiatives.

Oversee the implementation of an organization-wide Safety Committee that is actively engaged in risk mitigation.

Talent Management Strategy and Workforce Development

Collaborate with SVP People and Culture and the executive leadership to provide strategic leadership and oversight of all stages of the talent management lifecycle.

Collaborate with senior leadership and human resources functions to ensure alignment of workforce planning, talent management strategies and workforce planning efforts with the organization’s mission, strategic priorities, and operational goals.

Partner with the HR, finance and institutional funding teams to ensure accurate capture of personnel and allocation to funding sources for grant maximization.

Develop and manage succession plans for critical leadership and organizational functions

Alongside the SVP People and Culture, ensure HR policies, practices, and training requirements are consistent with applicable employment laws, compliance regulations, and organizational policies, and that CHC maintains a current Employee Handbook.

Ensure collaboration between HR and internal partners to address workforce challenges, strengthen organizational culture, and to engage in continuous process improvement efforts involving people operations workstreams.

Monitor, analyze, and make data-informed recommendations based on workforce performance measures and staffing trends including (but not limited to) turnover, vacancies, and organizational capacity.

Collaborate with HR and Development team to support talent-related grant applications, reporting, and outcomes

Data Management, Analytics, and Reporting

Provide strategic oversight of organizational data management.

Ensure data is being captured in alignment with CHC and CHI requirements.

Establish standards for data integrity, accuracy, security, accessibility, and confidentiality.

Ensure quality assurance team develops systems for collecting, analyzing, interpreting, and reporting organizational and programmatic data.

Oversee maintenance of dashboards, data collection and performance reports to support decision-making.

Ensure data is used effectively to evaluate programs, measure outcomes, identify trends, and improve organizational performance.

Advocacy and External Relations

Provide strategic leadership for organizational advocacy and policy initiatives.

Oversee CHC’s Southern California advocacy strategy and work closely with the executive leadership team on statewide and federal advocacy.

Ensure CHC’s policy and advocacy strategy is in alignment with CHI’s unified policies, and ensure that CHC is submitting its annual advocacy plan for CHI approval.

Represent the organization with government agencies, community organizations, funders, professional associations, coalitions, and other external stakeholders.

Monitor legislative, regulatory, policy, and community trends that may affect the organization and the populations it serves, and relay relevant information to the executive leadership team.

Develop advocacy strategies aligned with the organization’s mission and strategic priorities.

Build and maintain strategic partnerships and community relationships.

Support public policy initiatives and organizational positions on issues relevant to the organization’s mission.

Serve as a spokesperson for the organization, representing CHC at public meetings and providing public comment.

Prepare leadership and Board members with data, analysis, and messaging to support advocacy efforts.

Identify opportunities to increase the organization’s visibility, influence, and community impact.

Organizational Effectiveness

Evaluate organizational structures, systems, processes, and workflows to identify opportunities for greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Lead initiatives designed to improve operational efficiency, service delivery, employee engagement, and stakeholder satisfaction.

Facilitate cross-departmental problem solving and collaboration.

Develop organizational policies, procedures, and systems that support strategic priorities.

Identify opportunities for innovation, process improvement, and organizational growth.

Ensure organizational resources are aligned with strategic priorities and measurable outcomes.

Board and Executive Leadership Support

Serve as a strategic advisor to the CEO and executive leadership team.

Prepare strategic, performance, quality, risk, workforce, and organizational reports for the Board of Directors.

Support Board committees as assigned.

Other duties as assigned to support the mission and strategic priorities of the organization

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Education, Licensure, and Certification

Master’s degree in social services, public administration, nonprofit management, or JD preferred

Board of Behavioral Sciences Licensure strongly preferred

Human Resources Certification (e,g. SHRM, SPHR) strongly preferred

Experience

5+ years of executive leadership experience overseeing multiple organizational functions

Demonstrated experience developing, implementing, and evaluating strategic plans required

Demonstrated experience establishing and managing organization-wide performance and quality improvement systems

Significant experience with performance and quality improvement, including developing improvement plans and conducting root-cause analysis required

Experience overseeing quality assurance and compliance programs, including audits, monitoring, regulatory requirements, and contractual compliance required

Experience identifying, assessing, and mitigating organizational and operational risks

Experience providing strategic oversight of human resources functions, including workforce planning, employee performance, leadership development, retention, succession planning, and organizational culture required

Experience overseeing homeless services public funding and knowledge of compliance requirements

Experience directly supervising homeless services, human resources, and quality assurance personnel required

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Demonstrated adaptive leadership skills and the ability to motivate and develop a team

Experience with public speaking and serving as an ambassador for the organization

Excellent written and oral communication skills

Experience with, and knowledge of, local, state, and federal public policy and legislative advocacy related to youth homelessness and homeless services systems required

Technical Skills

Proficiency required in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).

Familiarity with data analysis software and homeless services data management platforms such as HMIS and ETO preferred.

Working Conditions

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

Worksites consists of both general business office environments and communal residential shelter environments.

Must be able to bend, sit and stand for prolonged periods of time. While performing the duties of this job, the employee may work occasionally in outside weather conditions.

Must be able to lift up to 40 lbs. on occasion.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate to loud. 

Schedule

This is a full-time role (40+ hours per week).  Schedule may be flexible within generally accepted business hours. Evening, weekend, and holiday work may be required during major fundraising events, key community engagement activities, partner activations, and reporting periods.

Transportation

Frequent travel to partner sites, other CHC campuses, community and partner locations, and event venues in Los Angeles and statewide required for company events and meetings, federation-wide meetings, and advocacy activities. Occasional overnight travel may be required.

Employees in this position must possess and maintain a valid California Driver’s License and an acceptable driving record. Driving is an essential function of this role and may include using company vehicles, which may include 8–12 passenger vans.

As a condition of employment, employees assigned driving responsibilities must provide proof of a valid driver’s license and a satisfactory Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) driving record. If an employee is required to use a personal vehicle for work-related travel, including attending off-site meetings or appointments with clients or staff, the employee must maintain and provide proof of valid automobile insurance in accordance with applicable law and company policy.

Supervisory Duties

Supervision will include hiring, training, managing, evaluating, and providing constructive feedback for staff in the quality assurance, performance management, and human resources functions as assigned.

Equipment Used

CHC-issued computer, telephone, and other standard office-related equipment as required.

We Are an Equal Opportunity Employer

Covenant House California (CHC) is an Equal Opportunity Employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. CHC is committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing employees with a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at CHC are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, family or parental status, disability status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. CHC will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics and encourages all qualified applicants to apply.

Covenant House California is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities who are applicants or employees who need accommodations. If you require accommodation due to a disability to complete this application OR to participate in other aspects of the hiring process for which you have received an invitation, please reach out to our HR team. Contact us at 1-323-461-3131, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Time or email us at HR@covca.org.

If you are experiencing issues submitting your application and accompanying materials, please email HR@covca.org.

Chief Strategy Officer

Lead strategy and lasting impact at Covenant House California, aligning people, programs, and resources to help young people overcome homelessness and thrive.

About Covenant House California

Chief Strategy Officer

Lead strategy and lasting impact at Covenant House California, aligning people, programs, and resources to help young people overcome homelessness and thrive.