POSITION OVERVIEW AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Chief Program Officer leads DarkSky’s program team and owns the strategy, quality, and financial performance of its programs. This is a senior leadership role that reports to the Chief Executive Officer and partners closely with the Chief Development Officer and the rest of the leadership team.
DarkSky’s programs serve to enhance the mission, driving conservation outcomes across the globe. The organization develops policy, certifies products, places, and lighting applications, and educates about naturally dark landscapes and outdoor lighting. Programs support mission outcomes and can be an important driver of revenue for the organization. The Chief Program Officer will ensure these programs run well, grow over time, and remain true to DarkSky’s principles. After they settle into the role, they will be expected to identify new opportunities, lead several regional expansion efforts, and help guide DarkSky further into the conservation space.
The role also carries a clear leadership mandate. The program team is passionate about its work and is ready for steady and supportive leadership that will nurture a collaborative culture. The right person listens closely, sets boundaries with respect, and keeps the whole organization in view.
Program Strategy and Quality
- Set the direction for DarkSky’s programs and ensure each one is designed, staffed, and administered to deliver real conservation impact.
- Strengthen the certification programs, including International Dark Sky Places, DarkSky Approved lighting products and projects, and accredited lighting professionals, so they run efficiently and maintain high standards.
- Proactively analyze the marketplace to recognize opportunities to further protect dark places before they are lost.
- Apply systems-level thinking to program design, backing efforts that build efficient, automated workflows and can scale, while weighing new opportunities with discipline.
- Exercise clear authority over program decisions, in consultation with the Chief Executive Officer and other leaders as needed.
- Champion the program staff and their expertise across the organization, trust the people doing the work, and lead without micromanaging.
Technical and Communications Leadership
- Ensure technical expertise is incorporated into a diverse portfolio of lighting programs, and keep their requirements aligned and consistent.
- Working with the team and technical colleagues, write and communicate about technical elements clearly to lay audiences across the channels that carry DarkSky’s standards, from website content to program guidance.
- Sharpen DarkSky’s evaluation of certification applications while keeping the process simple and scientifically sound.
- Work comfortably with scientific, academic, and statistical data, and use it to set the baseline for program standards.
Regional Expansion
- Lead DarkSky’s regional staff to drive business development for programs in their areas, working hand in hand with the Chief Development Officer, the program team, and partners across the world.
- Grow program lines with regional reach in step with DarkSky’s advocacy work.
- Build the partnerships and national governance that let programs scale beyond any single region.
Partnerships and Field Leadership
- Identify and win the allies DarkSky needs to expand, from land trusts and conservation groups to industries and governments.
- Pursue high-value certifications that advance the mission, such as certifying major conservation lands held by partner organizations.
- Represent DarkSky’s programs in the field, including speaking at gatherings (e.g., Land Trust Alliance events and relevant local and international conferences).
- Keep DarkSky centered on ground-based light pollution while staying alert to emerging issues such as satellite constellations.
Team Leadership and Culture
- Provide steady, supportive leadership to a passionate program team, empowering staff and nurturing a collaborative culture of continuous learning and psychological safety.
- Coach and mentor staff, make the call when a decision is needed, and give direct reports what they need to do their best work.
- Live DarkSky’s team culture: do less, better; make it safe to speak up and to fail; handle disagreement with respect; keep promises; and lift colleagues up.
- Stay flexible as priorities shift and help the team pivot when plans change without losing momentum or morale.
DESIRED EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCIES
DarkSky seeks a program leader who has grown something and can do it again. The right candidate moves easily in a fast-growing organization where priorities shift, and new opportunities often arrive. They lead with clarity and decisiveness, holding firm on the plan while trusting the expertise of the people around them. They write and speak well, and, with the help of team members and colleagues, translate complex technical material for both specialists and the public. Above all, they bring a genuine commitment to the mission and a real care for the team.
Program Leadership and Growth
- A record of building and growing conservation, certification, or other programs with regional, national, or global reach, backed by concrete results.
- Experience running a fee-for-service or earned-revenue model and expanding it over time.
- A systems-level thinker who designs programs that scale and knows which opportunities to decline.
- A broad leadership skill set and conservation experience are preferred, while an understanding of or direct participation in the lighting industry would be an advantage.
Team and Organizational Leadership
- A seasoned manager who leads as a coach and mentor and knows when to seek input and when to be decisive.
- Attuned to people and human dynamics, understanding that decisions carry downstream effects across the team and the wider organization.
- Able to set boundaries respectfully and to establish and clearly communicate priorities.
- Brings steadiness to teams that have weathered change, and earns trust by listening before acting.
- Experience working with volunteer committees and boards of directors.
- Partners well with the Chief Executive Officer, the Executive Leadership Team, the Director of Lighting, Technology, and Strategy, and colleagues across departments.
Technical Fluency and Communication
- Comfort with technical subject matter; a purely technical background is not required. An environmental or industry background suits this work better than a purely engineering or scientific one.
- A strong writer who can turn technical evidence and complex ideas into clear narratives and produce public-facing content such as website and program materials.
- History of working with and communicating to international audiences, with a sensitivity to how people of different cultures process information.
- Comfortable with scientific, academic, and statistical data, and able to apply it to program standards.
- Able to move between technical experts and general audiences, and to step back from their own technical depth when the moment calls for it.
Philanthropy and Partnerships
- Comfortable working alongside development colleagues and engaging funders, including family foundations and corporate partners.
- Skilled at forming the partnerships and coalitions that programs need to grow.
- A credible public voice who can speak for DarkSky’s programs to partners, funders, and the field.
Mission Commitment
- Committed to protecting DarkSky’s mission and values.
- Driven by the work and the team’s success rather than personal recognition.
- A genuine, personal investment in the conservation mission, in reducing light pollution, and in expanding dark sky programs worldwide.
- An understanding that care, for the work and for the people doing it, is essential to success in this role.
COMPENSATION
This is a full-time, exempt, benefit-eligible position. The anticipated annual salary range is $138,000–$161,000, commensurate with experience.
DarkSky International offers comprehensive benefits:
- 100% of employees’ medical, dental, and vision premiums
- 50% for their dependents
- 401(k) retirement plan, with a 4% company match
- Paid vacation, 160 hours per year
- Paid sick time, 80 hours per year
LOCATION AND REQUIREMENTS
DarkSky serves a global constituency, and domestic and international travel is expected. Some evening and weekend work will be needed to support events and meet deadlines.
This position requires:
- Availability during core hours (10 am to 2 pm MST)
- Experience with U.S.-based nonprofit corporations
- Experience outside the United States
- Remote position with easy access to a primarily U.S.-based team
- Ability to travel to the United States as needed
- Availability to travel up to 25% of the time
START DATE
February 2027
TO APPLY
Please visit potrerogroup.com/darksky and select “Apply Here.” Applications should include a resume and a cover letter describing how your qualifications match the position criteria and what you will bring to the role.
Interested candidates should apply by November 13 for priority consideration.
