Executive Director (President)

The President of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) serves as the organization’s chief executive director.   This role has strategic and operational responsibility for NICA's staff, program development, expansion, and the successful execution of its mission.  The President  role models the culture, values, and behavioral expectations appropriate to the organization, and ensures that NICA:  1) Has a clear vision, mission, strategy and goals in place to accomplish its mission; 2)  Effectively executes the strategic plan and delivers against organizational objectives; 3) Has fundraising and revenue generation plans that are diverse, sustainable and that enable the organization to meet its operational, strategic and financial goals;  and 4) Has a high performing and continuously developing team which produces measurable results.  The President consistently and deliberately communicates and collaborates effectively with all key internal and external stakeholders.

The President of NICA is accountable to the Board of Directors and currently has three direct reports (Vice Presidents of Programs, Finance & Administration and Development and Strategic Partnerships).

NICA is headquartered in Berkeley, CA, and has national staff members in several states.  NICA will consider all qualified candidates, regardless of their current location and willingness/ability to relocate. 

Key Accountabilities: 

Strategic Development and Execution

• Work with the Board of Directors to determine NICA’s mission, vision, values, strategic plan  and short- and long-term goals.
• Collaborate with and seek input and feedback from League Directors regarding NICA’s strategic and business plans, short- and long-term goals and services provided to leagues.
• Monitor and evaluate NICA’s relevancy to the community, its effectiveness and its impact.
• Oversee the development and execution of the organization’s strategic and business plans.
• Effectively lead the team to implement the organization’s strategy and achieve its goals.  
• Maintain awareness of the economic landscape and how it may influence NICA.  Stay abreast of developments within and outside non-profits and the bicycle industry.
• Assess opportunities and risks in a continually changing environment; set direction to achieve growth while mitigating risk exposure for the organization.
• Design the national expansion plan and complete the strategic business planning process for the program expansion into new markets.

Finance and Fundraising

• Ensure the development, execution and maintenance of a diverse and sustainable financial plan to include revenue generating and fundraising activities that sustainably support existing program operations and regional expansion.
• Seek input and feedback from league directors regarding fee structure
• Strategically and prudently allocate capital and other resources as needed.
• Build and maintain healthy external relationships with sponsors, donors, grantors and the bicycle industry. 
• Participate actively with Development staff and Board of Directors in identifying, cultivating and soliciting donor prospects; assure the availability of materials to support solicitation.

Board Management

• Keep the Board fully informed on the condition of NICA and all of the important factors influencing it.
• Develop, maintain, and support a strong Board of Directors; serve as ex-officio of each committee.
• Seek and build board involvement with strategic direction for both ongoing operations as well as for geographic and programmatic expansion.

Community Relations

• Facilitate the integration of NICA into the fabric of the community by using effective marketing and communications activities.
• Act as an advocate for issues relevant to NICA, its services and constituencies; listen to members, volunteers, donors and the community in order to improve services and generate community involvement.
• Connect and collaborate (where appropriate) with other non-profits in the bicycle industry
• Serve as chief spokesperson for NICA, assuring proper representation of NICA to the community; initiate, develop, and maintain cooperative relationships with key constituencies.
• Work with legislators, regulatory agencies, volunteers and representatives of the not for-profit sector to promote legislative and regulatory policies that encourage a healthy community and address the issues of NICA’s constituencies.
• On occasion, serve as mediator between constituents and helps solve differences.

Program Delivery

• Ensure ongoing programmatic excellence, rigorous program evaluation, and consistent quality of finance and administration, fundraising, communications, and systems; recommend timelines and resources needed to achieve the strategic goals.
• Provide hands-on leadership support to departments including setting of vision and strategy, leadership development, and high level operational project work as needed.

Leadership

• Inspire, role model, teach, and hold others accountable to the desired culture, values, expected behavior and results.
• Develop a strong executive leadership team and organizational structures within each department which result in high performance, high engagement of staff, and ongoing development at all levels to ensure a long-term leadership pipeline. 
• Clearly and timely share information with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Effectively manage the performance of each department leader to deliver outstanding results while continually evaluating success. Use strategically important measurements to evaluate, as well as subjective evaluations as appropriate.
• Develop robust, comprehensive and meaningful development plans for direct reports; work with each individual to identify and realize development opportunities.

In addition, the President will be accountable for other duties as required by the role. 

Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 5 years of progressive senior management experience, including staff management, strategic planning and Board management in a non-profit or educational setting.
• Track record of effectively leading and regionally and/or nationally scaling a performance- and outcomes-based organization and staff; ability to point to specific examples of having developed and operationalized strategies that have taken an organization to the next stage of growth
• Unwavering commitment to quality programs and data-driven program evaluation.
• Proven success in fund development, including individual, institutional and industry giving and grant writing.
• Demonstrated excellence in organizational management with the ability to coach staff, manage, and develop high-performance teams, set and achieve strategic objectives, and manage a budget.
• Strong interpersonal skills that have forged productive relationships across broad sector lines (volunteers, staff, funders, donors, community partners, community leaders, coaches, student-athletes, parents, public officials, etc.).
• Past success working with a Board of Directors with the ability to cultivate existing board member relationships.
• Strong marketing, public relations, and fundraising experience with the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders and cultures.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills; a persuasive and passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal and multidisciplinary project skills.
• Ability to work effectively in collaboration with diverse groups of people.
• Passion, idealism, integrity, positive attitude, mission-driven, and self-directed.
• Well developed emotional intelligence (EQ) skills and awareness.
• Significant skills and demonstrated experience developing vision and strategy and turning them into executable plans, as well as proven ability to lead strategies and projects through to completion which includes process development and improvement, relationship building, and organizational, communication, and technical skills. 

Other Related Criteria: 

• Ability to travel approximately 20% of the time, including the ability to drive a motor vehicle.
• Ability to pass a thorough background check (required for work with minors).
• Knowledge and/or interest in cycling, trail advocacy and youth development.

Those Interested in Applying:

Please send cover letter and resume to lindsey@nationalmtb.org. This position will remain open until filled. No phone calls please. NICA appreciates each application it receives, but due to the volume of responses, only candidates who best fit the needs of the organization will be contacted.

NOTE: NICA does not discriminate in employment opportunities or practices on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, ancestry, marital status, medical condition, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, genetics or any other characteristic protected by law.

About The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA):

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA)’s mission is to build strong minds, bodies, character, and communities through cycling.

Founded in 2009 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, NICA develops interscholastic mountain biking programs for student-athletes and coaches across the United States.   NICA provides leadership services and governance for local leagues to produce quality mountain bike events.   NICA has  served  approximately 40,000 student-athletes. Currently, NICA has 25 state and regional leagues and over 8,500 volunteer coaches who are working annually with over 19,000 student-athletes from nearly 1,000 high schools and middle schools in the USA.

For more information and an overview of what NICA is, please visit www.nationalmtb.org and follow @nationalMTB on Instagram and Twitter.