Vice President, Program Innovation - Aspire

Organization Overview: AspireAspire’s mission is to connect people with disabilities to ever-greater possibilities for learning, jobs, and safe places to call home.Since 1960, Aspire, a non-profit organization, has been providing services and support for people with disabilities. Aspire provides 24/7 services to 300 adults with disabilities across 23 community homes in Lake and Cook Counties and two Academies (Hillside and Waukegan, IL), including innovative services to help adults with disabilities develop the necessary skills to live a full and rewarding life.8 in 10 people with disabilities are unemployed. 85% of people with disabilities live in poverty.Aspire addresses these challenges with a host of services including:Learning: Dance. Art. Exercise. Social skill building. Computer training. Community involvement. Our daytime learning programs help create new possibilities. Virtual program opportunities are available to accommodate a variety of needs and circumstances.Living: Experience is life’s greatest teacher. So, experiences are what our Living programs offer. Options include homes shared with friends in the community or support as people explore living on their own, which helps people build confidence, interact with others, and thrive.Working: Many adults with disabilities also want to advance in the workforce. Aspire offers job skills training and placement programs to achieve competitive employment.Aspire’s Employment Training Program: Distribution: A ten-week training program in a simulated warehouse environment, followed by an eight-week paid internship designed to provide the necessary skills for people with disabilities to secure competitive employment at one of Aspire’s warehouse partners.CoffeeWorks: In partnership with Metropolis Coffee Company and Canteen-Vending, adults with and without disabilities work side by side to make freshly roasted coffee that is sold to businesses across Chicagoland and to coffee consumers who purchase from the website.These programs work. 91% of people who enter Aspire’s job support program are placed into jobs, and 94% of people who are placed in jobs are retained for at least 12 months.To learn more about Aspire and their services, please visit their website.Role Summary: Vice President, Program InnovationAspire is seeking an entrepreneurial, systems-minded, and growth-oriented leader to serve as the Vice President, Program Innovation. Tasked with bridging the gap between high-level strategy and operational reality, this leader will advance Aspire’s growth pipeline and programmatic partnerships by executing priorities set by the Executive Team and outlined in the organization’s strategic plan and 7-year roadmap. Reporting to the Chief Program Officer (CPO) and working in close alignment with the VP, Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships, this leader will serve as the organization’s primary "incubator," taking new concepts and turning them into actionable, scalable, and sustainable business models.The VP, Program Innovation owns the lifecycle of all new programs—most notably the current expansion of employment services—until they reach operational maturity and stability. This leader must possess a unique approach to relationship building, acting as an external-facing ambassador to cultivate strategic partnerships and identify new revenue-generating opportunities that expand Aspire’s reach. Success in this role requires a candidate who can balance a growth mindset with the technical rigor needed to build the internal systems (the processes, staffing models, and workflows) that allow new initiatives to thrive before they are transitioned to the core program operations team.The VP will be responsible for building robust management systems, establishing clear guardrails and expectations for various team members including creating a standard process for those with billable hours and caseloads. The ideal candidate is a proactive change agent who can navigate a complex cultural landscape with sensitivity and follow through.Location, Compensation and BenefitsAspire has three locations (and growing) serving the Chicagoland area and southern Wisconsin. Their Central Administrative Office is at 1815 South Wolf Road in Hillside, Illinois. This is a hybrid role, in office/ at program sites 4 days a week.The salary range for this role is $110,000 – $130,000, commensurate with experience and qualifications. Aspire offers a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, life and disability coverage, a retirement plan with employer contributions, paid time off and holidays, and other employee support programs that foster balance and well-being.How to ApplyTo express your interest in this opportunity, please submit your resume and cover letter via the Maneva website.All inquiries and discussions will be handled with the utmost confidentiality. We are actively recruiting for this position, and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the search is concluded.We look forward to connecting with you!About Maneva GroupManeva Group is a leading woman and minority owned executive search firm dedicated to connecting exceptional talent with organizations committed to making a meaningful impact. Through a consultative and client-focused approach, Maneva Group partners with mission-driven organizations to build transformative leadership teams.Our name, Maneva, comes from the combination of two Sanskrit words: “Mānav” meaning mankind & “Sevā” meaning service. We are driven by the ideal of our name - service to humanity.