Program and Expansion Lead

Program and Expansion Lead

Costa Rica

Program and Expansion Lead

Vida Volunteer is a humanitarian organization that, since 2008, has worked alongside rural and underserved communities through medical, dental, and veterinary programs while providing international students with meaningful service-learning experiences.
We are looking for a strategic, entrepreneurial, and hands-on leader to join our senior management team and lead Vida’s next stage of growth.
The Program and Expansion Director will lead both the programmatic and geographic expansion of Vida Volunteer. This includes identifying, developing, and launching new programs beyond our current medical, dental, and veterinary offerings, as well as expanding existing and future programs into new communities and geographic areas.
The position will initially oversee programs and operations in Guatemala and Costa Rica, with its scope expanding as Vida launches new programs and enters new regions or countries. The Director will report directly to the Executive Director.

Key Responsibilities

● Lead Vida’s programmatic and geographic expansion strategy in collaboration with the Executive Director.
● Identify, evaluate, develop, and launch new programs and service-learning opportunities aligned with Vida’s mission.
● Evaluate and develop opportunities for expansion into new communities, regions, and countries.
Turn growth opportunities into sustainable programs by assessing impact, financial viability, operational capacity, resources, partnerships, and risks.
● Lead and develop the teams responsible for operations in Guatemala and Costa Rica, progressively incorporating new programs and geographies as Vida grows.
● Build strategic relationships with communities, universities, public institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other partners.
● Ensure existing and new programs maintain Vida’s standards for community impact, student learning, quality, safety, and cultural experience.
● Monitor program and operational performance, budgets, risks, and key indicators to support effective decision-making and continuous improvement.
● Develop scalable processes and models that allow Vida to grow sustainably while maintaining program quality and organizational culture.

Qualifications

● Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Project Management, International Development, Public Health, Social Sciences, or a related field. Master’s degree preferred but not required.
● Minimum 3 years of relevant professional experience, ideally including team leadership, project or operations management, and program development.
● Demonstrated experience taking new initiatives from concept and planning through implementation, evaluation, and improvement.
● Experience leading and developing teams; experience working across different locations or countries is preferred.
● Experience in nonprofit, healthcare, education, international volunteering, educational travel, or community-impact programs is a plus.
● Strong ability to build relationships and partnerships with communities, organizations, and public and private institutions.
● Strategic, analytical, entrepreneurial, and hands-on mindset, with the ability to turn opportunities into concrete plans and results.
● Strong communication, negotiation, problem-solving, and organizational skills.
● Ability to thrive in multicultural, dynamic, and evolving environments.
● Advanced English and Spanish.
● Proficiency in Google Workspace and Microsoft Office.
● Willingness to travel within Guatemala, Costa Rica, and future expansion locations.

What Vida Offers

Join a multicultural, bilingual, mission-driven organization where you will have the opportunity to shape Vida’s future growth, develop new programs from the ground up, build partnerships, develop teams, and help expand our impact into new communities and geographies.
This is a full-time, hybrid position with an initial scope covering Guatemala and Costa Rica and the opportunity for the role to grow alongside the organization.