Executive Director, Southern Arizona

American Heart Association • Tucson, AZ

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

Since our founding in 1924, we've cut cardiovascular disease deaths in half, but there is still so much more to do. To overcome today’s biggest health challenges and accelerate this progress, we need passionate individuals like you. Join our movement, be part of the progress, and help ensure a healthier future for all. You matter, and so does the impact you can make with us.
We are bringing our mission to life across Southern Arizona. Come join our team! We are currently hiring an Executive Director based in Tucson, Arizona.
Reporting to the Senior Vice President, the Executive Director serves as the strategic and operational leader for the Division, responsible for driving its overall vision, performance and long‑term growth. This role oversees the development, execution and continuous evaluation of the Division’s strategic plan, ensuring alignment with the organization’s broader goals and priorities.
The Executive Director plays a pivotal role in strengthening and expanding the Division’s fundraising capacity—cultivating both unrestricted and restricted field campaign revenue with a focus on sustained, scalable growth. Success in this role requires building and empowering high‑performing teams, developing strong volunteer leadership, and fostering a culture of accountability, innovation and collaboration.
As a key member of the Western States Executive Team, the Executive Director ensures the Division’s objectives are fully integrated with regional strategies and contributes to the collective achievement of Association-wide goals.
This hybrid position is based in the Southern Arizona division and the work is wherever it is most effective – in the field, at home and in our Tucson office.
The Association offers many resources to help you maintain work-life harmonization through your changing needs and life situations. To help you be successful, you will have access to Heart U, our award-winning corporate university, as well as additional training and support, locally.
#TheAHALife is more than a company culture; it is our way of life. It embodies our commitment to work-life harmonization and is guided by our core values where our employees can thrive both personally and professionally. Discover why you will Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Valued at the American Heart Association by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and at heart.jobs.

Requirements

• Three (3) years minimum prior relevant experience and at least three (3) years of supervisory experience.
• University/College degree or equivalent experience
• Experience recruiting, engaging and activating executive level corporate and medical volunteers
• Demonstrated track record in building effective teams of staff and volunteers
• Demonstrated track record in setting and achieving aggressive goals on a sustained basis.
• Ability to influence others to action through creating a shared vision and sense of ownership and personal accountability.
• Ability to credibly establish and execute a strategic plan across functional areas and disciplines in a complex and highly dynamic environment, effectively translating strategies to measurable goals and plans.
• Ability to do daily local travel; requires access to reliable transportation at all times on an immediate basis.

Nice To Haves

• Related experience with the American Heart Association or another national voluntary health organization.
• Knowledge of American Heart Association's mission and programs.

Responsibilities

• Leads, develops and implements a comprehensive strategic plan to include a robust development strategy to produce aggressive growth in primarily unrestricted revenue with the expectation that revenue goals are met and exceeded on a sustainable basis. This includes ensuring full alignment with and consistent execution of the organization's mission and goals and effectively collaborating with colleagues across the region and the organization to identify and maximize cross-functional/cross-market opportunities. Oversees and manages operations to ensure campaign goals are achieved/exceeded.
• Assesses, establishes, develops and maintains the infrastructure and talent necessary to achieve revenue goals on a sustained basis and support of health impact goals, systematically and effectively strengthening the Division's overall fundraising capacity with growth in unrestricted revenue and mission integration.
• Leads the Division to successful achievement of identified goals and objectives through ensuring effective leadership recruitment and engagement, Board recruitment and engagement, direct implementation of special events/campaigns, individual giving, workplace initiatives, company acquisition and retention, revenue collaboration and mission impact
• Drives the ongoing process of identifying, recruiting and activating an influential, financially strong volunteer leadership base to champion the success of the the Association through their corporate and personal giving and influencing the involvement and giving of others.
• Personally forges, manages and develops partnerships with key organizations and philanthropic individuals to maximize the American Heart Association's visibility, impact and financial resources and actively leading and managing direct reports and others to do the same across the communities we serve.
• In partnership with Western States and National resources, provides management expertise, coaching, and monitoring for fundraising events, including Heart Challenge/Heart Walk, Heart Ball, Go Red for Women and related events (as applicable) to ensure the aggressive growth of events and focused attention by staff year-round. Includes the renewal and acquisition of participating Companies and Sponsorship to achieve balanced campaign growth.
• Regularly evaluates and reports on campaign progress utilizing the campaign management tools and reporting systems available. Ensures the integrity and security of donor information and adheres to established policies and procedures.
• Ensures compliance within appropriate operational and financial policies and procedures and within the approved operating budget. Operates in accordance with the American Heart Association's Fiscal Standard policies and all applicable laws, regulations, policies and standards.
• Demonstrates the American Heart Association leadership competencies and employs effective management techniques in the sourcing, recruitment, selection, supervision, management and leadership of staff to appropriately develop and engage staff to achieve organizational objectives.
• Creates and fosters a professional work environment that promotes and values collaboration, trust, teamwork, empowerment, and professionalism in which communication is open, staff help each other, conflicts are quickly resolved, newcomers are supported, agreed-on standards are observed through personal and shared accountability, and where interdependent collaboration is understood to be required for success.

Benefits

• Compensation – Our goal is to ensure you have a competitive base salary. That’s why we regularly review the market value of jobs and make adjustments, as needed.
• Performance and Recognition – You are rewarded for achieving success through annual salary planning and incentive programs; this position is incentive eligible based on achieving certain targets.
• Benefits – We offer a wide array of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, along with a robust retirement program that includes an employer match and automatic contribution. As a mark of our commitment to employee well-being, we also offer an employee assistance program, employee wellness program and telemedicine, and medical consultation.
• Professional Development – You can join one of our many Employee Resource Groups (ERG) or be a mentor/mentee in our professional mentoring program. Heart U is the Association’s national online university, with more than 100,000 resources designed to meet your needs and busy schedule.
• Work-Life Harmonization – The Association offers Paid Time Off (PTO) at a minimum of 16 days per year for new employees. The number of days will increase based on seniority level. You will also have a total of 12 paid holidays off each year, which includes several days off at the end of the year.
• Tuition Assistance - We support the career development of all employees. This program provides financial assistance to employees who wish to further their education and career in relation to their current duties and responsibilities, or for potential future positions in the organization.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive