How You’ll Contribute
The Technology Division creates digital experiences for and delivers information technology services to the National Geographic Society. From our staff to our constituents, Technology provides the power to amplify National Geographic’s impact through value-based product delivery, transformational data services, and world-class support and infrastructure services. These services include employee training and technical support, audio/visual production, device management, enterprise architecture, network management, on-premise and cloud computing, information security, identity management, data management and integration, product management, user experience design, software development, systems engineering, and systems administration. Technology is comprised of five teams: Business Products, Constituent Products, Data Products, Infrastructure & Security, and Technology Support Services.Your Impact
How You’ll Contribute
The Director, Salesforce Platform will strategically lead the evolution and maximize the business value of the Society’s Salesforce platform. With a recently modernized environment, this role focuses on unlocking greater organizational impact and advancing maturity. You will champion innovative uses of Salesforce to deliver scalable, secure, and user-centric solutions aligned with the Society's mission and evolving objectives, guiding the platform's ongoing development, maintenance, testing, and operations.
The Director is a coach, communicator, expectation manager, facilitator, and diplomat. As a strong team player, you will work effectively across a matrixed Technology organization and collaborate with all levels. You report to the Sr. Director, Data Products.
Your Impact & Responsibilities
Product Strategy and Delivery (40%)
Define and champion the Salesforce platform roadmap, ensuring alignment with strategic priorities and business value.
Translate complex business requirements into scalable, sustainable Salesforce solutions, applying product thinking and human-centered design.
Oversee the product lifecycle for Salesforce initiatives: ideation, requirements, deployment, adoption, and optimization.
Drive continuous improvement in platform performance, data quality, and user experience.
Collaborate with Technology and business stakeholders to prioritize features, manage backlogs, and ensure successful Salesforce project delivery.
Platform Architecture and Ecosystem Management (40%)
Drive strategic architectural decisions within the Salesforce ecosystem, making effective trade-offs aligned with NGS goals, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
Establish and enforce architectural standards, best practices, and governance policies for Salesforce, ensuring security, performance, and data integrity.
Ensure robust security measures and compliance with data protection regulations within the Salesforce platform and its ecosystem.
Manage and optimize NGS's ecosystem of third-party Salesforce applications and vendors for best business value and seamless integration.
Leadership and People Management (20%)
Lead staff personnel management and professional development to ensure skills meet service levels and customer standards.
Empower technical teams with autonomy, authority and accountability, including subordinate supervisor(s).
Manage key vendor contracts.
Estimate costs and manage spending within budget.
Manage risks and navigate organizational processes to remove obstacles.
Maintain an environment of psychological safety for team members to thrive.
Minimum Years and Type of Experience
10+ years in application development or IT service management, with at least 5 years direct, recent experience with the Salesforce platform. 3+ years supervisory experience.
Necessary Knowledge and Skills
Ability to define, champion, and deliver against a platform roadmap aligned with strategic priorities and delivering measurable business value across multiple stakeholders.
Experience with large-scale Salesforce implementations and complex integrations across various Salesforce offerings (e.g., Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Experience Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Tableau) and third-party offerings.
Experience working with other technical leaders to ensure seamless integration of Salesforce into a modern enterprise technical ecosystem.
Familiarity with nonprofit or mission-driven organizations and the function of a CRM platform in a mission-oriented environment.
Ability to collaborate effectively with senior stakeholders, translate complex technical concepts for business stakeholders and communicate business needs to technical teams.
Desired Qualifications
Direct experience with Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud
Experience with data sharing and governance in an enterprise environment.
Understanding of key issues related to data privacy and information security.
Salesforce.com Certified Platform Consultant, Salesforce.com Certified Application Architect or System Architect Certification(s)
Supervision
2 direct reports + contractors
Salary Information
The National Geographic Society offers a competitive and holistic total rewards package. Our compensation structure and transparent pay philosophy are based on industry-specific market data for similar-sized nonprofit organizations.
The salary range for this position accounts for a wide range of factors including but not limited to organizational need; specific skill sets; experience and training; certifications; and more. At the National Geographic Society, individuals are typically hired at or near the starting point of the salary range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case.
The salary range for this position is $185,200.00 - $195,000.00.In addition, the National Geographic Society offers a competitive and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but is not limited to, medical, dental, and vision insurance; engaging and comprehensive wellness program; 401(k) retirement savings plan with matching contributions after 6 months of employment; flexible paid time off benefits with up to 22 days of paid annual leave per calendar year (15 days for new hires in their first year, prorated based on the number of pay periods remaining in the year) and 10 days of sick leave; 12 paid holidays and a paid winter break between December 25 and 31; paid parental leave, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, fertility benefits; learning and development opportunities; Lifestyle Spending Account; pet adoption assistance and insurance; pre-tax transportation benefits with a generous employer subsidy; employer-paid life insurance and disability benefit; and a variety of National Geographic discounts and perks.
Job Designation
Remote - Our Remote designation includes staff who must work in another location in the U.S. or abroad, such as our regional leads for our Education and International teams or regional fundraisers in Advancement. Staff may also be designated as Remote by their supervisors (with approval by the Senior Team lead) because of their job duties, and are afforded this status when it is beneficial to NGS, their respective team, and the employee.Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the United States. This position is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
We encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position. We are looking for someone with relevant skills and experience, not a checklist that exactly matches the job description. We want to help you grow and in return, you help us grow into a stronger, more inclusive organization.