Executive Business Partner to the CEO

Description

Executive Business Partner to the CEO

Join a Mission That Changes Lives. At Heartspring, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to reach their full potential. For more than 90 years, we've served children and families through innovative education, residential, outpatient, behavioral health, and healthcare services. As Heartspring continues to grow its reach and impact, we're looking for an exceptional Executive Business Partner to the CEO who can help translate vision into action.

This is not a traditional executive assistant role. We're looking for an experienced strategic partner who can operate as an extension of the CEO—someone who can see around corners, connect information across the organization, determine what requires executive attention, prepare the CEO to make informed decisions, and ensure priorities don't lose momentum after the meeting ends.

• Position: Executive Business Partner to the CEO
• Education: Bachelor's degree required, Master's degree preferred 
• Experience: 10+ years of professional experience supporting senior executives, organizational leaders, elected officials, or other high-profile stakeholders
• Travel: Ability to coordinate and support executive travel, conferences, community engagements, and external events as needed

The Role

The Executive Business Partner to the CEO serves as a trusted advisor, strategic thought partner, and operational extension of Heartspring's President & CEO. You'll sit at the intersection of strategy, executive operations, organizational intelligence, relationships, and execution.

You'll help ensure the CEO's time and attention are focused where they can create the greatest organizational impact. That means understanding Heartspring's strategic priorities, synthesizing information from across the organization and external environment, evaluating competing opportunities, anticipating what's coming next, and turning executive direction into coordinated action.

Success in this role isn't measured by how busy the CEO's calendar is. It's measured by whether the CEO is informed, prepared, strategically focused, connected to the right people, and able to move the organization's most important priorities forward.

What You'll Do

Maximize CEO Effectiveness

• Serve as a trusted advisor and operational extension of the CEO
• Understand the CEO's priorities, commitments, relationships, and strategic objectives
• Evaluate competing demands and recommend where executive time and attention will create the greatest impact
• Anticipate emerging needs, opportunities, risks, and decisions before they require executive action
• Manage and optimize the CEO's calendar around organizational priorities—not simply meeting requests
• Prepare the CEO for meetings, decisions, events, travel, presentations, and external engagements
• Manage executive communications, correspondence, inbox priorities, requests, and follow-up

Turn Strategy Into Execution

• Translate CEO priorities and strategic direction into clear actions, ownership, timelines, and accountability
• Maintain systems for tracking executive commitments, decisions, delegated responsibilities, deadlines, and follow-up
• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives requiring CEO involvement
• Identify barriers, competing priorities, and risks that could prevent strategic initiatives from moving forward
• Provide the CEO with clear visibility into progress, concerns, milestones, and decisions requiring escalation
• Ensure commitments made in meetings become actions that are completed

Connect the Executive Leadership Team

• Help facilitate effective Executive Leadership Team and Operational Leadership Team operating rhythms
• Develop and coordinate agendas around the issues that require discussion, debate, decisions, or executive awareness
• Ensure leaders arrive prepared with the information necessary to make decisions
• Capture key decisions, commitments, ownership, and next steps
• Track follow-through and provide visibility into progress and barriers
• Facilitate communication and coordination across departments when priorities intersect

Become an Executive Intelligence Partner

You'll develop a deep understanding of Heartspring and the environment in which we operate, including:

• Pediatric neurodevelopment
• Special education
• Behavioral health
• Residential treatment
• Healthcare and clinical services
• Disability advocacy
• Nonprofit leadership
• Healthcare and education policy
• Community partnerships and funding

Prepare the CEO to Lead Externally

• Identify conferences, boards, committees, partnerships, speaking opportunities, and community forums where CEO involvement could advance Heartspring's strategic priorities
• Evaluate invitations and opportunities for alignment and organizational impact
• Develop executive briefings, stakeholder profiles, talking points, background information, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions
• Coordinate with Advancement, Marketing & Communications, and organizational leaders to prepare for donor, legislative, community, Board, and industry engagements
• Build systems to maintain and strengthen important external relationships
• Ensure meaningful follow-up occurs after meetings and engagements

Support Board & Governance Operations

• Coordinate Board of Directors and Board Committee meetings, schedules, communications, and logistics
• Prepare and organize agendas, Board packets, presentations, governance materials, and supporting documentation
• Maintain Board and committee minutes, records, action items, and governance documentation
• Administer the organization's Board management platform
• Track Board directives, committee assignments, strategic priorities, and CEO follow-through
• Support productive communication and relationships between the CEO, Board members, and committee leadership

What We're Looking For

This role requires someone who can move comfortably between big-picture strategy and meticulous execution. The right person will be able to walk into a complex situation, absorb a large amount of information, identify what matters, determine what needs action, and communicate it clearly. We're looking for someone who demonstrates:

• Exceptional strategic thinking and business judgment
• Strong executive presence and professional credibility
• The ability to anticipate needs rather than wait for direction
• Exceptional discretion and sound judgment with highly confidential information
• Outstanding written, verbal, research, and presentation skills
• The ability to synthesize complex information into concise executive-level briefings
• Strong organizational and project-management skills
• Exceptional follow-through and personal accountability
• Confidence interacting with executives, Board members, donors, community leaders, elected officials, and other high-profile stakeholders
• The ability to build trusted relationships while maintaining appropriate professional boundaries
• Comfort respectfully challenging assumptions, identifying risks, and recommending alternative approaches
• Curiosity and the ability to quickly develop expertise in unfamiliar subjects
• The ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment where priorities may change quickly

Requirements

Required Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in business, communications, healthcare administration, public administration, education, organizational leadership, or a related field
• 10+ years of professional experience supporting senior executives, organizational leaders, elected officials, Boards, or high-profile stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience managing executive priorities and complex schedules
• Demonstrated success coordinating cross-functional initiatives involving multiple leaders and stakeholders
• Experience preparing executive briefings, presentations, correspondence, and decision-support materials
• Experience developing systems to track priorities, commitments, decisions, and strategic follow-through
• Exceptional professional writing, research, editing, and communication skills
• Expert-level proficiency with Microsoft 365, project-management platforms, AI tools, and other technology used to improve executive productivity

Preferred Experience

• Master's degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Public Administration, Communications, Education, Organizational Leadership, or a related field
• Experience directly supporting a CEO, President, Founder, or Executive Leadership Team
• Experience in healthcare, neurodevelopment, behavioral health, education, disability services, or nonprofit leadership
• Experience supporting Board governance and Board of Directors operations
• Experience with executive communications or CEO Office operations
• Strategic planning and organizational project-management experience
• Knowledge of legislative affairs, public policy, advocacy, fundraising, donor relations, community engagement, or external affairs

Required Competencies

• Strategic Thinking - Ability to connect organizational priorities with executive action and external opportunities.

• Executive Synthesis & Judgment - Ability to synthesize large volumes of information, evaluate relevance against established priorities, and formulate actionable insights.

• Executive Presence - Demonstrates credibility, professionalism, and confidence when representing the CEO and organization.

• Business Acumen - Understands healthcare, education, nonprofit operations, governance, funding models, and community partnerships.

• Relationship Intelligence - Builds strong relationships across diverse stakeholder groups while maintaining professional judgment and discretion.

• Research, Analysis & Briefing - Able to evaluate information, synthesize insight, prepare decision-support materials, and brief senior leaders effectively.

• Strategic Coordination & Operationalization - Ability to translate executive priorities into coordinated action plans, accountability structures, communication rhythms, and measurable outcomes.

• Accountability & Follow Through - Ability to track commitments, facilitate execution, remove barriers, anticipate risks, and drive completion of strategic initiatives.

• Communication Excellence - Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation development skills.

• Anticipatory Leadership - Recognizes needs before they become problems and proactively develops solutions.

Pre-Employment Requirements

Because Heartspring serves children and young adults across healthcare, educational, and residential environments, employment is contingent upon successful completion of all applicable pre-employment requirements, including:

• Criminal background and registry checks
• Kansas DCF-required screenings and clearances
• Drug screening
• Pre-employment physical and other position-specific requirements
• Employment eligibility verification
• Required Heartspring orientation and training

Benefits

At Heartspring, we believe the people who advance our mission should feel supported personally and professionally.Eligible full-time employees have access to a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off and paid holidays
• 403(b) retirement plan
• 3% employer retirement contribution
• Professional development and learning opportunities
• Employee wellness and support resources
• Opportunities to collaborate with leaders across multiple disciplines
• A mission-driven environment where your work directly influences organizational impact