Position: President & Chief Executive Officer

Organization: Student Veterans of America (SVA)

Location: This is a remote position, with significant in-person engagement and travel expected with SVA chapters, funders, partners, and legislators.

Reporting Relationship: Reports to Board of Directors

Website: http://studentveterans.org/ 

Organization Background
Student Veterans of America (SVA) is the nation’s premier organization dedicated to improving educational and career outcomes for veterans pursuing postsecondary education. Through programs, research, and advocacy, SVA addresses the unique challenges veterans face in higher education and supports their success from enrollment through meaningful post-graduation employment. Its work centers on targeted resources, community-building, and strong institutional partnerships.

SVA’s national network includes more than 1,600 on-campus chapters across all 50 states and select international locations. These chapters are supported by a central organization that provides programming, research, advocacy, and strategic partnerships. This distributed model enables SVA to reach a broad and diverse student veteran population while requiring strong coordination among national leadership, chapter leaders, and external partners. As more veterans use education benefits and pursue postsecondary credentials, SVA’s role has expanded to include large-scale convenings (such as NatCon), cross-sector collaborations, and scalable programs that support veterans at every stage of their academic and professional journeys.

The President & CEO serves as SVA’s chief executive, responsible for setting organizational priorities, ensuring accountability, and driving mission-aligned decision-making. The President & CEO delivers exceptional value to chapters, partners, and the broader veteran community.

This full-time role reports to the Board of Directors and requires a dynamic, strategic, and highly engaged leader committed to advancing educational and career opportunities for student veterans.

The ideal candidate is a proven leader of complex, distributed organizations with diverse stakeholders. They are comfortable leading a lean team while balancing strategic vision with hands-on operational leadership.

A bachelor's degree (BA/BS) or equivalent is required. An advanced or graduate degree is preferred but not required.

The anticipated salary range for this position is $250,000 to $300,000, along with a comprehensive benefits package.

To apply or recommend a candidate, please email SVA_CEO@KornFerry.com. Applications should include:

• A resume

• A cover letter

• Responses (no more than 1 page total) to the following prompts:

1. Describe your personal and/or professional connection to the mission of Student Veterans of America. How has your work, advocacy, or lived experience shaped your understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing student veterans, and how would that perspective inform your leadership of SVA?

2. Provide an example of a time you led an organization or team through significant growth, change, or transformation. Please describe the scope and scale of your leadership, including the size of the team you managed, the budget you oversaw, the geographic or programmatic reach of your work, and the complexity of the operations under your direction.