Sugar Bowl Academy, Executive Director & Head of School

ORGANIZATION 

Built by Pioneers. Still Pioneering.

Innovation has shaped Sugar Bowl from the beginning. Founded in 1939 by Austrian ski champion Hannes Schroll—with Walt Disney among its original investors—Sugar Bowl helped establish skiing in the American West. The resort installed California’s first chairlift in its opening season, introduced the West Coast’s first aerial gondola in 1953, and remains one of California’s original, proudly independent ski resorts.

Today, Sugar Bowl encompasses four peaks of storied Sierra terrain above Donner Summit, in a region with one of the richest ski histories in America. That pioneering tradition continues with a new eight-passenger Village Gondola, the centerpiece of a $100 million resort revitalization and the largest investment in Sugar Bowl’s history, targeted to open in December 2026.

The organization now known as Sugar Bowl Academy and Sugar Bowl Ski Team was incorporated as the Sugar Bowl Ski Team Foundation in 1992 by Sugar Bowl Village resident Sheldon Ramsey.

In 1999, Board Chair and former U.S. Ski Team member Dr. Patricia Hellman Gibbs founded Sugar Bowl Academy as a program of the Foundation, working alongside key staff members including former U.S. Ski Team member Jim Hudson and Academic Program Director Barbara Sorba. Inspired in part by her own experience at Stratton Mountain School—co-founded by her father, Warren Hellman—Dr. Gibbs envisioned a place in the West where young people could pursue their love of skiing without sacrificing a high-quality education.

More than 25 years later, that vision remains at the heart of Sugar Bowl Academy: a place built for young people ready to pursue excellence, develop character, and grow through the demands and rewards of mountain life.

A Mountain That Makes Olympians

Champions are not built overnight. They are built every day—through exceptional coaching, sustained commitment, and a community that believes in what is possible.

• 10 Alumni named to Olympic teams across the past three Winter Games
• 8 Alumni representing four countries named to the 2022 Beijing Olympic teams—an Academy record
• 5 Alumni competing at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games: Troy Chang (Chinese Taipei), JC Schoonmaker (USA), Alice Robinson (New Zealand), Gustav Legnavsky (New Zealand), and Nikhil Alleyne, (Trinidad and Tobago)
• 1964 Sugar Bowl’s Olympic lineage takes root as Starr Walton, granddaughter of Sugar Bowl developer Jerome Hill, competes in downhill at the Innsbruck Winter Games
• 2030 Freeride makes its Olympic debut at the French Alps Winter Games and Sugar Bowl Academy already counts 2020 Freeride World Tour Champion Isaac Freeland among its alumni
• FWT A steady line of Academy alumni has competed on the Freeride World Tour, including Board member Xander Guldman

Behind every result is an exceptional coaching staff that includes former U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team athletes, World Cup competitors, national-team coaches, and X Games athletes.

Lead One of North America’s Premier Mountain Academies

At Sugar Bowl Academy, student-athletes never have to choose between pursuing ambitious goals on snow and receiving an exceptional education.

Set atop Donner Summit in California’s Sierra Nevada, Sugar Bowl Academy is one of North America’s premier mountain academies. Here, an accredited college-preparatory education and elite snow sport development advance together, every day.

Our graduates compete on Olympic and professional stages, attend leading colleges and universities, and leave prepared to thrive—in sport, in college, and in life.

Now, we are seeking a leader to guide the Academy into its next era. If you are inspired by the opportunity to lead a high-performing school, athletic program, and residential community in one extraordinary mountain setting, we would love to hear from you.

A Community Built on Purpose

Our Mission

Sugar Bowl Academy is a community dedicated to giving passionate skiers and riders the opportunity to pursue athletic dreams, academic excellence, and personal growth while embodying grit, grace, and courage.

Our Vision

To redefine what a mountain academy can be—a place where extraordinary young people develop the character, curiosity, and confidence to thrive wherever life takes them.

Our Values

• Build a community rooted in trust, belonging, and service.
• Pursue excellence—in academics, athletics, and character.
• Lead with integrity, humility, empathy, and resilience.
• Prepare students to live healthy, purposeful lives.

To learn more about Sugar Bowl Academy, please visit www.sbacademy.org. 

OPPORTUNITY 

Sugar Bowl Academy enters this search from a position of strength. Our athletes compete at the national, international, and World Junior levels across alpine, freeride, and freeski. Our academic program is rigorous, cohesive, and deeply personal. Our partnership with Sugar Bowl Resort —spanning the mountain, venues, Village, and long-term investment—is the strongest in the Academy’s history. And our Board is committed to an ambitious campus vision for the decades ahead.

We are seeking a leader who can unite these strengths, sharpen our strategic direction, and translate extraordinary momentum into lasting impact.

The Executive Director & Head of School leads one integrated institution: our school, athletic programs, and residential community. In partnership with an accomplished leadership team and engaged Board, this leader will set the vision, strengthen the culture, build enduring relationships, and guide Sugar Bowl Academy confidently into its next era.

What Sets Sugar Bowl Academy Apart

Academics

SMALL CLASSES. EXCEPTIONAL OUTCOMES.

• 8:1 student-to-teacher ratio and an average class size of 12
• Accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools and a member of the National Association of Independent Schools

Athletics

NATIONAL-CALIBER COACHING. PURPOSE-BUILT TERRAIN.

• A U.S. Ski & Snowboard Gold-Certified Club with a dedicated race arena on the mountain
• More than 400 athletes training across alpine, freeride, and freeski

Community

ONE ORGANIZATION. ONE SHARED PURPOSE.

• The only combined ski team and academy on the West Coast
• 58 full-time student-athletes, including 28 residential students, plus 34 winter-term students
• More than 40 full-time, year-round coaches, teachers, and staff—many alumni of Sugar Bowl Academy and Sugar Bowl Ski Team

Campus

THE MOUNTAIN IS OUR CLASSROOM.

• A ski-in, ski-out campus at 7,000 feet on Donner Summit in Northern California’s Lake Tahoe region
• Direct access to Sugar Bowl Resort: 1,500 vertical feet, 1,650 acres, 12 lifts, 105 trails, and four peaks

College Outcomes

Our graduates have enrolled at leading colleges and universities, including: Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell, Middlebury, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Boston College, Colby, Bates, and Colorado College.

Today, alumni ski and ride for more than 20 colleges and have captained teams at Middlebury, Dartmouth, Harvard, Bates, and Williams.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead the Next Era

The next Executive Director & Head of School will honor what makes Sugar Bowl Academy exceptional while building the clarity, capacity, and community required for its future. The priorities ahead are both ambitious and deeply connected.

Lead One Remarkable Team

Our school, athletic programs, and residential community are parts of one institution. Strengthen each, lead them in concert, and tell one cohesive story so students, families, staff, donors, resort partners, and the broader community understand the role they play in a shared mission.

Set the Strategic Vision

Lead the next phase of strategic planning and become its chief storyteller - with families, staff, donors, alumni, partners, and prospective students. This is a community ready to be inspired and a story worth telling.

Champion the Dual Pathway

Continue raising the bar in academics and athletics: inspire faculty and advance a rigorous, innovative curriculum while ensuring every athlete receives the coaching, training, and support worthy of national-caliber ambitions.

Develop and Sustain an Exceptional Team

Our people make the mission possible. Deepen ownership and collaboration, invest in professional growth, and help address the realities of mountain-town employment - including housing - so exceptional people can build lasting careers here.

Inspire Generosity

Sugar Bowl Village and the extended Sugar Bowl community have a long tradition of investing in this school. Build the personal relationships that turn belief into transformational support, including the campaign that will fund the Academy’s long-term campus vision.

Strengthen the Culture

At its best, Sugar Bowl Academy runs on energy: the anticipation of race mornings, the joy of park laps, and a community that shows up for its students. Deepen that culture—one where coaches invest in the classroom, teachers cheer in the finish corral, and every student feels known and supported.

Expand Our Reach + Impact

Build national awareness and enrollment demand among mission-aligned student-athletes. Strengthen the pathway from Sugar Bowl Ski Team to the Academy and translate momentum into durable enrollment, engagement, and financial health.

Shape a Signature Boarding Experience

Make residential life at 7,000 feet a true differentiator: an experience families actively seek, students are proud to call home, and the entire Academy community embraces.

Leverage an Unmatched Resort Partnership

Few school leaders anywhere have a mountain as a campus partner. Serve as a trusted member of Sugar Bowl Resort’s leadership community, strengthen day-to-day collaboration, and make decisions with the long-term health of the broader Sugar Bowl ecosystem in mind.

Build the Next Generation Campus

Shape and execute the facilities master plan - aligning program needs, capital priorities, investment, and fundraising to create a campus worthy of Sugar Bowl Academy’s next era.

Requirements

QUALIFICATIONS 

We are seeking a thoughtful, experienced leader who can navigate complexity, build trust, and inspire a high-performing community around a shared vision.

• Proven leadership of a complex organization—someone who approaches leadership as a discipline and a craft.
• A relational, unifying presence with the emotional intelligence to connect with and inspire a wide range of stakeholders.
• A transparent, inclusive, and collaborative style; a direct communicator who is visible and accessible to staff, students, and families.
• The discipline to delegate - empowering experts, supporting sound decisions, and owning results.
• Energy and confidence for fundraising; a leader who understands that donors invest in people and purpose as much as plans.
• Even-handed steadiness - calm, fair, and decisive when it matters most.
• Credibility in both academics and high-level athletics, gained through personal or professional experience; comfortable on snow and deeply respectful of the classroom.
• Strong financial and operational acumen, including experience with budgets, P&L management, compensation, and long-range planning.
• A listener’s instinct—willing to learn the place, value its history, and build thoughtfully on what works.
• Commitment for the long arc: a leader ready to make this mountain home and keep students at the center of every decision.

A Leadership Team Ready to Deliver

You will inherit a genuine leadership bench: an accomplished Athletic Director, Director of Academics, dedicated finance support, and growing residential-life and people-operations functions. You will also work with a Board committed to partnering on vision and ensuring the organization has the resources and structure to succeed.

Your role is not to play every instrument. It is to help exceptional people perform at their very best—together.

Benefits

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

This is a full-time, exempt, 12-month position with a residency expectation on or near campus. This position offers a competitive salary range of $200,000 - $300,000, and robust benefits. More details can be provided upon request.

Every Day at the Office Begins at Donner Summit

Just beyond your door are world-class trails, championship race venues, alpine lakes, and one of North America’s most iconic mountain communities. People come for the mountains. They stay for the sense of connection, adventure, and belonging.

We are looking for a leader ready to make this extraordinary place home.

• 300 Days of sunshine in an average year
• 500” Average annual snowfall—among the deepest in the Tahoe region
• PCT The world-renowned Pacific Crest Trail passes directly through Donner Summit
• 7K’ Campus elevation on Donner Summit—approximately 10 miles from Truckee, 50 minutes from Reno-Tahoe International Airport, and 90 minutes from Sacramento
• 365 Days of adventure—skiing, riding, hiking, biking, climbing, paddling, and exploring the Sierra

TO APPLY

Please submit a resume online at https://apply.workable.com/j/867C077840

Sugar Bowl Academy is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.