Director of Innovations in Workforce Alignment

Tennessee Board of Regents • Nashville, TN

2d

About The Position

TBR—The College System of Tennessee serves community colleges and colleges of applied technology across the state. The Office of Research and Innovation supports innovation that advances postsecondary access and student success by turning data, research, and field-based learning into actionable information for system leaders, colleges, and partners.

TalentTN (Tennessee Accelerated Learning for Education & New Technology) is a statewide initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community Colleges program. It aims to expand Tennessee’s capacity to develop, enhance, and continuously improve short-term academic programs informed by labor-market demand and connected to continuing education and employment opportunities.

The Director of Innovations in Workforce Alignment leads TBR’s day-to-day coordination of statewide TalentTN implementation. The Director works with the Senior Researcher for Workforce Data, participating colleges, Pellissippi State Community College staff, and workforce partners to manage the project work plan; convene and support college project teams; coordinate technical assistance; align efforts across TBR offices; and keep grant activities, milestones, deliverables, and partnerships coordinated and on schedule.

This is a full-time, grant-funded position dedicated to TalentTN implementation and contingent upon sustained grant funding. The position may be performed remotely within Tennessee, with periodic visits to the TBR System Office in Nashville at the employee’s expense and potential travel to TBR colleges in Tennessee.

Requirements

• Graduate degree in higher education, public policy, or a related field.
• Five or more years of progressive professional experience leading complex projects or initiatives involving multiple institutions, agencies, employers, or community partners.
• Experience managing project plans, timelines, deliverables, stakeholder communications, and implementation across multiple workstreams.
• Experience building and sustaining employer, workforce, education, or public-sector partnerships.
• Strong project-management and organizational skills, including the ability to coordinate interdependent workstreams, document processes, meet deadlines, and deliver high-quality work across a complex statewide initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships and provide technical assistance across colleges, system offices, state agencies, workforce organizations, employers, evaluators, and research partners.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work independently while contributing effectively to a collaborative, multidisciplinary team.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in a community college system, higher education system office, state agency, workforce development organization, or comparable multi-institution environment.
• Knowledge of higher education and workforce data, including enrollment, progression, completion, credentials, labor-market demand, and post-college employment and wage outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Lead statewide implementation of TalentTN for TBR; manage TBR components of the project work plan, coordinate timelines, milestones, and deliverables, and coordinate with Pellissippi State project leadership and fiscal staff.
• Convene and support consortium colleges and project teams by planning and leading implementation meetings, webinars, convenings, and technical assistance; coordinating responses to college needs; and supporting development, launch, improvement, and scaling of short-term programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility.
• Coordinate the competitive selection and implementation-support process for college project teams, including selection criteria, request-for-proposals activities, proposal review, project launch, and other program-development supports.
• Coordinate cross-functional grant activities with the Senior Researcher for Workforce Data and relevant TBR offices; serve as a liaison among TBR, Pellissippi State, consortium colleges, state agencies, workforce partners, and others as needed.
• Coordinate employer and workforce engagement, including leading the TalentTN Industry Advisory Board with the TBR Center for Workforce Development; supporting the statewide employer survey, regional workforce summits, and jobs-to-programs market analysis; and translating employer and labor-market findings into program-selection and curriculum-alignment tools.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

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