Director, Special Projects

College Board•Remote - Virginia, VA

1d•$90,000 - $130,000•Remote

About The Position

The Director, Special Projects operates as a “chief of staff” and strategic thought partner to the Senior Vice President, who leads the SAT Suite program. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role at the center of one of the organization’s most important areas of work: expanding opportunity for millions of students and supporting tens of thousands of schools each year through the College Readiness Assessments division. The Director will serve as a trusted partner and force multiplier to the Senior Vice President, helping drive the division’s priorities, operating rhythm, leadership alignment, and execution against ambitious goals. The role will lead goal-setting and performance-driving efforts across the division, ensure critical initiatives are well planned and executed, and help manage the Senior Vice President’s internal and external agenda. Operating at the intersection of strategy and execution, the Director will identify priorities, surface risks, unblock progress, prepare executive-level materials, lead special projects, and represent the Senior Vice President and division in a variety of settings, including with senior leaders across the College Board. This role will serve as a critical partner in helping the Senior Vice President manage priorities and maximize effectiveness across the division and the College Board. As a member of the Senior Vice President’s leadership team, the Director will also serve as a key connector across the division on mission critical initiatives, ensuring clarity, alignment, accountability, and strong communication between the Senior Vice President, her leadership team, and managers across the organization.

Requirements

Minimum 5-10+ years professional experience including, ideally, several years of experience in a strategic operations role and experience working closely with a senior executive
Bachelor’s degree, though an MBA/Master’s is a plus
An outstanding record of professional achievement and leadership
A passion for supporting educational and career opportunities for millions of students
Comfort with ambiguity, complexity, and fast-moving priorities
Experience managing complex, cross-functional projects simultaneously, with attention to detail and command of project specifications
Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, including using data to inform decisions and actions.
Excellent judgement and ability to engage with, influence, and make recommendations to senior leaders across the organization
Strong ability to work collaboratively and build trust across teams
Exceptional verbal and written communications skills, including facilitating meetings and presenting remotely and in-person to groups of 40 or more
Experience leading effective meetings and driving follow-through and progress tracking
Proficiency with using generative AI to expedite workflows, drive efficiencies, and enhance final work products
Ability to travel 1-2 times per quarter, particularly to New York City and Washington, DC
Authorization to work in the United States
A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and comfort with learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.
A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.
A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success
Authorization to work in the United States

Nice To Haves

MBA/Master's degree

Responsibilities

Serve as Chief of Staff and strategic thought partner to Senior Vice President, helping the Senior Vice President manage priorities, make effective decisions, and maximize impact across the SAT Suite program, College Readiness Assessments division, and adjacent teams.
Ensure clear, timely communication between the Senior Vice President and her leadership team, translating priorities into action and helping managers understand context, expectations, and decisions.
Create the Senior Vice President’s daily email briefings, make recommendations on how to handle incoming asks/projects, prepare upcoming presentations & talking points, and manage her email inbox.
Represent the Senior Vice Vice President in internal working groups and meetings, making recommendations and decisions on behalf of SVP and CRA, through sound judgment, professionalism, and executive presence.
Draft, proofread, and edit mission critical correspondence, emails, and presentations for the Senior Vice President, representing the entire division and College Board.
Develop a deep understanding of the SAT Suite’s mission, strategy, operations, and business model and serve as a member of the CRA leadership team, while providing sound counsel and professional discretion.
Lead the division’s goal-setting process, track progress against priorities, identify performance gaps, and help ensure teams are focused on the work that matters most.
Define and drive the division’s culture and employee engagement, ensuring these efforts reinforce collaboration, community, transparency, inclusion, and commitment to the College Board’s mission.
Partner with our Finance Business Partner on the annual budgeting process, quarterly financial reviews, and quarterly Board reports.
Collaborate closely with our Talent Business Partner (HR) on promotion/raise processes, organizational design, headcount, and other Talent initiatives.
Plan, manage, and lead our weekly divisional stand-up and monthly divisional meetings, our semi-annual in-person convenings, and semi-annual leadership retreats in addition to managing our 2x/week leadership touchpoints.
Manage the Associate Director, CRA Division Management working together to support the Senior Vice President’s priorities and ensure our monthly divisional meetings, team operations and divisional communications are as effective as possible.
Advance high-priority special projects that require strong problem solving, cross-functional coordination, and the ability to move complex work from ambiguity to execution.
Drive AI usage across the division, bringing together CRA’s AI Champions to plan and lead divisional trainings and supports to expand AI awareness and active usage.
Foster relationships with a broad set of employees from across the College Board, including senior management, establishing mutual trust and respect that helps the team drive org-wide impact.