Director, Transformation and Strategy

Braven • Newark, NJ

5h • $95,900 - $119,600 • Hybrid

About The Position

Braven is seeking a Director, Transformation and Strategy to join its newly formed Transformation team. This role is responsible for turning key ideas into reality by incubating and handing off initiatives critical to the organization's success. The primary focus will be on the programmatic design and execution of an expanded partnership pilot with a higher education partner. This role requires the ability to influence and drive outcomes without formal authority, comfort with ambiguity, systems thinking, and a passion for innovation. The Director will deepen career partnerships with universities, explore and launch an evolution of the core model, run pilot projects, and build sustainable and scalable programmatic foundations. The ideal candidate thrives in a startup environment, is willing to contribute wherever needed, and is focused on student impact. This position is part of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer and reports to the Head of Transformation.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent
• 5+ years of strong track record of managing multiple complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives and leading others to outcomes including building or launching a new program, function, or business line from the ground up.

Nice To Haves

• Exceptional ability to collaborate and work in cross-functional teams
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to draft clear, audience-appropriate communications quickly and with minimal direction
• Exceptional ability to synthesize information, identify what should stay consistent, and where adjustments are needed due to various contexts
• Demonstrated ability to move between strategic altitude and hands-on execution: you have designed a program or pilot from a blank page, and you have also done the operational work yourself
• Track record of influencing and driving alignment across senior stakeholders, including organizational leadership, without formal authority
• Experience with program or instructional design; you know how to translate research and strategy into an experience that actually works for the people going through it, and you iterate quickly based on what pilot data tells you
• Track record of operating in ambiguous environments and creating structure where little exists, requiring constant iteration and resourcefulness
• Experience in the education or nonprofit sector
• Fluency in Asana, Trello, Salesforce, Claude, Zoom, and Slack is ideal; ability to navigate myriad technology tools
• A genuine appreciation for and enjoyment of the dynamic, fast-paced energy of a college campus, coupled with an ability to connect authentically with diverse stakeholders, ranging from students to university leadership
• Demonstrated commitment to building strong and welcoming cultures that help to develop others
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population

Responsibilities

• Lead execution and iteration of high-potential strategies, likely starting with alumni engagement, talent/employer-pathway pilots, and AI-centered pilots.
• Test and refine pilot programs at the first pilot site and future full-suite partner sites, assessing effectiveness and developing frameworks for replication or redesign.
• Partner with the Director, Transformation and Operations on sequencing and dependencies for coordinated pilot work and partnership building.
• Gather and synthesize team updates into cohesive presentations reflecting progress and challenges.
• Prepare materials, briefings, and talking points for stakeholder meetings, distilling complex pilot activity into clear narratives.
• Conduct landscape research on peer institutions, employer partners, and edtech players to inform pilot hypotheses.
• Define strategy for a fully embedded career experience at scale, evolving Braven's core model.
• Translate pilot vision into program frameworks, decision documents, and design principles.
• Conceive, design, and execute specific pilots to engage students, alumni, and partner stakeholders.
• Lead team-wide debriefs after each pilot to capture learnings and inform future design.
• Manage pilot logistics end-to-end: design, promotion, materials, execution, and follow-up.
• Incorporate market intelligence into pilot design, tracking and translating hypotheses from similar institutions.
• Create and own project plans for pilot and program-design initiatives, including timelines, milestones, and dependencies.
• Lead and influence teammates in a matrixed environment, fostering deep collaboration.
• Design and run a data collection campaign to capture key outcomes.
• Build forms, trackers, and processes to facilitate easy data collection for stakeholders.
• Synthesize findings into clear, compelling narratives for various audiences, ensuring data and reports are actionable.
• Develop high-quality memos, briefings, and presentation materials for diverse stakeholders.
• Support the broader team in understanding data outcomes and implications for future decisions.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 20 days per year)
• $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

What This Job Offers

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