Director, Transformation and Strategy

Braven • Chicago, IL

5h • Hybrid

About The Position

Braven is seeking a Director, Transformation and Strategy to join its newly formed Transformation team. This role is responsible for incubating and handing off initiatives critical to the organization's success, including launching pilot projects, determining organizational consistency, and adapting to meet student and local needs for scalability. The role requires designing and executing programs, assessing business cases, analyzing data, and building sustainable operational foundations. While not directly managing staff, the position requires strong stakeholder management and the ability to influence without direct authority. The ideal candidate thrives in ambiguity, takes initiative, thinks in systems, and enjoys bringing structure to complex problems. This role is part of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer and reports to the Head of Transformation. The scope will grow with Braven's transformation agenda, initially focusing on deepening career partnerships with universities and exploring model evolution. This is a full-time, exempt position.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent
• 7+ 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
• Track record of operating in ambiguous environments and creating structure where little exists, requiring constant iteration and resourcefulness

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 set the strategy and built the business case, 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
• Strong financial acumen: experience building business cases, modeling unit economics, and translating financial analysis into strategic recommendations for senior leaders
• Experience in the education or nonprofit sector
• Fluency in Asana, Trello, Salesforce, and Claude, Zoom, and Slack are 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

• Develop and own Braven’s multi-year strategy for key pilot initiatives, synthesizing insights from program delivery, partner relationships, financial modeling, and student outcome data.
• Build and maintain the business case for key pilot initiatives as a scalable Braven offering, modeling unit economics, cost per student, and revenue potential.
• Establish consistent measurement baselines (financial, programmatic metrics) for data-driven decisions and comparisons.
• Gather updates from across the team and synthesize them into cohesive presentations reflecting progress and challenges.
• Prepare materials, briefings, and talking points for board meetings.
• Conduct ongoing landscape research to stay current on industry trends and test model assumptions.
• Develop a scalable program framework and multi-year roadmap aligned with Braven’s mission and future opportunities.
• Execute pilots, launching programming at initial partner sites and assessing what works and what needs redesign.
• Define what should be consistent across pilot contexts and what must be adapted, honoring institutional differences.
• Build authentic relationships with collaborating teams to be a genuine thought partner.
• Define effective partnerships with internal and external stakeholders to strengthen relationships, increase efficiency, and ensure strong outcomes.
• Build the operational scaffolding behind launch work, including checklists, timelines, communication templates, and handoff documents.
• Create and own project plans across program initiatives, including timelines, milestones, and cross-functional dependencies.
• Conceive, design, and execute specific programs that engage participants.
• Manage all logistics end-to-end for programs: vision, venue, promotion, materials, execution, and follow-up.
• Debrief programs to capture learnings and feed insights back into overall design.
• Design and run a data collection campaign to capture key outcomes.
• Build forms, trackers, and processes for data collection.
• Synthesize findings into clear, compelling narratives for various audiences.
• Ensure data is actionable and reports are simple and useful.
• Develop high-quality memos, briefings, and presentation materials for external stakeholders.
• Document learnings from each launch to improve future efforts and contribute to the institutional knowledge base.
• Support the broader team in understanding data outcomes and implications for future decisions.

Benefits

• Unlimited vacation time
• Org-wide holidays
• Week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (minimum of 19 days per year)
• $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• 401K contribution match up to 5% of base annual salary
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• One-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

What This Job Offers

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