Senior Manager Pathways

Careerwise Colorado•Denver, CO

7d•$73,855 - $96,876•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager of Pathways supports CareerWise’s growth across two distinct bodies of work: Adult Registered Apprenticeships (TDAP) and multi-industry Youth Apprenticeship (Manufacturing, Healthcare, Education, Business Operations, etc.). This role serves as a program operator for adult pathways and a regional manager for youth district ecosystems. The role is split evenly between administration, account management, and compliance for the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship Program (TDAP) and partnering directly with K-12 school districts to connect their students with CareerWise's existing youth apprenticeship opportunities. Both aspects benefit from familiarity with education systems and the ability to manage detail-heavy compliance work and relationship-driven partnership work.

Requirements

5-10+ years of experience in workforce development, education administration, complex project management, or career and technical education (CTE) pathways.
Experience navigating highly specialized tracking databases.
Exceptional project management skills with the ability to ruthlessly prioritize an intensive, calendar-driven seasonal recruitment cycle alongside daily administrative compliance deadlines.
A Self-Directed Problem Solver: resourceful and brings an investigative mindset to ambiguous challenges, actively untangles systemic roadblocks, researches options, and proposes creative, practical solutions independently.
A Master of Complexity: thrives when navigating bureaucratic systems, multi-tiered compliance rules (CDLE, CDE, SAA), and delicate multi-stakeholder landscapes (unions, district leadership, and university deans).
Strategic Recruitment: approaches recruitment and matching with strategic intentionality, leveraging CRM systems like Salesforce to manage and track candidate progression, maintaining system data integrity, analyzing pipeline health, and using database-driven insights to ensure high-quality, sustainable placements across the entire funnel.
An Institutional Relationship Builder: relational but system-focused, enjoys building the toolkits, training structures, and networks that empower others (educators, district leads) to drive student success at scale.
Equity-Centered: Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to how they build programs, screen candidates, and design inclusive pathways.

Nice To Haves

Direct experience with RAPIDS and Salesforce is highly preferred.
Familiarity with the Colorado K-12 landscape, school district structures (including Education Associations/unions), and Higher Education pathways is a major plus.

Responsibilities

Serve as the operational backbone for the Teacher Degree Apprenticeship Program (TDAP) within the Education Team, navigating complex state compliance, Higher Education (IHE) partnerships, and district/union dynamics.
Lead readiness conversations with both union and non-union school districts to launch new programs, navigating the complex, multi-step process of establishing district-specific agreements, aligning diverse stakeholder requirements, and ensuring all partners meet necessary program standards.
Partner closely with CDE, CDLE, and the SAA to shepherd districts through State Board of Education (SBE) approval processes.
Manage end-to-end data systems by inputting wage schedules, mentor trackers, and apprentice registrations directly into the federal RAPIDS database.
Collaborate with Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to align degree coursework with apprenticeship requirements, manage Sponsor portfolios, and facilitate ongoing professional development and monthly check-ins.
Serve as the primary point of contact for active district partners and adult apprentices, fielding program inquiries, ensuring apprentices stay on track with their milestones, monitoring progression, and managing localized compliance tracking.
Own a regional territory (managing 3-4 major school districts), building systemic capacity and orchestrating a rigorous, seasonal recruitment-to-hire funnel.
Deliver "Train-the-Trainer" modules, toolkits, and office hours to equip high school Counselors, Career Navigators, and Leads to run self-sustaining apprenticeship recruitment ecosystems.
Design and support work-based learning opportunities, job shadows, and pre-apprenticeship programs that prepare students for future workplace success.
Drive regional activities mapping to CareerWise’s growth targets, deploying a structured menu of recruitment solutions, including Apprenticeship 101 sessions, profile creation workshops, screening calls, and mock interviews.
Actively monitor student progression and tracking systems during the Peak Recruitment Window (January–April), spotting gaps early to execute targeted interventions.
Partner seamlessly with the Business Development team to align student talent supply with local employer demand, leading smooth student-business integration and facilitating Business Essentials and Orientations.