Director Jobs

About The Position

Requirements

• 5+ years of professional experience directly serving or supporting high school or undergraduate students.
• 3+ years of professional experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects.
• 3+ years of professional experience leading a team.
• Alignment to Thrive's mission and commitment to students from under-resourced communities.
• Strong understanding of college admissions and student success, especially for students from under-resourced communities and first-generation students.
• Demonstrated experience designing or implementing strategy-driven programs that support college access and student success.
• Strength in data tracking, management, and analysis.
• Excellent people management skills, with the ability to coach and develop a team toward ambitious goals.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Skilled project manager with the ability to manage multiple priorities, evaluate outcomes, and make data-informed decisions.
• Ability to work collaboratively across departments and build strong working relationships in a remote environment.

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of the college access landscape in New York and/or Chicago preferred

Responsibilities

• Directly supervise, coach, and develop a team of College Access Managers and College Success Managers, supporting their growth as relationship managers and program professionals.
• Support the Director in creating and executing strategic plans for both teams to align with the organization’s broader strategic vision to serve 1,000 incoming Scholars by 2030.
• Develop and maintain standardized advising tools, rubrics, and data resources that support consistent, evidenced-based practices across both teams.
• Promote ongoing learning and development by identifying growth areas and implementing appropriate strategies across both teams.
• Foster a positive team culture and facilitate staff engagement by connecting tasks to mission impact and promoting dialogue, feedback, accountability, and success around core departmental goals.
• Contribute to hiring and onboarding of College Access and College Success team members.
• Track Scholar progress across caseloads and identify trends, gaps, and opportunities to strengthen team-level advising practices.
• Co-lead weekly team meetings, host one-on-one meetings with supervisees, and lead professional development sessions for the teams, including programming during biannual Advising Academies.
• Support College Access Managers and College Success Managers with their programmatic responsibilities, including Campus Director programming, scholar engagement events, team communications, and marketing efforts.
• Develop and maintain systems, policies, and infrastructure that support efficient, high-quality program delivery that promotes consistency across the six year program model.
• Contribute to ongoing program evaluation by tracking Scholar-facing data and surfacing trends that inform program improvements.
• Monitor project timelines, deliverables, and outcomes, and provide regular updates to the Director of College Access and Success.
• Collaborate with the Director and other Program departments to determine strategy, curriculum, and programs delivered at Summer Academy 1 and Summer Academy 2 to ensure experiences are responsive to Scholar needs and aligned with program goals.
• Coordinate program logistics for Summer Academy, including staff scheduling, materials preparation, and on-site program execution.
• Design and facilitate staff training for College Access and College Success programming at Summer Academy.
• Manage cross-functional projects that require streamlined coordination across departments, including post-admissions review work, early advising initiative, and Scholar onboarding, orientations, and handoffs.
• Build and maintain working relationships with college partners to support Scholar advising and college selection.
• Contribute to organization-wide events and initiatives, including student recruitment, selection, and enrollment efforts.
• Enhance Thrive's college programming by staying current on trends in postsecondary access and success and bring relevant insights to the team.
• Collaborate with program directors and staff across the organization to align programming, curriculum, and cross-team initiatives.
• Ensure College Access and College Success programming reflects national best practices for students from under-resourced communities and first-generation students and integrates with career pathways.
• Other job duties within the general scope of the role may be assigned.