Join Strada's dynamic Strategy & Innovation team in a pivotal new role designed to accelerate our mission and drive meaningful impact across the organization. As a key contributor to this team, you will play an essential role in advancing Strada's North Star by facilitating cross-team collaboration, fostering innovation, and ensuring our strategic initiatives are executed with precision. Your responsibilities will include developing and implementing tracking mechanisms for key milestones, consolidating insights and progress from various teams into executive-ready reports, and spearheading efforts to enhance coordination and efficiency within our matrix organization. Working closely with the Chief Strategy Officer, you'll be at the heart of our mission to bridge the gap between education and employment, ensuring that our partnerships and strategies are not only aligned but also impactful. If you're passionate about creating lasting change and thrive in a collaborative environment, we invite you to be part of our journey.
Context
Strada Education Network is a national nonprofit social impact organization that supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between education and employment in the U.S., with a special focus on helping those who have faced the greatest challenges securing economic opportunity through postsecondary education or training (PSET). Our new strategic plan focuses on five strategic pillars: clear outcomes, quality coaching, affordable PSET, work-based learning, and employer alignment. We work with partners in education and training, nonprofit organizations, industry, startups, and public policy. We leverage strategic philanthropy, investments, research, communications, advocacy, and collaborating organizations as tools to help advance equitable pathways to opportunity. Strada aspires to be a nonprofit partner of choice working with education and training providers and leaders, policymakers, and peer organizations. Strada offers a dynamic, collaborative, and inspiring professional environment that provides learning and professional development opportunities, both within the organization and with external partners.
Key Responsibilities
1) Annual Planning and Tracking (50%)
Collaborate closely with the Strategy & Innovation team, which spearheads the Annual Planning process at Strada, to gather critical input and help shape the organization’s priorities, initiatives, and key milestones for the year. You will play a vital role in monitoring progress against these milestones, ensuring that we stay on track throughout the year. Additionally, you'll prepare comprehensive materials for executive and Board of Trustees updates, including synthesizing data, refining documents, and formatting insights from various teams to provide clear and actionable information.
2) Special Projects (50%)
Provide essential support for various Strada initiatives by managing and coordinating special projects across different teams. Your responsibilities will include overseeing project timelines, preparing and organizing key documents, developing agendas, and ensuring meetings are well-prepared and productive. You'll also be tasked with taking detailed notes during meetings, tracking follow-up actions, and ensuring all tasks are completed efficiently and on schedule.
Education and Experience
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Education: Degree or credential and/or skills and competencies in a relevant field.
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Project Management Expertise: Proven experience in project management and coordination, demonstrating the ability to drive initiatives from conception to completion.
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Mission & Values Alignment: Deep commitment to Strada's mission and values, with a passion for making a meaningful impact.
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Strategic Problem Solving: Proficient in using a hypothesis-driven, action-oriented approach to tackle complex challenges and deliver strategic solutions.
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DEI Commitment: Strong dedication to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of work.
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Relationship Building: Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with a talent for building and maintaining strong relationships across teams.
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Effective Communication: Skilled in developing compelling written, verbal, and visual content tailored to diverse audiences.
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Entrepreneurial Spirit: Innovative, proactive, and willing to take calculated risks to achieve goals and drive value creation.
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Adaptability: Highly flexible and capable of adjusting to evolving circumstances, with a readiness to pivot plans or ideas in response to new information or unexpected events.
Preferred Experience, Education, and Attributes:
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Experience in Dynamic Environments: Proven ability to excel in fast-paced, dynamic settings with multiple competing priorities.
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Self-Motivation and Collaboration: Highly self-driven and collaborative, with a strong desire to work effectively as part of a team.
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Continuous Learner: Eager to grow and develop in a new role, with a commitment to ongoing personal and professional growth.
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Strong Communication Skills: Outstanding communication and interpersonal abilities, fostering a positive and productive work environment.
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Thrives Under Pressure: Ability to perform and excel in high-pressure situations, maintaining focus and delivering results.
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Execution-Focused Attitude: A proactive, "can-do" mindset, with a relentless focus on execution and achieving objectives.
Travel Requirements
The Project Coordinator should anticipate nationwide travel (5-10%).
Mission and Values Alignment:
Committed to providing equitable pathways to opportunity through PSET, particularly for individuals who have faced significant barriers. Demonstrated alignment with Strada's guiding values, commitment to building a strong and healthy workplace culture, and working in a collaborative environment.
Strategy and Innovation Leadership:
Adept at operationalizing strategy and effectively communicating strategic endeavors within the organization and in external contexts, both verbally and in writing. Particular skill in designing annual plans, monitoring progress, and refining plans as needed. Adaptable with tolerance for ambiguity. Able to problem-solve and navigate varied viewpoints. Capacity to refine efforts based on evidence that change is needed. Ability to lead efforts to visualize and monitor change. Capability to see and support innovative ideas and opportunities across the organization, and to embed innovation within operational plans. Capabilities in taking the perspective of others and adapting an agenda and approach – toward a shared aim - accordingly.
Strategic Problem Solving:
Ability to effectively utilize a hypothesis-driven approach to problem solving, with effective quantitative and communication skills. Ability to take on broad-reaching and sometimes ambiguous questions while working collaboratively and cross-functionally with Strada team members across the organization.
Execution and Operations Leadership:
Ability to translate innovative, strategic ideas into tangible, actionable steps, as well as to effectively monitor progress and partner with others on identifying improvements during implementation to increase the likelihood of successful execution.
DEI Commitment:
Commitment and professional experience advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within and organization, including incorporating stakeholder perspectives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of strategic efforts.
Relationship Building and Collaborative Capabilities:
Demonstrated ability to cultivate, grow, and manage positive, mutually beneficial relationships at all levels of an organization and with partners outside the organization. Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship management skills—including identifying and working through challenges—underscored by strong judgment and emotional intelligence. Proven collaborator, able to work with colleagues at all levels in the organization.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to Strada’s organizational vibrancy, employee experience, and mission. Strada is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workplace-certified by Diversity for Social Impact, a strategic professional and organization development company dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion to drive social impact worldwide. We strongly encourage applicants from people of color/the global majority, immigrant, bilingual, and bicultural individuals; people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ and gender nonconforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. We believe every member on the team enriches our workplace by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and discover, design, and deliver critical insights and solutions.
