Senior Director, Chicago

Job Title: Senior Director, Chicago

Team: Chicago Region 

Location: Hybrid in Chicago, IL 

FLSA Classification: Exempt 

Employment Type: Full-time

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a  Senior Director, Chicago, who is responsible for the programmatic success at the Higher Education Partner (HEP).  They are responsible for ensuring that students who complete the Accelerator at the HEP secure a strong first job or enroll in graduate school within 6 months of graduation, and maintain a positive, strong presence at the HEP and in Chicago.

As a member of the Chicago regional team & the leader of the Higher Education Partnership (a specific program site), you will lead a team of 1-3 full-time employees and a team of part-time interns. The Senior Director of the HEP Partnership will also be responsible for working collaboratively with all of our central and regional teams, including our volunteer recruitment team and the team that manages the delivery of our course. Together, you and the Executive Director (ED) will build and maintain a strong, positive presence at the HEP site and in Chicago.

This role is on the Chicago team and reports directly to the Executive Director of Chicago/Chief Regional Success & Innovation Officer.

What You’ll Do

Deliver Site Outcomes (40%) 

• Oversee and ensure strong local program implementation at the HEP, including the pre-course, course, and post-course experience, to meet programmatic goals.
• Drive and responsible for the quality of regionally owned program elements, including (but not limited to) local programming, learning lab implementation, data collection for job campaign, etc.
• For the elements of the program that are delivered by the center, serve as a check for the HEP satisfaction and fit with local student needs and campus culture; provide feedback to the central teams in a spirit of partnership and continuous improvement.
• Assess data continuously and ensure students are on track to graduate and secure strong jobs. 
• Partner with Braven’s Product team to develop supports and interventions to achieve student job outcomes.
• Participate in the organization-wide efforts to drive program model strategy and decisions, recommending changes as needed to Braven’s program model to achieve transformational and sustainable impact.
• Observe, provide feedback, and collaborate in weekly in-person and virtual Braven Accelerator course, virtual and in-person career events, student recruitment events, and other key moments throughout the year.
• Take initiative to deeply understand Braven’s program, outcomes, and indicators of success by collaborating with other site teams, shadowing the Braven Accelerator, becoming a Leadership Coach, and using different strategies that build context, trust, and understanding.

Effectively Manage Stakeholders (40%)

• Develop and steward strong and formalized partnerships with the HEP leadership and faculty, employers, and community-based organizations that result in additional resources for our students and improvements to our program model.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with key HEP stakeholders that foster collaboration and a healthy partnership.
• Lead and co-lead meetings with the HEP stakeholders to build Braven into the career ecosystem and ensure that Braven is upholding partnership goals and agreements. 
• Act as the “mayor” of the local HEP, deeply understanding the ecosystem, owning local relationships (faculty, professor of record, etc.), and the campaign manager running local campaigns on campus.
• Build a collaborative team culture of individuals committed to achieving excellence, meeting site goals, and living out Braven's core values.

Create Vision and Strategy for the HEP(10%)

• Co-create a strategy in partnership with the Executive Director for the HEPsite and drive stakeholders towards the shared vision.
• Utilize the deep understanding of the local context and assets available to knit together an overarching strategy that brings the right programmatic and structural enrollment supports to the campus.
• Set goals and key performance indicators for the HEP that drive scale and strong first opportunity outcomes among Fellows and are aligned with Braven’s local and national priorities that are set in partnership with central teams.

Team Leadership and Management (10%)

• Lead and manage the Program Staff
• Provide organization-wide leadership within the One Braven Group- internal staff advisory group.
• Cultural stewardship of Braven’s Core Values
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• BS/BA
• At least 7 years of leadership experience with a verifiable track record of successful outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications 

• Prior work experience in higher education, 7-10 years in non-profit field
• Technical Skills and Knowledge: Proficiency in Google Suite, Slack, Jira
• Experience in an early-stage environment launching an initiative, program, or team
• Success in managing and developing people and teams while creating and fostering a strong sense of culture
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills and ability to facilitate strong partnerships across a range of stakeholders
• High degree of flexibility and adaptability, ability to excel in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment and comfort with ambiguity
• Proven ability to create, operationalize, and manage project plans, meeting milestones and deadlines
• Data-driven mindset with focus on using data and metrics to drive decisions and measure performance
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago at least 3 days per week, Tuesday through Thursday, as well as on-site at the HEP campus. As part of senior leadership, this role may, on occasion, require in-person attendance more than 3 days per week. 
• Ability to travel 2-5 days per quarter for staff training, retreats, and other events.
• Some non-traditional hours include the Braven Accelerator course that may take place during the evenings and specific events that take place in the evenings or weekends, such as Homecoming, Student Orientation, Galas, etc.
• Physical requirements include carrying materials to in-person events and driving to the HEP, and the surrounding area. 

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits

Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.

New hires can expect a starting salary at the lower end of the range, as Braven compensates based on the requirements and scope of the role rather than years of experience or prior salary, allowing for growth with performance and maintaining internal equity. The salary ranges, by geographic market, for this role are set forth $122,500-$153,100 in Chicago.. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.  

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and three team-wide, week-long shutdowns in Spring, Summer, and Winter (this is a minimum of 24 days per year)

• Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $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

Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe that our total rewards package matches what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply. 

Location

We gather in the office 3 days a week Tuesday through Thursday and work remotely 2 days a week Monday and Friday. Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of Chicago, IL. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.