Job Overview
 

The executive director of program development is responsible for overseeing a portfolio of market-driven services, supports, and programs. Portfolio includes coaching service line incubation, specialized consulting projects, professional development workshops, state and college systems institutes, and regional and national learning event content and delivery. In addition, this position serves as a senior consultant and thought leader representing the organization at conferences, partner workgroups, and other external facing engagements in the in the field. The executive director works collaboratively with cross-organizational and external stakeholders in support of critical business development strategies. This position reports to the VP of Network Engagement. This position is partially grant funded.

Portfolio Management and Leadership – 10%

• Develop and maintain a strategic portfolio plan, leading a highly collaborative effort to build new and/or revitalize existing service and program opportunities.
• Utilize a data-informed approach to continually assess program lifecycle stage and develop action plans for sharing with key stakeholders the status of individual programs or services.
• Build and manage administrative processes to provide structure for new program roll out, planning and portfolio management as well as program and service development.

Stakeholder Engagement and Business Development – 25%

• Articulate the value of programs and services and propose ways to create and sustain a robust offering to the ATD Network.
• Serve as a liaison between colleges, departments and ATD business units to coordinate the necessary support needed to provide successful programs and services.
• Collaborate with potential internal and external stakeholders to identify specific needs and market analysis to determine program structure and viability.
• Reinvent and lead the development of integrative approaches to programs and services to provide more holistic approaches to building institutional capacity and equity centered work.
• Collaborate with ATD VP of Network Engagement and Director of Development, as well as other stakeholders on the development of new grant applications and manage grant funded projects.  
• Collaborate with Executive Director of Services Management to translate programs and services into new ATD products.  
• Develop, promote and deploy internal collaborative and knowledge-sharing opportunities around programs, projects and services.
• Provide coaching, technical and/or facilitation support for select colleges in support of ATD service delivery.   

Market Intelligence – 10%

• Utilize and incorporate the use of market insights (e.g., market understanding, labor market information, student insight, college insight) and competitive insights (competitor intelligence, program understanding) in the evaluation and redesign of current programs, services, learning events and grant projects.

• Conduct analyses and synthesis of marketing intelligence to drive pipeline generation and customer engagement.
• Use market intelligence to cross collaborate with marketing and communication, operations, and other internal teams.

Program Planning and Development – 25%

• Lead design implementation for small- and large-scale projects using systems thinking, design thinking, and project management principles and approaches with colleagues across ATD.
• Develop project plans, milestones, schedules and timelines using standard project management methodologies to ensure projects are completed on time.
• Work with and assemble dynamic ATD-wide teams of technical and functional experts to complete specific projects.
• Develop and implement relevant quality and compliance standards for new and revised programs, projects and services. Establish feedback loops related to quality, engagement and success for continuous improvement.
• Oversee and allocate resources as they relate to individual programs, projects, and services as well as the overall program portfolio budget. Participate in the budgeting process, monitor budgets and prepare for and participate in periodic budget review meetings.
• Work on special projects in response to ATD Network needs.

Supervision – 15%

• Provide strategic leadership and oversight for staff responsible for the development of programs, projects and services development and delivery.
• Supervise, provide training and coaching, and define responsibilities, goals, priorities and objectives for all direct reports.
• Provide guidance to staff including development of individual goals and evaluate performance.
• Encourage ongoing professional development for staff.
• Allocate and deploy staff for ongoing assignments and special projects to support their career development.

Thought Leadership -15%

• Works with program leads and marketing and communications to develop content that appeals to our network, prospect colleges, funders and partners.
• Develops new and innovative thought leadership strategies to help increase ATD's positioning and advance student equity and college reform.
• Works with senior leadership to identify topics of interest and speakers to market as keynote and session speakers at ATD events and conferences.
• In collaboration with marketing and communications, Initiates, plans, develops, and manages the execution of thought leadership communications strategies to support organizational objectives and appeals to our network, partners, and funders.
• Works to position ATD as a leader in its field through best-in-class content, case studies, articles, and research, for the network and broader higher education community to drive brand awareness, insight, and new business for ATD services.

Core Competencies

Collaboration: Demonstrates respect, humility and willingness to collaborate when seeking to understand others and making decisions.

Disciplined Execution: Has the ability to break down big picture work goals into management tasks; has the foresight to anticipate potential roadblocks in order to ensure timely completion of tasks and projects.

Effective Communication: Ability to actively listen and thoughtfully question in order to create greater understanding and to offer insights that advance problem-solving.

Learning Orientation: Embraces challenges, new ideas and different perspectives as an

opportunity to learn; continually seeks out and applies new learning to activate change or

improvements.

Systems Thinking:  Defines the system and one’s role in the system. Sees relationships and the dynamic elements of the holistic system and executes work accordingly. Influences the system and maps connections to ATD’s external landscape.

Change Agent:  Serves as an agent of change at a personal, team, and organizational level to pursue outcomes for students. Adapts as the environment changes, while managing associated risks.  Motivates staff, team, organization, and partners to activate the change needed to advance defined priorities.

Culturally Competent: Models appreciative inquiry to gain an understanding and awareness of others’ cultural identity and practices.  Creates safe and constructive forums for sharing diverse perspectives and opinions.

Emotional Intelligence: Demonstrates self-awareness and self-regulation and recognizes impact of personal behavior on others.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree or higher and 8+ years related experience in external consulting, program and project management; and grant-writing/management experience.
• Ability to work effectively with ATD’s corporate partner and network college constituencies
• Skilled at strategic planning, applied research, product management, and market development.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate deep exploration into operational processes and workflows, utilizing process mapping, resource mapping and communication auditing.
• Demonstrated ability to help college teams examine root cause issues in their workflows that impact student success outcomes.
• Excellent project management skills and budget experience; ability to monitor multiple projects, detail-oriented and organized.
• Ability to lead and participate in a highly team-oriented environment and matrixed organization.
• Ability to influence and work collaboratively internally and externally.
• Strong analytic skills and ability to work with qualitative and quantitative data.
• Ability to conceptualize systems/processes/products.
• Strategic thinking and the ability to recognize and leverage opportunities related to ATD’s mission.
• Ability to convey expert knowledge within several areas of higher education relevant to equity, diversity and inclusion.
• Strong written and oral communication and presentation skills; ability to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences including technical, professional, and executive

Position Details

Position Type:                             Full Time, Exempt

Grade Level:                                 10

Reports To:                                   Vice President, Network Engagement

Work Location:                           Remote

Level of Travel Required:        Frequent

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties of this position.

Equal Opportunity Employer

At Achieving the Dream, Inc. (ATD) we strive to attract, develop and retain highly qualified and diverse individuals. ATD is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. Employment policies and decisions at ATD are based upon merit, qualifications, performance and business needs.  All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally-protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status or sexual orientation.