Job no: 493020
Work type: Administrative (Full Time)
Location: Fort Wayne, IN, Indianapolis, IN
Categories: Admissions/Recruiting/Enrollment

Job Title: Director of Venture Development & Regional Workforce Engagement

Reporting Relationship: Vice President for Learner Success & Regional Workforce Engagement

Unit: National & Global

Department: Regional Ventures & Operations

Campus Location: Fort Wayne Education Center or Indianapolis Education Center

Summary of Position: The Director of Venture Development & Regional Workforce Engagement serves as the local leader for emerging endeavors to address regional needs through strong community and academic partnerships. This site leader will establish new programming, encourage growth in student enrollment, and build a robust business models.

The ideal candidate will lead external engagement and internal project development with the intent of identifying community needs to create new, learning-based ventures and regional pipelines into onsite, hybrid, and online academic programs. This includes identifying learning opportunities and needs, connecting in the community with an eye toward partnership and program development, and implementing new ideas with excellence.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Explore venture and partnership opportunities
  • Serve as the site leader for the educational center's regional ventures, responsible for development and growth of new regional initiatives and growth of pipelines into academic programs
  • Cultivate strategic community presence
  • Develop partnerships and collaborators in community and across IWU academic programs
  • Serve as a key player in partner development for the regions. Be consistently present within the region to build relationships with city, region, and state entities that support the development of ventures that drive enrollment growth. Regularly meeting with influential alums in the regions
  • Serve as a convener of local events and opportunities in the region to drive awareness of programs, develop new opportunities, and cultivate an environment where IWU's education center becomes a learning hub for the region
• Shape new projects and initiatives
  • Collaborate with internal and external partners including academics, workforce development, alumni, and business leaders to shape potential venture and learning opportunities
  • Based on partnerships, opportunities, IWU's existing programs, and community needs, use a combination of intuition and data to make business case for new project pilots - Write and communicate with clarity
• Manage launch and delivery of new projects
  • Provide project leadership and agile team management for new regional initiatives, ensuring significant regular progress, measuring success, and communicating updates to the Vice President and Regional Ventures leadership team
  • Coordinate across departments to launch new ventures and drive enrollment through programs and partnerships
  • Collaborate, create, and execute novel ideas quickly and at a high level of excellence
  • Serve as a part of the overall ventures team to execute on selected broader ventures initiatives (typically one broader project per cycle).
• Encourage local engagement at regional education center
  • Serve as a convener of local events and opportunities in the region, cultivating an environment where IWU's education center becomes a learning hub for the region
• Administrative leadership
  • Support research and development grants for funding regional initiatives
  • Actively build relationships with foundations and granting agencies
  • Manage the region's venture operating budget
  • Set venture income target goals annually and track progress toward those goals
  • Execute need-assessments and data analysis for the continuous improvement of on-going regional efforts
  • Work in conjunction with the alumni office and IWU's Talent Ladder to involve a wide array of constituents in programming throughout the region
  • If based outside of Indianapolis, travel to Indianapolis monthly for ventures collaboration meetings
  • Demonstrate a Christian worldview and upholds the University's Christ-centered mission in interactions with students, faculty, and staff
  • Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications: According to Indiana Wesleyan University employment policy all employees must possess a strong Christian commitment and adhere to the standards outlined in the IWU Community Lifestyle Statement.

Education

• Bachelor's degree required, Master's degree preferred.

Experience

• Experience executing complex programs with multiple constituents
• Experience managing projects or developing new initiatives
• Experience in building partnerships and working with a diverse range of people
• Record of strong oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• Experience in mental health, substance abuse recovery, or related fields preferred
• Ability to work under strict deadlines with a high degree of urgency and accuracy

Required Skills

• Ability to lead a team of faculty, staff, and community partners
• Excellent organizational and planning skills. Strong ability to prioritize tasks, work autonomously, and produce results quickly
• Capacity to handle multiple tasks at one time and to execute ambiguous assignments
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills used to create an effective team and build partnerships
• Strong writing ability including grant and report writing
• Comfort with technology, including Microsoft Suite, and the ability to learn new platforms quickly (such as Smartsheet, Salesforce, and other CRM and project management tools)
• Willing to travel to other IWU regional sites in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky for project-based implementation, partner development, and training. Travel would be seasonal and limited
• Fast learner and curious

Diversity Statement

IWU commits to create a community that reflects kingdom diversity. We will foster an intentional environment that exhibits honor, respect, and dignity. Acknowledging visible or invisible differences, our community authentically values each member’s earthly and eternal worth. We refute ignorance and isolation and embrace deliberate and courageous engagement.

LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMER

As a religious educational institution operating under the auspices of The Wesleyan Church, Indiana Wesleyan University is permitted and reserves the right to prefer employees on the basis of religion (42 U.S.C., Sections 2000e-1 and 2000e-2).

The above job description is meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed; it is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and skills required for the position. Employees will be required to follow other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor in compliance with Federal and State Laws.

Advertised: 19 May 2023 US Eastern Daylight Time
Applications close: 20 Oct 2023 US Eastern Daylight Time