Project Director for Postsecondary Education

WestEd's Center for Economic Mobility

The Project Director for Postsecondary Education works as a part of the leadership team in the WestEd Center for Economic Mobility. The Center for Economic Mobility conducts research and evaluation, develops resources, and provides technical assistance. Through analyzing regional labor markets, we identify ways to strengthen education pathways and connect people in low-wage jobs to skilled employment. Rather than tackle problems at one institution at a time, we strengthen connections between education and workforce organizations, employers, regional partnerships, and state agencies. Our learner-centered approach helps our partners understand program impacts, change policies and practices, and implement shared strategic priorities.

The Center for Economic Mobility are supported by an extremely dynamic, innovative team of individuals with a passion for social/economic justice and systems change. Our goal is to re-vision how educational, workforce, and human services systems function, both individually and collectively, to create stronger pathways to economic self-sufficiency and self-determination. Major component of our group's work include:

• Innovative use of educational and economic data and creation of state and regional data tools to drive innovation in educational and workforce development systems.
• Use of learner and employer centered pathway and systems design to create more effective local and regional pathways and systems that increase access to living wage jobs.
• Regional and statewide educational, workforce, and economic planning that leads to long term and effective systems change focused on the needs of vulnerable communities.
• Cutting edge research and evaluation to illuminate and explore persistent gaps in our knowledge about learner journeys, systems change, and innovative practices.

For more information go to economic-mobility.wested.org.

Brief Description:

The Project Director has three primary areas of responsibility: 1) implementing projects that help postsecondary education systems utilize labor market information to support the economic mobility of learners, 2) leading strategy and business development, and 3) supervising staff and cultivating their development. The Project Director will be part the Center for Economic Mobility leadership team, working with directors over other lines of work in workforce development, adult education, intersegmental pathways, research and evaluation, and data tools to support the growth of this aspect of WestEd's work.

The ideal candidate should have the following core qualifications:

• Experience in a leadership role in open-access postsecondary education, with experience leading reform initiatives.
• Strong sense of labor market trends and how the focus on return on investment is reshaping the role of education in preparing people for rewarding, well-paid work.
• Deep understanding of postsecondary structures and systems, including college governance, programming, data systems, and change management.
• Strong facilitation skills, including leading groups of postsecondary practitioners through planning and program redesign processes that build consensus and create a shared purpose across interest holders.
• A proven track record leading large, complex, multi-year projects, with demanding timelines and teams that include people not in one's direct line of supervision, with diverse technical, programmatic, and research components.
• Mastery of operational systems necessary to manage large projects such as contracting, staffing projections, budgeting, and fiscal management.
• Strong business development experience, including managing a diverse portfolio of projects while continuously engaging in proposal development leading to new projects and lines of work.
• Experience with supervising a team with a focus on building strong career ladders, mentoring, performance management, and staff development.

This person's content knowledge and experience should be matched by strong leadership, facilitation, and communication skills, an open mind, strong problem-solving skills, and a high tolerance for providing leadership in an environment with continuously shifting demands and priorities.

Responsibilities

Implementing Projects

• Provide oversight and mentoring to team members who are leading projects within the postsecondary portfolio to ensure high quality work, support fidelity to Center for Economic Mobility priorities, and foster leadership within the team.
• Lead projects within the postsecondary portfolio by providing content expertise, supporting practitioners and policy makers to engage with labor market information, facilitating meetings with practitioners, and overseeing project management.
• Oversee operational aspects of projects including reporting, budget development and monitoring, financial transactions, execution of project plans, and project performance.
• Contribute to projects within the postsecondary portfolio in specific roles such as facilitation, technical assistance, writing reports and toolkits,and supporting planning processes.
• Present information in a concise fashion in high-stakes settings such as meeting with advisory committees, legislative staff, and the press.
• Support dissemination of our work through conferences, blog posts, white papers, infographics, and other presentation venues including engagement with federal and state policy leaders.
• Manage partnerships across agencies and within WestEd departments.

Strategy and Business Development

• Lead business development efforts to increase federal, state, local, corporate, and philanthropic funding for the postsecondary education portfolio.
• Co-create and co-lead the strategic direction and business plan for the Center for Economic Mobility, in partnership with the other project directors.
• Assist with the development of communications materials that clarify how WestEd can support processes that lead to greater economic mobility, focused on appropriate messaging for postsecondary audiences.
• Assist with prioritizing partnership and outreach opportunities to further the impact of the Center for Economic Mobility.

Operational Management

• Supervise program associates and support program managers to mentor program associates to support their growth within the agency.
• Support the growth of the Center for Economic Mobility by developing strategies to share knowledge across projects and lines of work.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years in apostsecondary education leadership or technical assistance role.
• History of managing complex projects involving large project teams, multiple stakeholders, and multiple project budgets in excess of $1 million dollars.
• Able to ensure that one's own and others' work and information are complete and accurate, especially under tight timelines.
• Able to communicate complex information to diverse audiences, particularly labor market information.
• Track record of building partnerships that expand the impact of individual projects.
• Long-term fundraising ability, including securing large-scale contracts and grants over a period of multiple years.
• Experience leading teams of people in a way that supports their growth.
• Able to communicate in a collaborative manner with colleagues and partners at all levels, from frontline employees to executives and external representatives.
• Strong writing and visualization skills including experience with creating materials for a diverse audience with clarity and brevity and understanding.

Alignment: An abiding commitment to helping people attain living wages and more stable employment

Travel: Ability to travel - requires 25% travel time.

*Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Successful candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

The full salary range for this position, WestEd level (13), is $140,000 to $220,000, but WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of the salary range. The typical hiring range for this role is $140,000 to $176,000. The actual offer considers multiple factors, including but not limited to education, experience, internal equity, and other organizational needs.

In addition to the base salary, benefits include:
• 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment and immediately 100% vested
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Account option
• All health/welfare benefits are effective the first of the month following the hire date
• PTO: 19 days (increases to 21 days beginning the third year of employment), 12 paid holidays
• Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary, max of 500k
• Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases + annual incentives
• Professional development opportunities & mentorship program

For more details about our benefits, go to: https://www.wested.org/work-at-wested/#benefits WestEd is a Drug Free Employer and maintains a drug-free workplace. #LI-Remote #Circa-ALLSTATES