Director, Career Pathways - Business

Job Title: Director, Career Pathways - Business

Team: Product

Location: In-Person in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ), or New York City (NYC) 

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: August 2023

About Braven

We believe that the next generation of leaders will emerge from everywhere. We empower promising college students with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.

Learn more about Braven’s impact: 

https://impactreport.bebraven.org/

https://jobsreport.bebraven.org/

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director of Career Pathways to help build and lead a new program designed to better connect our Fellows with their interests and ultimately launch them on their path to success. 

During their college experience, all Braven Fellows complete an intensive skills-building course that equips them with key competencies for career navigation, the Braven Accelerator. With new skills in hand, Braven then provides various supports to help find and land a strong first job or enroll in graduate school. Our vision is to deepen these resources and further customize them to our Fellows’ needs and interests to achieve our ultimate aim of launching promising, underrepresented young people on their way.

To bring this to fruition, we’ve created defined Career Pathways for particular industries and will invite Fellows to enroll in the Community that most aligns with their interests and meets them where they are. Some Fellows know exactly what they want to pursue and only need minor technical support connecting with employers. Other Fellows are still discerning which path to follow and have a variety of questions and feelings about these pursuits. You’ll be responsible for owning the strategic vision for a given Career Pathway, leading its subgroup Communities, and ‘rolling up your sleeves’ to ensure a successful launch and implement ongoing program enhancements. 

To support each Fellow, our Director of Career Pathways will collaborate with them in three ways:

1. Convene programming to build career clarity and navigation confidence
2. Connect Fellows to resources that lead to success
3. Curate a compilation of partner resources to help Fellows self-navigate.

While we have the vision, we need a leader who has experience (and enjoys!) ‘building the plane while in flight,’ thrives in ambiguity, and does whatever it takes to demonstrate that Braven has Fellows’ backs and will do everything possible to help them secure either that important first job or get accepted to the grad program that leads to a meaning-filled life. 

What You’ll Do

Convening Programming (80%)

The Director will oversee the Business Career Pathway and its related subgroup Communities. As this is a new program, the Pathways and Communities in them may change to be responsive to student needs. The Director will:

• Create a learning community for each interest area by developing an annual calendar of events that feature various employers, Braven partners and alumni, and thought leaders. These communities will expose Fellows to new aspects of particular industries and intentionally place them into conversation with one another to leverage peer learning.
• Host all events in one of three ways: directly leading, co-presenting, or serving as emcee.
• Secure speakers for events, design event agendas, and ensure guests are prepared.  
• Develop and distribute event promotional materials and ensure event turnout.
• Capture event outcomes data and partner with Braven product team members to consider enhancements.
• Collaborate with peer Directors on new event ideas and innovations.
• Create a Fellow advisory group to incorporate ‘student voice’ into program design. 
• Own and execute on all programmatic aspects from strategic vision to delivery to program evolution. 

Connecting Fellows (10%)

The Director will serve as a key point person to ensure Fellows know how to find and access resources that support their outcomes. This includes the following tasks:

• Refer struggling Fellows to Braven’s Program Managers. 
• Work with Program Managers to determine which Fellows need additional assistance.
• Monitor and manage Fellow communications platforms.
• Direct Fellows to Employer Partners interested in interviewing or hiring Braven Fellows. 
• Create and disseminate periodic newsletters and other communications to enhance interest area understanding, announce new opportunities, and share best practices.

Curating and Sharing Resources (10%)

The Director will create a resource library that serves as an additional reference point for Fellows and promote non-Braven supports. This includes the following responsibilities:

• Develop a single data source for commonly requested topics (by Community) and resources to address them.
• Promote non-Braven led workshops, events, and tools that align with Fellow needs.
• Collaborate with Braven’s coaches to promote our University Partners’ programming.
• Create an outreach strategy to ensure Fellows are using these tools to support their outcomes. 

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree 
• 5 years of work experience

Preferred Qualifications

• An entrepreneurial, strategic, and results-driven approach to program design and execution.
  • Ability to create, own, and execute a strategic plan that connects ideas to outcomes in program design, implementation, and ongoing iteration
  • Experience using stakeholder data to uncover insights, recommend solutions, and test new ideas
  • A ‘roll up the sleeves’ attitude, ability, and interest in managing the myriad details associated with external event programming
  • Confidence and competence in public speaking and presentations
• Experience working with young adults and/or college students.
  • 5 years of experience in one or more of the following areas: group facilitation, instruction, or advising (e.g. student services or young adult development)
• Relevant industry experience in the Business Career Pathway, which includes the following industry interests: finance, banking, consulting, accounting, marketing, PR, communication, advertising, and specialized business (e.g. real estate, tourism, sports).
  • Knowledge of the hiring process, key timelines, qualifications needed, applying to grad school, and best practices for landing jobs 
• Exemplary verbal and written communication skills as well as deep listening ability.
• Organization-wide project-management with complex workstreams, managing complex decision making processes, including stakeholders with diverse needs and interests, and laterally managing team leads. 
  • Exceptional relationship building skills, enabling you to build trust quickly and collaborate across management levels, internal and external relationships as well as across dimensions of identity
  • Balanced perspective that enable one to effectively prioritize levels of urgency and regulate emotions, along with helping others do the same when required
• Experience leading and managing in complex environments during times of growth and employing change management skills, including but not limited to:
  • Experience making decisions with speed, agility, and common sense, while identifying and engaging key stakeholders appropriately
  • Strong organization skills, tracking and managing big picture ideas as well as key details
• You have a demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion
• You exemplify Braven’s core values
• Your experiences have 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 qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person for 2-3 days/week in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ), or New York City (NYC).
• Ability to travel roughly four times per year for strategy meetings, team stepbacks, regional visits, etc.
• Occasional evening or weekend work events to execute programming for students (1-2 times per month)

Additional Requirements 

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Must be fully vaccinated and have received the Booster vaccination against COVID-19 and provide proof of such by the date of hire. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. Exempted individuals will be subject to weekly testing if they engage in any in-person work activities.   

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process 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

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $78,900-$98,600 in Atlanta, $83,000-$103,700 in Chicago, $91,300-$114,100 in Newark or New York City. 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. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

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 week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)

• 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 
• A one month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office two to three days a week.  Therefore, we require teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs: Atlanta, Chicago, Newark, or New York City. Each teammate can use two flex days per week of their choosing to work remotely. 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. 

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

At Braven, we are committed to attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining a diverse team. Braven operates in the context of our American culture, against the backdrop of systemic racism and oppression of marginalized people since our country’s founding. We are committed to assembling leaders at our organization who have emerged from everywhere, with a particular emphasis on those who share the racial and income backgrounds of our Fellows, and creating an inclusive culture that allows all teammates, of all experiences and identities, to thrive.  

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.

Salary : $78,900 - $98,600