Director, Special Projects

Director, Special Projects  

College Board – State & District Partnerships  

Remote (must work East coast hours) 

About the Team 

The State and District Partnerships (SDP) team at College Board is a dynamic and high-energy group dedicated to expanding opportunities for students by collaborating with educators in high schools, school districts, and state departments of education. Our team, consisting of over 100 highly engaged staff members, is committed to promoting the use of College Board programs and services, including the SAT Suite of Assessments, Advanced Placement (AP), and BigFuture. Our division is relentless in our pursuit of increasing the number of students who have access to these programs and ensuring our partners have the supports they need to implement them effectively.  

Within SDP, the Business Planning & Operations (BP&O) team focuses on developing and implementing efficient business processes across the division and with cross-organizational teams to ensure the seamless delivery of our programs. We leverage data, observation, experience, and creativity to guide decision-making and process development making all of our teams in SDP more effective. 

About the Opportunity  

The Director, Special Projects will play a critical role in ensuring the success of the State and District Partnerships division as it serves tens of thousands of schools and millions of students each year in pursuit of expanding opportunity for all students. You will lead the division’s goal setting, performance-driving and culture-building efforts, tackle special initiatives, drive the Senior Vice President’s internal and public-facing agenda, and represent the Senior Vice President and the division in a variety of settings, including among other senior leaders at the organization. In this role, the Director will make executive, strategic and operational level decisions at a complex mission-driven organization and be a critical partner in helping the Senior Vice President manage priorities and maximize effectiveness across the division and the College Board. The Director will partner with all teams in SDP including the Business Planning and Operations team, serving as a communications and organization conduit between the Senior Vice President and his team. 

The Director will also be a member of the Senior Vice President’s leadership team, will partner with the Senior Vice President to ensure that the work of the SDP division is well planned and executed and will work with the Senior Vice President to maximize his effectiveness across multiple verticals, people, and mission-critical initiatives.  

In this role, you will:  

SVP Support (50%) 

• Serve as Chief of Staff to and manage planning, execution, and support of the Senior Vice President’s work with SDP and adjacent teams 

• Act as proxy to support day to day management and oversight of some of the SVP’s direct reports to ensure work that does not rise to level of SVP is actioned and moved forward  

• Represent the Senior Vice President in internal working groups and meetings making recommendations and decisions on behalf of SVP and our program 

• Build effective systems and structures to support the SVP and SDP especially as it relates to monthly priorities. 

• Draft, proofread, and edit mission critical correspondence, emails, and presentations for the Senior Vice President, representing the entire division and the College Board 

• Serve as a member of the SDP leadership team, while providing sound counsel and professional discretion  

• Plan and facilitate leadership meetings and retreats, including setting objectives and preparing agendas in collaboration with the SVP. 

• Perform a variety of project management tasks that focus on tracking, and sometimes managing, key initiatives on behalf of the SVP; including establishing timelines; coordinating project deliverables with other departments and divisions; and evaluating and updating project status for reporting and decision making, recommending adjustments for successful completion of projects. 

Divisional Support (25%) 

• Drive the development and execution of strategic initiatives to advance SDP’s critical priorities. This includes daily, weekly, and longer-term priorities.  

• Ensure SDP initiatives are appropriately resourced and on-track, focusing on coordination of cross-functional work streams within the College Board and management of key external events. 

• Track and support teams to meet key milestones, including supporting quarterly review process with the CEO and regional leadership teams. 

• Review employee engagement data and support the development of division wide engagement plan in consultation with SVP, leadership and BP&O team. 

• Lead the preparation, coordination, and review of all division wide town halls, including agendas, communications and preparation. 

• Partner with Business Planning & Operations (BP&O) team to ensure alignment, support communication across the division and elevate critical issues as needed. 

Special Projects (25%) 

• Independently manage planning and logistics in consultation with SVP for Superintendent Advisory Council.  

• Plan, lead, and execute multiple special projects by developing innovative solutions that require attention to detail, cross-organizational leadership, strong analytical and communications skills, and masterful follow-through 

• Foster relationships with a broad set of employees from across the College Board, including senior management, establishing mutual trust and respect that helps the team drive org-wide impact 

About You 

• Minimum 8-10+ years professional experience including, ideally, several years of managerial experience in a strategic operations role and experience working with a senior executive  

• A Bachelor’s degree, though an MBA/Master’s is a plus 

• An outstanding record of professional achievement and leadership 

• A passion for supporting educational and career opportunities for millions of students    

• Experience managing projects, people and teams, with exceptional project management skills and experience in leading multiple projects simultaneously, with attention to detail and command of project specifications 

• Adept problem-solving skills, including using data to inform decisions and actions    

• Excellent judgement and ability to engage with, influence, and make recommendations to senior leaders across the organization 

• Strong verbal and written communications skills, including facilitating meetings and presenting remotely and in-person to groups of 40 or more  

• A commitment to and experience with building high-performing, highly-engaged teams where excellence and culture are key  

• Comfort taking on new and complex projects and driving them to success in a fast-paced environment 

• Strong ability to work collaboratively across many teams and skill in relationship building 

• Comfort with ambiguity and an expert level ability to creatively solve problems for which the answers aren’t obvious 

• Experience leading effective meetings and driving follow-through and progress tracking 

• Comfort with quarterly travel, particularly to New York City 

• You are authorized to work in the United States 

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