Managing Director - Northern Illinois University & National Louis University

Job Title: Managing Director - NIU & NLU

Team: Innovation Team

Location: Hybrid in Chicago, IL 

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: ASAP

About Braven

Braven is a career-accelerating program that prepares promising young people—many of whom are people of color, from low income backgrounds, or the first in their families to attend college—to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation. 

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, we are helping to open up access to the American Promise, empowering a generation of leaders who mirror the diversity of our country.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact Report and Jobs Report.

The Role

In order to achieve our ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Managing Director (MD) to oversee the program at Northern Illinois University (NIU) and National Louis University (NLU). The MD will set and execute a powerful vision for Braven’s programmatic success in deep partnership with campus administration, faculty, and staff. 

This inspiring leader is responsible for leading a team to implement the Braven program in partnership with both college campuses - resulting in empowered students, strong short-term course and internship outcomes as well as post-secondary outcomes for our Fellows within 6 months of graduation. In collaboration with the Executive Director, Innovation (ED), they will build and strengthen authentic partnerships with administration, faculty, staff, and students across NIU and NLU. The MD will establish and maintain a positive and strong presence across both campuses and in the broader Chicagoland community. 

The MD will lead a team of full-time employees and part-time interns. This role is on the Chicago regional sub-team of the Innovation Team and reports to the ED, Innovation.

What You’ll Do

Establish Vision, Strategy, and Culture for Braven at NIU and NLU (20%)

• Set a powerful shared vision for the NIU and NLU sites in collaboration with the ED and key higher ed stakeholders
• Design a strategic plan to support the vision alongside the ED with input from Braven’s central Product, External Affairs, and Central Accelerator teams
• Set goals and key performance indicators for the program at NIU and NLU that drive scale and strong first internship and job outcomes aligned with Braven’s local and national priorities
• Cultivate a joyful, inspiring, supportive team culture aligned with Braven’s core values and honoring the core values of NIU and NLU

Deliver Site Outcomes (30%)

• Lead the implementation of Braven’s programming at NIU and NLU, including supporting recruitment and enrollment of Fellows, managing the Professor of Record relationship across both sites and managing the holistic arc of the student experience across both sites, including course and post-course until graduation
• Collaborate with Braven’s central Volunteer Recruitment team to recruit volunteers, review, approve, and retain high-quality, diverse, and impactful corps of volunteers, which includes 90+ Leadership Coaches (LCs), 20+ Coaching Partners (volunteers who support LCs) and 600+ Mock Interviewers
• Alongside NIU and NLU, assess data continuously to help students stay on track in the course, obtain internships, and secure strong jobs or acceptance into graduate school.
• Drive regionally owned program elements including (but not limited to) local programming, learning lab implementation, data collection for job campaign, etc. and collaborate with Braven’s Product team to develop and implement supports and interventions to achieve outcomes
• For the elements of the program that are delivered by Braven’s central teams (Communications, Development, etc.), serve as a check for partner satisfaction and fit with local student needs and campus culture; provide feedback to the central teams in a spirit of partnership and continuous improvement

Partnership Development and Management (30%)

• Develop and steward strong partnerships with NIU and NLU leadership, faculty, staff, employers, and community-based organizations that result in additional resources for our students and improvements to our program model.
• Deeply understand the ecosystem, own campus relationships (faculty, Professor of Record, etc.) and operate as the campaign manager running relational campaigns on campus to foster strong collaboration in support of student outcomes. 
• Provide an outstanding brand experience for employers, volunteers, and donors who interact with and participate in NIU and NLU Braven programs
• Collaborate closely with the ED, Innovation, Director, External Affairs - Chicago, and Braven’s CEO on some external engagement and local board-facing work that supports organization and regional goals

Team and Organization Leadership (20%)

• Manage a team of full-time employees and part-time interns by fostering an inclusive and supportive culture and modeling Braven’s core values and competencies
• Prioritize team members' development by coaching, providing feedback, creating structures that support development, completing performance reviews, ensuring team members have actionable development plans, etc.
• Manage team budget in collaboration with ED to ensure fiscal responsibility
• Recruit, hire and onboard new talent as needed for team openings
• Participate in the organization-wide efforts to drive program model strategy and decisions, recommending changes as needed to Braven’s program model to achieve transformational and sustainable impact
• Support the planning and facilitation of sessions for Regional team stepbacks and retreats

Other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree 
• At least 7 years of related experience with a record of successful outcomes
• At least 4 years of experience managing and coaching others

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree
• At least 2 years of experience working in higher education
• Experience in an early-stage environment launching an initiative, program, or team
• Success managing and developing people and teams while creating and fostering a strong sense of culture
• High degree of flexibility and adaptability, ability and desire to excel in a fast-paced, team-oriented and highly ambiguous environment
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills and ability to facilitate strong partnerships across a range of stakeholders
• Proven ability to create, operationalize, and manage project plans, meeting milestones and deadlines
• Data-driven mindset with focus on using data and metrics to drive decisions and measure performance
• Proficiency in Google Suite, Salesforce, Slack, and Asana
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values
• Experience that has 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 preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in downtown Chicago at least 3 days per week
• Ability to travel to NIU and NLU frequently
• Ability to travel to events throughout the Chicagoland area
• Ability to travel and/or work evenings about 2x per week during the Fall and Spring semester

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Must be fully vaccinated 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.

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may 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

Benefits

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 $110,500-$138,100. 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 three team-wide, week-long shutdowns in Spring, Summer, and Winter (this is a minimum of 24 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 for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather on site at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and often work remotely 2 days per week (although certain commitments might adjust that from time to time). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of downtown Chicago. 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 identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.