The client is seeking an Executive Director of Economic Mobility and Workforce Innovation to serve as a strategic leader advancing career-connected learning and workforce alignment. The role provides leadership for the division, driving innovation, fostering cross-sector partnerships, and ensuring responsiveness to evolving regional and industry workforce needs. The Executive Director will champion the design and growth of a portfolio of non-credit workforce programs and credit-bearing microcredentials that support pathways to careers with family-sustaining wages, while also leading an Office of Career Readiness and Success to embed real-world learning and career preparedness across the student experience.
Key responsibilities include collaborating with senior leadership to develop and execute a strategic vision for economic mobility and workforce innovation objectives, and building transformational and equitable community impact. The Executive Director will develop and maintain employer partnerships to support curriculum design and expand work-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships, internships, incumbent worker training, customized training, and talent pipeline initiatives. This role will also lead the development and scaling of innovative workforce programs, microcredentials, and career readiness initiatives aligned with emerging industry needs, while establishing and monitoring performance indicators covering areas such as enrollment, credential attainment, employment outcomes, employer satisfaction, partnership growth, grant performance, and revenue generation.
The role will be responsible for identifying, researching, and developing grant opportunities aligned with institutional priorities in partnership with the Grants Office, supporting proposal preparation and compliance across the grant lifecycle. The Executive Director will promote data-informed decision-making using insights, evaluation findings, and institutional research to measure impact and drive continuous improvement, and will advance strategies that improve access, persistence, and completion—especially for targeted or historically underserved student populations. Required qualifications include a minimum of five years of progressively responsible leadership experience in workforce development, higher education, or a related field involving employer partnerships and workforce strategy, along with experience supporting programs that advance success and retention for historically underserved students; professional references and official transcripts upon employment are also expected.