Serving more than 200,000 students since our inception, we are redefining what educational excellence looks like in New York City public schools. Thanks to our robust and personalized professional development and coaching model, our transformative field programming, our focus on community and character building, and our understanding and support of students as individuals to unlock potential, our results are strong. Our overall graduation rates regularly surpass the city average by 10+ percentage points and we have achieved particularly impressive results among underserved subgroups. This past year, our Black and Latinx students graduated at rates that were 12 and 14 points higher than their peers citywide, respectively, and our students with disabilities graduated at a rate 27 points higher than their counterparts. Each year nearly all of our graduates are accepted to college.

Our network schools serve a predominantly high-needs student population. We support our schools by providing:

• Coaching and professional development for teachers and school leaders in the implementation of EL Education, a nationally-recognized school-wide model with its roots in Outward Bound.

• Community, character and leadership development programming for students.

• “To & Through College” programming aimed at supporting our students to successfully prepare for  pursuing and completing college or alternative postsecondary pathways such as vocational training. 

We bring our approach and activities to a growing number of public schools outside of our network through our Select Strategies professional learning services and our Adventure and Team Building programs.

Position Summary

The Director of Postsecondary Success is a leadership position within NYC Outward Bound Schools and is responsible for shaping and implementing the organization's work in postsecondary and workforce readiness, access and success. They will build upon the strengths of the current To & Through College initiative and expand it to include other postsecondary options in order to ensure that all of the youth in our partner schools succeed in making informed decisions about their pathway from middle and high school to college, certificate programs, and careers. Working in partnership with the Director of Continuous Improvement and as a member of the Program Strategy Team, the Director of Postsecondary Success will play a central role in using data and input from our partner schools to determine how best to build on and expand our current work in ensuring our high school graduates are equipped to complete college or other post-secondary pathways that will lead to financial freedom and fulfilling lives.  

The ideal candidate will bring a deep understanding of college and workforce readiness and experience in collaborative program development and continuous improvement. They are both a strategist and a coach who can build trusting relationships with our Network School postsecondary counselors and instructional leadership, and establish strong partnerships with local and national college and workforce access organizations, the NYC DOE, as well as college and universities and career development programs. 

This position is a full-time role reporting to the Chief Schools Officer and leading a team that includes the Alumni Manager with the opportunity to hire an additional team member.

Essential Functions

Strategy:

• Develop a vision and sustainable strategy for organization’s postsecondary success work, in partnership with the Chief Schools Officer and CEO, that: 

• Builds on our current To & Through College work

• Centers the voices and desires of our students and families

• Provides an expansive approach to postsecondary success ensuring that all of our students have a plan and a pathway to success.

• Anchors approach in current research on college success and workforce readiness

• Ensures our postsecondary success strategy is aligned with our organizational Theory of Action,  leverages our strengths and connects to the work we are already doing in schools.

• Collaborates with the Chief Advancement Officer and Development Director to establish a funding plan to support the work envisioned.

• Builds a team to execute the plan

• Leads annual planning to establish yearly priorities and goals in alignment with the Programs Strategy Team.

Management:

• Lead, manage, and develop the Postsecondary Success team.

• Support Network School College Counseling staff and initiatives,

• Ensure monthly school college counselor support meetings occur.

• Provide ongoing technical assistance and onsite support in all aspects of college and career planning:

• CUNY and SUNY application process, EOP, HEOP, Technical Programs, FAFSA, and List Making

• Lead the development of a robust calendar of support for students and families including diverse graduate panels, career exposure, college and career fair etc. 

• Supervise and support the Alumni Manager in further developing impactful strategies to support successful transition to college and college persistence.

• Fostering a strong college going culture within our network schools ensuring all students leave high school with a college acceptance in hand while also ensuring students and families are able to make the  choices that make the most sense to them. 

Partnerships:

• Develop partnerships with organizations that can help prepare students for success in high school, college and careers, including providing academic and social support, summer opportunities, and career enrichment opportunities. 

• Develop and expand strategic partnerships that enable a greater percentage of our students to participate in internship and career exploration experiences.

• Develop and maintain partnerships with workforce development programs to support our students in having the widest range of options possible.

• Cultivate, maintain, and leverage new or existing college or university partners including HBCs to promote and ensure college access, success, persistence, and completion.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with NYC DOE and CUNY. 

Continuous Improvement Driven Leadership:

• Adopt a continuous improvement mindset, along with various shared practices and routines, to make measurable progress.

• Use a network-wide theory of action to build towards a shared vision for postsecondary success.

• Name and work towards systemic changes to disrupt predictable patterns of student success and failure.

• Work with members of the Program Strategy Team to monitor collective impact, respond to data with programmatic shifts and make recommendations for next steps.

• Analyzes subgroup data to identify and address patterns of disproportionality.

• Use data by developing systems to track and learn from postsecondary data so that it drives decision-making.

• Work with the Data Associate on an ongoing basis to ensure the high school college enrollment and persistence data is up to date and accurate. 

Communication:

• Act as point person for all organizational communication around Post Secondary Success team programming, initiatives, and new developments. 

• Collaborate with the Director of Communications to align College and Career success content and stories with organization-wide communications goals and strategy.

• Ensure a user-friendly, up-to-date and helpful counselor internal website.

Professional Experience/Qualifications:

• Passion for our mission; solid understanding of the education ecosystem and student communities served by NYC Outward Bound Schools.

• A strong commitment to educational equity for BIPOC youth and supporting explicit anti-racist work within our organziation and our partner schools. 

• 5 to 7 years of related work experience in college and career success.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited 4-year college; master’s degree preferred.

• Experience helping educationally under-resourced students and their families navigate college admission, financial aid, and scholarship application procedures.

• Experience in strategic planning, with the ability to balance the urgency of the work with the need to create the space to include multiple voices and perspectives. 

• A strong commitment to the use of continuous improvement to improve educational equity.

• Well developed listening, collaboration and writing skills and the ability to facilitate various size working groups.

• Demonstrated ability to lead multiple high-profile and complex projects simultaneously and a strong ability to multitask, prioritize effectively, and manage time well to accomplish goals and drive change.

Additional Competencies and Desired Skills:

• Values impact, quality and sets high standards for him/herself and for others.

• Superb organizational and self-management skills and be able to handle multiple responsibilities effectively; have strong planning and execution skills; be a goal-oriented and effective problem-solver.

• Builds strong working relationships and strong teams (teacher teams, leadership teams)

• An independent, action oriented practitioner with an “anything is possible” attitude who can maintain humor and flexibility and work in all types of contexts and environments simultaneously.

• Engenders understanding and trust by helping others develop to the highest possible potential—meeting each individual at his or herng point, without judgment, adopting a growth mindset.

• A lifelong learner who is constantly seeking self-improvement with a strong ability to be self-reflective, willing to learn and receive/give constructive feedback.

Compensation and Benefits:

• We offer a competitive salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.

• We offer workplace flexibility/remote work to support the wellbeing of our staff.

• We offer medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as HRA/FSA/Transit accounts, life insurance, 403(b) with employer match after one year, sick leave, and generous PTO.

NYC Outward Bound Schools is an equal opportunity employer. We prohibit discrimination against, and  harassment of, any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, pregnancy, genetic information, ethnic or national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, familial status,  military or veteran status, qualified individuals with a disability on the basis of the disability, or any other  category which may be protected under applicable state or federal law.

No phone calls please. We appreciate all responses, but due to the high volume of resumes received, we can only contact those applicants whose qualifications best match the position requirements.