Director, Success & Career Program Operations

Role Overview

• The Director of Success & Career Program Operations is the bridge between national program expectations and high-quality regional delivery.
• This role ensures regions have the practical supports they need to implement strong Success and Career programming, translating the model into clear routines, milestones, and tools that work in day-to-day operations.
• The Director monitors key dashboards and early-warning signals to spot implementation or outcome risks, mobilizes targeted support, and engages regional and national leaders in timely problem-solving and course correction.
• Own the national Success & Career operating system (goals, milestones, cadence) and ensure coherent delivery across regions.
• Monitor leading indicators and outcomes; identify fidelity, capacity, and engagement risks; engage leaders and drive timely course correction.
• Lead milestone reviews (before/after-action) to codify lessons learned and improve practice.
• Operationally own Early Warning System (EWS) implementation; ensure regional and scaled teams act on signals and track follow-through.
• Operationalize the employability curriculum and interventions aligned to Bottom Line’s Employability milestones.
• Oversee a scalable volunteer mentoring approach that delivers a strong student and mentor experience.
• Plan and improve career events, workshops, and convenings using clear success metrics (scale what works; retire what doesn’t).
• Use EWS and Employability data to target supports equitably and improve outcomes.
• Enable strong implementation across regions for Success and Career programming (readiness, guidance, and process improvement for new and existing sites).
• Lead communities of practice for Success Program Directors, Success Coaches, and Career Connections staff to build consistency through shared expectations and learning cycles.
• Set and facilitate the operating cadence (calls, checkpoints, deadlines) so priorities and changes are clear and actionable.
• Deliver onboarding, training, and coaching with Training & Learning; surface gaps and partner with Program Strategy & Fidelity to reduce regional burden.
• Partner with Program Strategy & Fidelity to align delivery to the Bottom Line Way and fidelity guardrails; bring implementation insights to model evolution.
• Partner with Access Program Operations on the pre-matriculation handoff, and partner closely with the Director, Scaled Advising.
• Serve as program owner for Success and Career data tools (e.g. Advisor Dashboards, Employability reporting, First Destination data flows).
• Oversee grant-funded program projects: manage scopes, timelines, and deliverables; track performance against grant metrics; and provide program narrative and data to inform funder reports.
• Maintain clear timelines, processes, and protocols for key milestones; keep documentation and knowledge bases current and usable.
• Use regional feedback and outcome data to drive operational improvements with Program Strategy & Fidelity.
• Manage up to two direct reports, as needed, based on grant funding: set goals, provide feedback, support, and coach through challenges.
• Build a high-performing team culture that supports learning, collaboration, and growth.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
• 6-8 years of progressive leadership experience in nonprofit, government, or philanthropy; experience serving first-generation and low-income students strongly preferred.
• Experience leading multi-site program operations with accountability for fidelity and student outcomes.
• Expertise in college success/persistence and/or career readiness for first-gen and low-income students.
• Experience convening and leading communities of practice; strong facilitation and peer-leader development skills.
• Strong program planning and implementation skills; able to map processes and anticipate downstream impacts.
• Data fluency with Salesforce, Power BI, or comparable tools to manage and analyze results.
• Change management mindset; able to lead through program evolution and integration.
• High emotional intelligence; strong cross-functional partnership skills.
• Work authorization required.
• Demonstrated commitment to Bottom Line’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
• Preferred: Experience leading Career Readiness/Employability programming at scale.
• Program/service leadership experience in a national, multi-site organization.
• Experience managing managers.
• Familiarity with agile/product ownership; Professional Scrum Product Owner certification a plus.
• Experience with research/evaluation or RCT-readiness contexts.
• Lived experience or deep professional relationships in first-generation and low-income communities.

Benefits

• Learn about our benefits here .