Associate Director

This position provides inaugural leadership for Advise NC. Advise NC is a statewide network with a bold aim: ensuring every student in North Carolina's economically distressed communities has a trained adviser guiding them to a strong postsecondary next step. The right candidate will approach the role with an innovative mindset to shape the systems and trajectory of the program by bringing the latest approaches to the work and continuously improving delivery.

Advise NC has grown out of the successful College Advising Corps model that has refined its approach for over 20 years, and now serves more postsecondary pathways in NC through Advise NC. This position will serve as a member of the Outreach and Communications division, reporting to the Director for Outreach and Communications.

The primary purpose of this position is to lead statewide alignment of the Advise NC program, a program that currently places near peer advisers (150) in high schools throughout the state in economically distressed communities. These advisers work 1:1 with high schoolers on completing a career development plan (CDP), exploring their postsecondary options and understanding the steps of their chosen 'E' - enrolling in college, enlisting in the military or other service organization or employment in the workforce.

The position will be responsible for ensuring strong strategic partnerships with program host institutions (currently five universities), program directors, education system partners, postsecondary advising partners and funders. Diplomacy, problem solving, and innovation are key competencies needed for this role. The associate director will support the annual training of Next Step advisers, leveraging expertise among sectors to bring the latest and most effective postsecondary advising practices to the training while operationalizing a learning roadmap for the onboarding of new advisers.

This training will build expertise among advisers in the college-going process, FAFSA completion, and career planning, while also growing advisers professionally as they conduct themselves within a school setting that positions advisers as strong candidates for their next professional assignment. A key focus area is to bring innovative thinking to sustainable funding for the program, combining state, federal and philanthropic resources that ensure long term fiscal health of postsecondary advising.

Innovative thinking is also needed in program design and delivery, leveraging learnings from the larger postsecondary advising field to enhance the program structure and ensure it utilizes the most effective method for guiding students. Finally, this role will provide accountability that the advising model is delivering successful student outcomes through data systems that track lead and lag measures that will be used in grant reporting, evaluation, partner presentations, and inform further program enhancements.