Associate Director of College & Career Success

About Breakthrough Central Texas

Breakthrough is the leading college access and success non profit in Central Texas. For more than 20 years, we have partnered with thousands of middle and high school students who aspire to be the first in their family to graduate with a degree or certificate. We make a radical, long-term commitment to students, to and through college, unlocking the power of education and a lifetime of opportunity. We support the whole student with personalized services, work closely with community partners, campuses, and employers, and advocate for our students with lawmakers. Breakthrough students attend 60+ public schools and persist at nearly 100 colleges and universities. The result is that nearly 60% of Breakthrough students graduate from college, compared to 15% of low-income students in our region. Our work has resulted in more than 350 college graduates, with nearly 3,500 on their way, positively impacting families for generations, our region’s educational access, and the Central Texas economy.

Why Work at Breakthrough Central Texas

By working for Breakthrough Central Texas, you will help hundreds of students achieve their dreams of success and receive the high-quality education they deserve. Breakthrough is an organization committed to its students and recognizes that our greatest resource to support them is our dedicated and talented staff.  If you believe all young people deserve the opportunity to achieve postsecondary success and you desire to work at an organization committed to its employees and building the strongest team culture anywhere, then join us!

About the College & Career Success Team

Breakthrough recognizes the value and need of high-quality advising services to students after high school graduation. In this model, we directly serve students through six years of their post-secondary endeavors, with a heavy focus on the first year after graduation from high school. The overall goal of the program is to increase post-secondary attainment rates among students participating in Breakthrough.

About the role

The Associate Director provides critical leadership to the college team, helping train and support this high-performing team to implement best practices in advising college students and high school graduates on their path to attain a bachelor’s degree, associate degree, or credential / certificate while pursuing their passions and preparing for their career. While the Director is responsible for setting the strategic vision of the team, the Associate Director is responsible for the execution of key parts of this strategy.

To achieve the above, the Associate Director will :

• Directly supervise up to four program coordinators who work with students primarily at community colleges, pursuing bachelor’s, associate, or certificate pathways, as well as students who are not currently enrolled in postsecondary education but hoping to re-enroll after stopping out
• Help lead the continuous refinement and improvement of Breakthrough’s programs and services to support students towards postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and completion
• Support the build-out of training and materials to continuously improve our onboarding and ongoing training of program coordinators and AmeriCorps members on the team
• Develop and lead our partnership with key institutional contacts and offices for expanded student support at campuses with large student populations
• Along with the Director, help co-lead the team in the collection and analysis of college enrollment, persistence, and completion data to determine trends, barriers, and student needs,  and utilize learnings to inform and improve our programs and services.
• Co-lead the team’s efforts to support all Breakthrough students to submit financial aid applications and clear verification hurdles to successfully receive financial aid awards
• Design and provide timely reports regarding program outputs and outcomes to drive continuous improvement
• Contribute to strategic planning for the future of the College and Career Success Team
• Manage a caseload of students to support them to take academic and non-academic steps necessary to achieve postsecondary success
• Develop and maintain relationships with a diverse group of students and families
• Meet regularly and work collaboratively with other staff members in order to support students and families
• Foster the healthy culture of the College & Career Success team and of the entire organization
• Ensure that the College and Career Success team’s advising and programming practices are aligned with Breakthrough’s values and priorities
• Perform other job-related duties as required

About You

Reporting Relationship

The Associate Director of College and Career Success will report to the Director of College and Career Success, Community College and Non-Traditional Pathways.

Compensation & Benefits

At Breakthrough, we want to support growth within our team. For this role, internal candidates will be reviewed first.

Breakthrough Central Texas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

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