Director, Strategy and Operations

Position Overview

SkillUp Coalition is seeking a Director, Strategy and Operations to lead strategic initiatives, fostering innovation across SkillUp and within our coalition to drive systems change in education and workforce development. This role is responsible for project managing and executing a portfolio of worker/learner informed projects with partners and funders and sharing learnings within the education and workforce development community. This role includes leadership in innovation and design, national partnership management, storytelling and funder engagement to ensure the organization achieves its mission and scales its impact.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Field Research

• Develop and manage a portfolio of national innovation projects, ensuring alignment with SkillUp’s mission.
• Conduct user and field analysis to identify emerging education and workforce trends and opportunities for high value innovation projects.
• Translate user and field insights into actionable programming and partnership strategies, ensuring alignment with workforce trends.
• Collaborate with leadership to prioritize initiatives that drive measurable impact and sustainable growth.

Partnership Development & Ecosystem Innovation

• Build and manage strategic relationships with training providers, employers, technology partners, and funders.
• Facilitate collaborative partnerships with coalition members to pilot, test, and scale innovative workforce and education initiatives.
• Drive cross-sector alignment and collective impact strategies that address systemic barriers in workforce development and education.
• Support senior leadership and the development team in funder engagement, including preparing impact reports, presentations, and updates.

Project & Product Management

• Lead the end-to-end lifecycle of innovation projects, ensuring alignment with organizational priorities and user needs.
• Collaborate with product, technology, and operations teams to bring new initiatives and solutions to market effectively.
• Drive a continuous improvement approach to internal systems, tools, and workflows that support operational excellence.

Design Research, Community-Centered Design & Data Insights

• Conduct and oversee design research initiatives to ensure programs are informed by the lived experiences of job seekers and other community stakeholders.
• Utilize community-centered design principles to create scalable and user-friendly solutions.
• Leverage data analytics and insights to guide program and product development, user engagement, and organizational strategy.
• Collaborate with the data science team to develop research questions as well as frameworks for measuring impact and performance across initiatives.

Team Leadership & Culture

• Work across internal teams to foster a culture of experimentation, continuous learning, and shared accountability.
• Provide mentorship and thought partnership to team members working on innovation-related initiatives.
• Champion SkillUp’s values and ensure alignment across internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 10-12+ years of leadership experience in strategy, operations and partnership management, preferably in an education, workforce development or technology organization.
• Demonstrated expertise in data insights, design research, and community-centered design.
• Proven track record of developing and scaling innovative solutions in a mission-driven or entrepreneurial setting.
• Strong project and/or product management and organizational skills with attention to detail and deadlines including programs and products
• Exceptional written, oral and visual communication skills with the ability to articulate complex concepts to diverse audiences.
• Experience in coalition building and/or stakeholder engagement at regional or national levels, including with philanthropic and corporate funders.

Salary & Benefits

• Salary:
  • Target salary for this position is $130,000 - $160,000, depending on experience and geography.
• Healthcare:
  • We currently pay 95% of your medical, dental, and vision coverage and 75% of the premium for your spouse and dependents. If you choose not to elect benefits you may receive an opt-out stipend of $2,000.
• Retirement:
  • We have a 401k Program with company matching. We match 100% of employee contributions up to the first 3% of pay.
  • Then 50% of employee contributions on the next 2% of pay.
• Paid Time Off: We value work-life balance and encourage our team members to take time off.
  • 4 weeks/20 Paid PTO days (25 PTO days after reaching the 3-year mark).
  • Two weeks of company shutdown during the week of July 4th and between Christmas and New Year’s.
  • All Federal Holidays.
  • 2 “Floater” days are to be used at your discretion.
  • Parental Leave: To help support new parents in the workplace, we offer 12 weeks of paid parental leave.
• Professional Development: We believe that developing our team members’ skills is a pathway to accomplishing our mission.
  • To this end, we offer you $1,000 annually for the professional development opportunities of your choice.
• Home Office: We will purchase a work computer for you.
  • We also provide a $75 monthly technology stipend ($900/annual for WiFi/cell).