Vice President, Work-based Learning

Strada Education Foundation is seeking a dynamic and strategic leader to serve as Vice President, Work-Based Learning. Strada’s Work-Based Learning (WBL) team is responsible for advancing a vision that all learners have access to work-based learning experiences, including paid internships and apprenticeships, that help connect their education to their career aspirations. The WBL team sits within Strada’s postsecondary education strategy and programming. This dynamic and collaborative team has a focus on building partnerships with postsecondary education institutions, employers and employer-facing intermediaries, and other national organizations and foundations working to drive systems-level change that will improve access to quality work-based learning, especially for those individuals who have faced the greatest barriers. 

The Vice President (VP) is a senior leader on the Work-Based Learning pillar team who will shape strategy, build and execute multi-year strategic initiatives, build and lead strategic partnerships, represent Strada’s work externally, and support a culture of excellence and collaboration within the work-based learning team. The VP will build out and execute on a strategy designed to help post-secondary education leaders adopt work-based learning at scale. The VP will develop key initiatives directed at institutional change, which will include supporting data and measurement of work-based learning, analyzing and lifting up institutional best practices, providing technical assistance, spotting and investing in innovation, and advocating for policy and practice changes that can support work-based learning at scale. These efforts will require an ability to cultivate relationships with institutional leadership at the highest level, engage and facilitate dialogue with state higher education officers, associations and networks of colleges, and build aligned strategy with peer organizations and funders committed to work-based learning at the post-secondary level. The VP must have deep subject matter expertise on work-based learning in the institutional/post-secondary context, including model-specific strategies (e.g. apprenticeship, internship, campus employment), best practices (e.g. measurement, faculty engagement, use of technology, etc.), key challenges, and necessary funding and infrastructure to achieve institution-wide scale. The person in this role may be assigned supervision for a full-time staff member and/or responsibility to oversee the work of colleagues contributing to a strategic initiative being led by the VP. 

This role requires a collaborative leader with relevant subject matter expertise, experience with strategic initiatives, and a track record of building relationships of trust with peer funders, grantees, educational institutions, major employers, policymakers, or similar field leaders relevant to Strada’s mission. Outstanding people, communication, and leadership skills are required. 

Strada Education Foundation is a national nonprofit social impact organization that supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between education and employment in the U.S., with a special focus on helping those who have faced the greatest challenges securing economic opportunity through postsecondary education or training (PSET). Our new strategic plan focuses on five strategic pillars: clear outcomes, quality coaching, affordable PSET, work-based learning, and employer alignment. 

We work with partners in education and training, nonprofit organizations, industry, startups, and public policy. We leverage strategic philanthropy, investments, research, communications, advocacy, and collaborating organizations as tools to help advance equitable pathways to opportunity. Strada aspires to be a nonprofit partner of choice working with education and training providers and leaders, policymakers, and peer organizations. Strada offers a dynamic, collaborative, and inspiring professional environment that provides learning and professional development opportunities, both within the organization and with external partners. 

Our work-based learning team is focused on activating a vision that all learners have access to work-based learning experiences, including paid internships and apprenticeships, that help connect their education to their career aspirations. We will do this through a stakeholder-driven strategy that supports state and institutional leaders, employers, and intermediaries in implementing work-based learning, and through research that elevates and advocates for the highest quality, most accessible work-based learning models.

Key Responsibilities

• The Vice President has four core responsibility areas, listed below with the approximate time required.

Area 1: Lead PSE Institutional Engagement on Work-Based Learning (40%)- Refine strategy aimed at increasing institutional commitment to and execution of work-based learning.

• Develop nuanced recommendations for institution-specific strategies, accounting for differences among 2 and 4-year institutions.
• Set and monitor milestones for Strada’s engagement with institutions and higher education leaders on work-based learning.
• Represent and advance Strada’s goals externally, with a focus on higher education policy and practice convenings and communities.
• Collaborate with Strada’s policy and communications teams to advance prioritization of work-based learning among states and higher education policy leaders.
• Develop and execute strategic partnerships with key changemakers in the higher education landscape.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with funders to facilitate co-funding opportunities and to connect organizations that may not be right fit for Strada to other funders.
• Cultivate and manage trusting relationships with key organizations and leaders in fields relevant to the initiative. Keep and share documentation as appropriate.

Area 2:  Build and Execute Key Work-Based Learning Initiatives (40%)- Provide leadership and day-to-day management for a set of strategic initiatives focused on improving post-secondary institutional adoption of work-based learning.

• Develop roadmap for an initiative focused on state-wide adoption of work-based learning for public institutions.
• Develop and execute roadmap for projects to improve institutional data collection on work-based learning.
• Develop and execute projects related to improving campus employment as a high potential model for work-based learning at scale.
• Partner with Strada’s research team to develop, execute, and analyze research projects related to institutional adoption of work-based learning (e.g., State Opportunity Index, National Survey on Work-Based Learning)
• Manage grantmaking and grantee relationships for a set of grants: sourcing, vetting, grant structure, grant execution, grant payment, relationship management, shared learning, and grant reporting.
• Ensure initiative spending is within budget.
• Ensure all initiative grantmaking is fully compliant with Strada’s comprehensive grants management systems and processes.
• Working with the Senior Vice President and pillar team, report on initiative progress to senior leadership and the board, as needed.

Area 3: Contribute to and Refine Strada’s Work-Based Learning Strategy (10%)- Provide regular input on work-based learning strategy, including initiative development, goal-setting and operational planning.

• Provide strategic insights, milestone learnings, and future recommendations on how to achieve the greatest impact.
• Identify synergies and proactively collaborate to advance other elements of Strada’s work-based learning strategy (e.g. employer and/or intermediary engagement).

Area 4: Contribute as Leader on the Work-Based Learning Team; Collaborate with other Teams; Advance DEI (10%)- Help manage the day-to-day work of selected staff, interns, and/or contractors (if applicable), including assigning and directing work, evaluating performance, and delivering timely and constructive feedback, in accordance with policies and applicable. laws. Provide mentoring and coaching to colleagues, where applicable.

• Support an inclusive workplace culture through actively engaging in Strada’s diversity, equity, and inclusion activities. Incorporate tools and processes to deliver on Strada’s commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion through grantmaking.
• Support  Human Resources and DEI leadership on policies and programs that attract, promote, develop, and retain staff of diverse backgrounds.

The time allocations above are estimates and may evolve over time. Key Performance Indicators to Success

• Within 9-12 months, success in the core responsibility areas looks like.
• Develop a roadmap for supporting institutions in measuring quality work-based learning participation.
• Provide technical assistance to 3-5 states and/or higher education systems seeking to scale participation in quality work-based learning.
• Strengthen Strada and the field’s understanding of institutional exemplars, barriers, and best practices.
• Research and identify best practices for micro-internships and campus employment.
• Explore and recommend strongest policy/advocacy levers for institutional adoption of work-based learning.

The Person: Qualifications and Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred

Required Experience and Skills

• Issue expertise, with at least 5-10 years of experience leading, researching, and/or advocating for work-based learning initiatives in a post-secondary institutional context.
• Experience providing technical assistance or consulting services to institutional leaders preferred.
• Combination of strong leadership, communication, and collaboration skills with the ability to work with colleagues at all levels of the organization.
• Clear, concise, and nuanced written and oral communication skills.
• Experience working on DEI-related projects.
• Excellent public speaking skills.
• Good judgment and the ability to maintain composure under pressure.
• Excellent organizational, multi-tasking, time management, and prioritization skills.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Understanding of best practices in grantmaking, ideally with a track record aligned with Strada’s “wings not weights” approach.
• Experience leading a grantmaking initiative, ideally in a field relevant to Strada’s mission.
• Experience disseminated knowledge through webinars, as a conference speaker, or similar public venues.
• At least three years experience managing day-to-day work of colleagues.