Executive Director, Pathways and Upward Mobility
Position Details:
Position Type: | Full Time, Exempt |
Reports To: | Chief Network and Program Officer |
Work Location: | Silver Spring, MD (Hybrid) or Remote Mobile First Work Policy: Upon hire, employees are notified of their work location (Silver Spring or Remote). Fully remote may not be appropriate for all positions at ATD (Achieving the Dream). ATD wants to ensure that both employees and ATD will benefit from these arrangements. |
Level of Travel Required: | Occasional travel per department and organizational needs |
Job Overview:
Reporting to the Chief Program and Network Officer, the Executive Director, Pathways and Upward Mobility leads ATD’s portfolio of work focused on helping colleges design clearer, more connected pathways into and through post-secondary education and into the workforce. Grounded in ATD’s Community Vibrancy framework, this role supports colleges in aligning institutional strategy, student success efforts, and workforce partnerships to broader community and economic outcomes. This includes strategy and implementation support related to dual enrollment, workforce-connected pathways, advising redesign, and holistic student supports. The role translates field learning into scalable tools, partnerships, and services that strengthen institutional capacity, improve student outcomes, and support stronger communities.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Program Leadership & Innovation (30%)
- Lead ATD’s strategic portfolio for K–college partnerships, dual enrollment, workforce-connected pathways, advising redesign, and holistic student supports, using ATD’s Community Vibrancy framework to connect student success strategies to workforce and community outcomes.
- Design and advance strategies, tools and services that help ATD network colleges build clearer from K-12 to postsecondary education and into the workforce.
- Drive continuous learning and improvement across the portfolio by identifying, testing, and scaling high-impact practices that strengthen student progression, completion, and workforce readiness.
- Build and sustain partnerships with key stakeholders, including college leaders, funders, and external organizations, to advance ATD’s mission and goals.
- Oversee the development, implementation, and evaluation of key initiatives that strengthen institutional capacity, improve student outcomes, and support career-connected learning.
Coaching and Direct Support to Colleges (15%)
- Provide subject matter expertise and direct support to colleges in designing pathways and student support strategies that align with ATD’s Community Vibrancy framework and local workforce and community priorities.
- Serve as a college relationship manager for assigned colleges, helping align ATD services and supports with institutional priorities, capacity, and stage of transformation.
- Collaborate with coaching team leadership to strengthen coaching approaches, develop field-facing tools and resources, and build coach capacity in high-impact practices across the portfolio.
Thought Leadership and Content Development (15%)
- Lead the development and dissemination of field-facing resources including toolkits, case studies, and formal presentations that translate Community Vibrancy principles and effective institutional practice into actionable strategies for colleges.
- Support the design and delivery of ATD convenings, learning events, and strategic engagements.
- Collaborate with the research, assessment, and marketing teams to identify emerging practices, capture field learning, and elevate institutional examples across the network.
- Represent ATD at national and regional conferences, webinars, and other public events to elevate the organization's advance in the organization’s voice and expertise in pathways design, student success, and workforce-connected learning.
Management, Supervision, Operations, and Administration (20%)
- Manage team budgets, grants, and contracts to ensure compliance and strategic use of resources, meeting deadlines and deliverables on time and within budget.
- Provide strategic leadership and oversight for staff responsible for program development and delivery.
- Supervise, train, and coach team members, defining responsibilities, priorities, and goals for direct reports.
- Oversee the strategic allocation of resources to support program goals and organizational sustainability.
Business Development and Grant Stewardship (20%)
- Identify and cultivate funding and partnership opportunities that advance ATD’s Community Vibrancy framework and expand the organization’s capacity to support colleges in connecting student success to workforce and community outcomes.
- Manage an active portfolio of grants and contracts, maintaining funder relationships, ensuring compliance with award requirements, and delivering timely, high-quality reports that reflect program impact and strategic progress.
- Serve as the primary programmatic lead on assigned grants, partnering with ATD's development and finance teams to align deliverables, manage budgets, and anticipate renewal or extension opportunities.
- Generate and close fee-for-service engagements with colleges, systems, and external partners that advance ATD's mission and contribute to organizational sustainability.
Qualifications/Experience:
- Master's degree required; doctoral degree preferred. Minimum 8 years of progressive leadership experience in higher education, workforce development, or a related national nonprofit context.
- Demonstrated track record of designing and scaling programs that improve student outcomes, with evidence of impact across multiple institutional or organizational contexts.
- Demonstrated understanding of how institutional strategy, workforce pathways, and community outcomes intersect to support student success and economic mobility.
- Proven experience managing complex grant portfolios — including funder relationships, compliance, reporting, and budget stewardship — and contributing to successful grant proposals at the six- and seven-figure level.
- Experience leading and developing high-performing teams in matrixed organizations, with a record of building staff capacity and sustaining accountability across distributed work.
- Demonstrated ability to translate applied research and field knowledge into practitioner-facing resources, public presentations, and thought leadership that advances sector discourse.
- Skilled communicator across audiences — from campus practitioners to C-suite executives to national funders — with a particular strength in translating complex data into actionable institutional recommendations.
- Direct experience coaching or consulting with community college leadership teams on student success, advising redesign, workforce alignment, or related areas.
Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Achieving the Dream is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work environment. Employment policies and decisions are based upon merit, qualifications, performance, and business needs. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally- protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.
