Associate Director, Program Success

Job Title: Associate Director, Program Success

Team: Innovation Team

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: ASAP

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation.

Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

As Braven scales its centralized-course model to serve more Braven Fellows across an expanding portfolio of higher education partners, the Manager, Program Success plays a critical role in ensuring a high-quality course experience. This individual is responsible for managing a pool of part-time Graders. You will reinforce Braven's ever-evolving grading strategy and systems to ensure strong alignment with academic policies and campus-specific norms.

Additionally, this manager serves as the primary point of contact for our volunteer career coaches, whom we call Leadership Coaches (LCs) during the term, responding to questions, escalating challenges, and ensuring they feel connected and supported. This highly collaborative role blends execution, coaching, and quality assurance to help deliver an exceptional experience for both Fellows and those who support them.

This role will be on the Innovation Team’s Central Delivery Team and report to the Director of Accelerator Success.

Stakeholder Management (40%)

• Supervise and support a pool of part-time Graders for the Braven Leadership and Career Accelerator course, including onboarding, quality assurance, and feedback cycles.
• Collaborate with Program Facilitators and Manager, Academic Success, to implement volunteer support and accountability structures, including coaching for underperforming LCs.
• Co-design and lead grader training cycles and communities of practice (regular peer learning groups) to ensure grading consistency and alignment with Higher Education Partnerships standards.
• Provide escalation support and intervention for Graders struggling to meet expectations and coordinate closely with others to ensure high-support LCs get what they need to influence student outcomes in the course.

Course Data Management & Analysis (40%)

• Ensure rubric adherence and grading turnaround times are met across all sites and sections.
• Implement periodic audits of feedback quality and ensure clarity and alignment to learning objectives.
• Manage grading performance dashboards and share trends and insights with the Central Delivery Accelerator (CDA) leadership team.
• Support struggling students through a tiered academic intervention framework, including direct student engagement, communications, and supports, tracking, working with higher education partner intervention systems, and contacts

Leadership Coach Experience and Retention Support (15%)

• Partner with the Manager, Academic Success, and Centralized Delivery of the Accelerator teammates to maintain a high-quality, joyful volunteer experience through consistent communication, resources, and recognition.
• Track volunteer engagement, issues, and performance in systems like Salesforce, escalating to appropriate teammates when interventions are needed.
• Lead targeted coaching sessions for struggling LCs and contribute to onboarding and training.

Team Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing (5%)

• Partner with cross-functional CDA teammates to build and refine scalable systems that support grader and volunteer success.
• Share insights from grading and LC data to inform product, training, and course design improvements.
• Document and socialize best practices by actively participating in Braven’s knowledge-sharing ecosystem.

• Bachelor's Degree
• Proven ability to analyze academic data to identify trends and proactively address student learning needs through direct intervention or by delegating tasks.

• At least 3 years of work experience in a related…