Director, Learning & Culture

Job Title
:
Director, Learning & Culture

Team
:
People & Operations

Location
:
In-Person 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.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Jobs Report.

As Braven scales toward serving 80,000–100,000 Fellows, we must intentionally strengthen how staff experience the organization and ensure our values are consistently enacted. The Director of Learning & Culture sets Braven’s culture and engagement strategy and ensures that our values, systems, and collective experiences reinforce trust, clarity, and accountability.

Where the Director, Learning & Development focuses on what staff needs to know and be able to do, the Director, Learning & Culture focuses on how staff experiences the workplace — including communication, recognition, values alignment, collective learning, and organizational change.

This role partners closely with the Head of People, the Director, Learning & Development, and People & Operations (P&O) leaders to steward Braven’s Culture Action Plan and translate engagement, retention, and culture data into measurable progress.

This role is on the People & Operations team and reports directly to the Head of People.

Culture & Engagement Strategy (40%)

• Own Braven’s Culture Amp survey strategy, administration, analysis, and reporting.
• Lead execution of Braven’s annual Culture Action Plan in partnership with the Head of People and P&O leaders, aligning the organization around clear priorities and measurable outcomes.
• Establish sequencing, ownership, and success metrics for culture initiatives.
• Codify and strengthen a values‑based culture by embedding Braven’s core values in systems, policies, rituals, and leadership norms.
• Partner with the Director of Learning & Development to design and reinforce Values‑Based Leadership initiatives that move values from espoused to enacted.
• Define and codify expectations for managers as “culture carriers.”
• Partner with the Director of Learning & Development to integrate culture carrier expectations into manager capability‑building and performance management systems.
• Partner with People leads and the Head of People to build programming and analytics around Braven’s core value‑aligned competencies, ensuring performance management reflects the culture and staff experience we aim to create.
• Analyze engagement and culture data across teams and experiences to identify trends and drive measurable improvement.
• Increase transparency and clarity around organization‑wide priorities in alignment with cultural goals.

Staff Engagement & Collective Experience (35%)

• Own vision, strategy, and execution for Braven’s annual Staff Retreat, ensuring alignment to culture priorities and organizational goals.
• Partner with the Head of People to design and execute People & Culture team retreats and stepbacks, broader P&O retreat and stepback planning, and organization‑wide collective learning and stepback experiences.
• Partner on onboarding strategy to ensure strong cultural integration and early engagement for new staff.
• Steward offboarding insights by analyzing exit data and identifying trends that inform culture improvements.
• Develop and lead a retention and attrition strategy, including ongoing data collection, root cause analysis, and organization‑wide or team‑specific action planning.
• Design engagement and recognition systems that reinforce desired behaviors and values.
• Set strategy and provide guidance for cultural celebrations and heritage moments across offices and regional teams, ensuring alignment with Braven’s core values and creating a cohesive, inclusive staff experience.
• Establish structured mechanisms for ongoing staff…