Description
About Reach University:
Reach is a nonprofit, accredited university that employs job-embedded learning to help communities grow their own talent. At the undergraduate level, Reach offers adults employed in schools and other workplaces the opportunity to earn a unique bachelor’s degree that embraces work experience as part of the learning process. At the post-baccalaureate level, Reach provides “alternative” certification and degree programs for full-time educators and organizational leaders seeking a more equitable world. Reach seeks to evolve a new era in higher education where a job leads to a degree instead of the other way around.
The National Center for the Apprenticeship Degree (NCAD) seeks to radically scale higher education and employer utilization of apprenticeships attached to quality post-secondary credentials across the U.S.
We seek to create a world where effort and skills, not money or connections, determine who gets ahead. Learn more about us at https://www.reach.edu/.
Description:
The Senior Director of Strategic Engagement is one of NCAD’s senior field-facing leaders, responsible for advancing the Apprenticeship Degree movement through three interconnected areas of work: leading ADNet, NCAD’s national network of institutions building and scaling Apprenticeship Degree programs; directing partner-facing technical assistance and capacity-building engagements; and stewarding the subject matter expert relationships that power NCAD’s work across sectors and geographies.
This role requires someone who understands higher education from the inside — the institutional dynamics of program development, accreditation, curriculum design, and employer partnership — and who brings the professional credibility to engage as a peer with provosts, deans, chief academic officers, and state agency leaders. Equally important is demonstrated experience designing and operating membership networks or learning communities at scale, and the ability to manage a complex, multi-stakeholder portfolio with precision and care.
The Senior Director of Strategic Engagement reports to the Executive Director and works in close coordination with NCAD’s Senior Director of National Apprenticeship Degree Strategy, Project Manager, and the NCAD Fellows to ensure coherent, high-quality delivery across NCAD’s partner and network portfolio.
Requirements
Education: Master’s degree required in a relevant field, including but not limited to Higher Education Administration, Educational Leadership or Management, Curriculum and Instruction, Workforce Development, Organizational Leadership, or a closely related discipline.
Experience: Minimum 7 years of progressively increasing leadership experience, including significant work in higher education — with demonstrated expertise in program development, accreditation processes, workforce development, and institutional partnership — combined with substantial experience in network or membership program management, partner-facing technical assistance or consulting, and facilitation at scale.
Skills: Demonstrated ability to manage a complex, multi-stakeholder field-facing portfolio; experience supervising and deploying subject matter experts or contractors in a consulting or technical assistance context; strong facilitation skills across diverse audiences including administrators, faculty, employers, and state agency staff; knowledge of the Apprenticeship Degree model and work-based learning landscape across multiple sectors; strong written and verbal communication skills; ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously; comfort operating in grant-funded environments with funder accountability and reporting requirements.
Other: Ability to travel up to 45%. Fully remote position. To support collaboration, travel, and engagement across key NCAD partners, preference will be given to candidates located in the South/Southeastern United States.
