Director, Strategy

Job Title: Director, Strategy

Team: Insights & Strategy Planning 

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL) strongly preferred, Atlanta (GA), Newark (NJ), or New York (NYC) 

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.

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, Strategy who will work with Braven’s leadership to set and monitor overall strategic direction for the organization and lead and execute strategic projects important to our short-term and long-term financial, operational, and scale goals.

You will leverage strategic and analytical strengths to design and own a portfolio of strategic projects that drive impact. You will also lead cross-functional project teams and manage outside consultants as needed. You read context well, operate comfortably in ambiguity, demonstrate utmost discretion, and know how and when to take the best next step without waiting to be asked.

This role is on the Insights & Strategy team and reports directly to the Head of Insights & Strategy.

Strategic Initiatives and Projects (35%) 

• Lead the development and execution of strategic initiatives and projects directly alongside executive leaders, ensuring alignment with our business model and program model. Example projects might include evolving Braven’s regional and central business units and developing & executing a new change management framework.
• Collaborate with the executive team to identify and evaluate new business opportunities and partnerships that align with Braven’s strategic goals. 
• Lead working groups that drive our strategic plan to execution, codify decisions and next steps, report progress to Braven’s leadership, and make recommendations for unlocking. 
• Establish and achieve key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the success of strategic initiatives.

Organizational Goal-Setting and Monitoring (35%)

• Design, build, and manage a system to document, cascade, and monitor Braven’s most important metrics across program and organizational health
• Own the build, rollout, and maintenance of Braven’s regional and organizational health dashboards and other department-specific dashboards to monitor KPIs

Facilitating Leadership & Cross-Functional Spaces (20%)

• Support the planning and facilitation of two leadership bodies at Braven: Central Leads (c-suite direct reports of the CEO) and One Braven (broader leadership group). Example activities include planning and executing stepbacks, maintaining the knowledge base for both, preparing agendas, and creating content.

Annual and Multi-Year Planning (10%)

• Facilitate, project manage, and lead aspects of multi-year and annual planning processes
• Provide ongoing thought partnership and data-driven decision support for the Alignment Team (Braven’s leadership team)

For all of the above responsibilities, use AI in responsible, smart, and human-valuing ways to continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your work.

• Bachelor’s degree
• 5+ years of relevant experience
• Fluency in Excel/Google Sheets and SQL

• Proficiency in designing and building dashboards and visualizations for business end users and/or organizational leaders (Tableau preferred)
• Extensive experience writing and presenting compelling data-driven stories, arguments, and narratives for internal and external audiences

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA and/or experience in strategy consulting
• You have the following technical skills and knowledge:

• Proficiency in Google Suite, Slack, and Jira
• Proficiency in Salesforce
• Proficiency in Python or R

• Highly entrepreneurial - someone who is curious and can take initiative, with a capacity to independently think holistically and strategically
• Skilled at building trusted and credible relationships with multiple stakeholders. You seek to understand others’ problems and use your own perspective to solve problems together.
• Ability to make complex tasks simple for yourself and others by applying clear logic and processes to component steps
• Excellent time management and prioritization skills, which allow you to manage your own time and energy and seek the right help to complete multiple projects well and on time.
• Learner’s mindset, which you use to master new tools, software, and ways of working.
• Effective at mentoring and coaching team members and helping them develop professionally
• Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with or for Braven’s student population.

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Chicago (IL), Atlanta (GA), Newark (NJ), or New York City (NYC) at least 3 days per week
• Ability to travel out-of-town 3-6 times/year for quarterly team meetings and other gatherings 

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.

•  Braven doesn’t offer employment visa sponsorship

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process varies slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task & Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking.

Starting salary within the range is determined by role scope and qualifications, with new hires starting at the lower end to allow for growth with performance. Braven does not base compensation on individual candidate salary expectations and is committed to maintaining internal equity. The salary ranges, by geographic market, for this role are set forth as $101,200 - $126,400 in Chicago; $95,900 - $119,800 in Atlanta; and $111,300 - $139,100 in New York and/or New Jersey. This is based on a 50-hour work week at an hourly rate. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits-eligible position where you will be working at 100% cap

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office 3 days a week (Tuesday through Thursday) and work remotely 2 days a week (Monday and Friday). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of Atlanta, Chicago, Newark, or New York City. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face, and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.