Senior Director, BravenX

Job Title: Senior Director, BravenX

Team: Innovation Team 

Location: In-Person in New York City (NYC) or Chicago, IL

Employment Type: Full-time 

FLSA Classification: Exempt 

Start Date: November 1, 2026 

Hiring Manager: Jonathan Chaparro

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. 

To achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Senior Director on the BravenX team to drive growth and ensure the programmatic success of BravenX, an initiative in Braven’s innovation portfolio. 

As a member of the broader Innovation Team, you will build upon several years of rapid growth and continue to grow the number of students and nonprofit partners served through BravenX. This includes maturing the nonprofit partner experience to reflect the size and diversity of our current partner base, including how partners are involved post-course. You will partner closely with central teams like Insights and Fellow Recruitment to ensure BravenX has the central support and systems it needs to operate at growing scale, and with regional teams in the cities where most BravenX Fellows are based. You will also help execute pilots that BravenX runs on behalf of the broader organization, test new approaches, and surface what works for Braven as a whole. Topline measures of success include: student recruitment and retention, student internship & job outcomes, new nonprofit partner acquisition, earned revenue, and partner satisfaction rates.  

This role is on the Innovation team and reports directly to the Chief Regional Success and Innovation Officer. This role will directly manage 3-4 full-time team members. 

BravenX is what we call our program offering typically for non-University partners. National in scope, the experience typically targets college sophomores in sites where we currently do not have a university partnership. This program is 14 weeks long, follows the same curricular scope and sequence as the model in place with our university partners (i.e., Rutgers University - Newark, Northern Illinois University, etc.), and provides the same continuing career supports until a student graduates from college. 

To date, most of our partners for this initiative have been college access and persistence organizations, scholarship organizations, and the alumni offices of large high school networks, given their increased attention to alumni college and career outcomes. 

Deliver Program Outcomes (40%) 

• Shape a shared vision for BravenX in partnership with the Chief Regional Success & Innovation Officer and key stakeholders.

• Own overall BravenX program implementation and performance across recruitment, the course experience, and post-course supports, ensuring the program meets established goals and outcomes.
• Lead the program elements owned by BravenX, including local programming and jobs campaign data collection, and partner with Braven’s Product and Central Accelerator teams on centrally owned elements, supports, and interventions needed to achieve program outcomes.
• For program elements delivered by other central teams, including Communications and Development, represent the BravenX partner and student perspective by monitoring fit and satisfaction, surfacing needs and gaps, and providing actionable feedback to strengthen delivery and outcomes.

Business Development & Relationship Management (40%) 

• Own the end-to-end BravenX partnership and sales cycle, including:
• Source and qualify new prospects and lead external BravenX pitch presentations.
• Secure new nonprofit partner relationships and generate revenue through partnerships with nonprofit, scholarship, college-success, and other organizations interested in BravenX.
• Manage and deepen existing BravenX partnerships, ensuring strong partner satisfaction, retention, and opportunities for renewal or growth.
• Lead all partner acquisition deliverables, ensuring required communications and documentation are received, acknowledged, and accurately reported for contracts, grants, and other internal needs.
• Build and maintain standard operating procedures and tracking systems for the partnership and sales cycle, including effective use of Salesforce.
• Serve as the primary relationship owner for BravenX partners throughout the Accelerator & Post Accelerator experience, proactively identifying needs, elevating priority areas to the Chief Regional Success & Innovation Officer as needed, resolving issues, and ensuring a strong overall partner experience
• Represent Braven externally as needed at conferences and events 

Team and Organization Leadership (20%) 

• Manage and develop a high-performing team of full-time employees, fostering an inclusive and supportive culture and modeling Braven’s core values and competencies
• Invest in team members’ growth through regular coaching and feedback, clear development plans, performance reviews, and structures that support ongoing learning and development
• Own BravenX budgeting and forecasting, proactively monitoring performance and adjusting resource allocation to ensure financial sustainability and achievement of program and revenue goals
• Recruit, hire, and onboard strong talent as needed to meet team priorities
• Contribute to organization-wide strategy and decision-making, bringing insights from BravenX partners and Fellows and recommending changes that strengthen program impact and sustainability
• Lead effective team planning, including the design and facilitation of team stepbacks and retreats.
• Other duties as assigned 

• Bachelor’s Degree 
• At least 7 years of related experience with a record of successful outcomes 
• At least 4 years of experience managing and coaching others 
• Advanced application of qualitative and quantitative analysis, data-driven decision-making, and the ability to assemble and leverage data to build strategy 

Preferred Qualifications 

• 7+ years of professional experience, including significant experience in sales, business development, revenue-generating partnerships, or a related field.
• Proven track record of building and managing strong external partnerships, with the ability to find common ground, build consensus, and strengthen collaboration among diverse stakeholders.
• Strong communicator and compelling presenter, with excellent public speaking and writing skills and the ability to effectively communicate Braven’s mission and value proposition to a range of audiences.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and organizational skills, with the ability to translate strategy into action, use data to inform decisions, and manage multiple priorities from big-picture planning through execution.
• Experience managing and developing high-performing teams, including coaching, feedback, performance management, and talent development.
• Skilled at inquiry, association, questioning, empathy, adaptability, and results. Able to hold both the big picture and the nitty-gritty.
• You exemplify Braven’s core values.
• Your experiences have informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow 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) or New York City (NYC)
• Travel 1-2 times per quarter across Braven’s markets and, in some cases, to key nonprofit partners. 

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 opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly relative to one another, their qualifications, and their impact on the organization, and we take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead, each offer is carefully determined using external and internal benchmarks.

The hiring range is determined by role scope, qualifications, and internal equity, with annual growth based on performance. Braven does not base compensation on individual candidate salary expectations and is committed to maintaining internal equity. The hiring ranges for this role by geographic market are set forth as $122,500-$131,700 in Chicago, $134,800-$144,910 in New Jersey/New York City. This is based on a 50-hour work week. This is a full-time, regular, exempt, and benefits-eligible position where you will be working at 100% capacity.  

Please note that Braven is firm in its compensation philosophy; therefore, only candidates who believe our total rewards package aligns with what they are looking for in their next opportunity are encouraged to apply.

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 at the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 20 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, we require teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs: Atlanta, Chicago, Newark, or New York City. Each teammate can use at least three flex days per week to work remotely. 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.