Director, Special Projects

College Board

Job Overview

Location

Remote - USA

Job Type

Full-time

Full Job Description

📋 Description

• The Director, Special Projects at College Board plays a pivotal role as a strategic thought partner and "chief of staff" to the Senior Vice President leading the SAT Suite program. This high-impact, high-visibility position is central to the organization's mission of expanding opportunity for millions of students and supporting tens of thousands of schools annually through the College Readiness Assessments (CRA) division. The role is crucial for driving the division's priorities, ensuring operational effectiveness, fostering leadership alignment, and achieving ambitious goals in a dynamic educational landscape.
• In this multifaceted role, the Director will serve as a trusted partner and force multiplier to the Senior Vice President, helping to manage priorities, facilitate effective decision-making, and maximize overall impact across the SAT Suite program, the CRA division, and related teams. A key responsibility involves ensuring clear, timely, and effective communication between the Senior Vice President and her leadership team, translating strategic priorities into actionable plans and ensuring that managers understand context, expectations, and decisions. This includes preparing daily email briefings for the SVP, making recommendations on incoming requests and projects, and managing her email inbox. The Director will also represent the Senior Vice President in internal working groups and meetings, exercising sound judgment, professionalism, and executive presence to make recommendations and decisions on behalf of the SVP and the CRA division. A significant part of the role involves drafting, proofreading, and editing mission-critical correspondence, emails, and presentations, ensuring they accurately represent the entire division and the College Board.
• Beyond direct SVP support, the Director will provide comprehensive divisional support, acting as a key connector across the CRA division on mission-critical initiatives. This involves developing a deep understanding of the SAT Suite's mission, strategy, operations, and business model, and serving as a valued member of the CRA leadership team, offering sound counsel and professional discretion. The Director will lead the division's goal-setting process, meticulously track progress against key priorities, identify performance gaps, and guide teams to focus on the most impactful work. A crucial aspect of this role is defining and driving the division's culture and employee engagement, ensuring these efforts foster collaboration, community, transparency, inclusion, and a strong commitment to the College Board's overarching mission. The Director will also partner closely with the Finance Business Partner on the annual budgeting process, quarterly financial reviews, and the preparation of quarterly Board reports. Collaboration with the Talent Business Partner (HR) will be essential for managing promotion and raise processes, organizational design, headcount planning, and other talent-related initiatives. Furthermore, the Director will be responsible for planning, managing, and leading key divisional meetings, including weekly stand-ups, monthly divisional gatherings, semi-annual in-person convenings, and semi-annual leadership retreats, in addition to managing bi-weekly leadership touchpoints. This role also includes managing the Associate Director, CRA Division Management, working collaboratively to support the Senior Vice President's priorities and enhance the effectiveness of monthly divisional meetings, team operations, and divisional communications.
• A significant portion of the role (25%) is dedicated to advancing high-priority special projects that demand strong problem-solving skills, effective cross-functional coordination, and the ability to transition complex initiatives from ambiguity to successful execution. A key special project involves driving the adoption and usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the division. This includes bringing together CRA's AI Champions to plan and lead divisional trainings and support initiatives aimed at expanding AI awareness and active usage. The Director will also focus on fostering robust relationships with a broad spectrum of employees across the College Board, including senior management, establishing mutual trust and respect to empower the team to drive organization-wide impact. This role offers a unique opportunity to operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, influencing critical initiatives that shape the future of college readiness assessments and directly contribute to student success.
• The ideal candidate will possess a minimum of 5-10+ years of professional experience, ideally including several years in a strategic operations role and direct experience working closely with a senior executive. A Bachelor's degree is required, with an MBA or Master's degree being a plus. The role demands an outstanding record of professional achievement and leadership, coupled with a genuine passion for supporting educational and career opportunities for millions of students. Candidates must be comfortable navigating ambiguity, complexity, and fast-moving priorities, with a proven ability to manage complex, cross-functional projects simultaneously while maintaining meticulous attention to detail and a command of project specifications. Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills are essential, including the ability to leverage data to inform decisions and actions. Excellent judgment and the capacity to engage with, influence, and make recommendations to senior leaders across the organization are critical. The ability to work collaboratively and build trust across diverse teams is paramount. Exceptional verbal and written communication skills are required, including proficiency in facilitating meetings and presenting effectively to groups of 40 or more, both remotely and in-person. Experience leading effective meetings and driving follow-through and progress tracking is also necessary. Proficiency with generative AI tools to expedite workflows, drive efficiencies, and enhance work products is a key requirement. The role involves occasional travel (1-2 times per quarter), particularly to New York City and Washington, D.C., and requires authorization to work in the United States. All College Board roles emphasize a passion for mission-driven work, curiosity for emerging technologies like AI, clear communication, a learner's mindset, a drive for impact, and a collaborative, empathetic approach.

🎯 Requirements

• Minimum 5-10+ years of professional experience, including several years in a strategic operations role and experience working closely with a senior executive.
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA/Master’s degree is a plus.
• Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, including using data to inform decisions and actions.
• Exceptional verbal and written communications skills, including facilitating meetings and presenting remotely and in-person to groups of 40 or more.
• Proficiency with using generative AI to expedite workflows, drive efficiencies, and enhance final work products.
• Comfort with ambiguity, complexity, and fast-moving priorities; experience managing complex, cross-functional projects simultaneously.

🏖️ Benefits

• Meaningful career and supportive team environment.
• Comprehensive package designed to help employees thrive.
• Fair and competitive compensation grounded in qualifications, experience, impact, and market data.
• Salary range: $80,000 - $125,000, adjusted by location for fairness.
• Open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and work environment throughout the hiring process.

Skills & Technologies

Remote

$80k-125k

Degree Required

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College Board

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About College Board

College Board is a nonprofit membership organization founded in 1900 that develops and administers standardized tests, curricula, and programs to expand access to higher education. It owns and operates the SAT, PSAT, AP, and CLEP examinations, supports college planning tools, and partners with schools and universities to promote college readiness. The organization also offers scholarship search services and data-driven research reports on educational trends and equity.

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