Fast Facts

The Associate Director, Outreach and Engagement will lead efforts to recruit, onboard, and support Achieving the Dream (ATD) network colleges, ultimately enhancing ATD’s impact through strategic outreach and member engagement.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include building relationships with prospective colleges, managing the onboarding process for new members, and organizing peer learning opportunities to foster long-term engagement within the ATD network.

Skills: Candidates should possess exceptional project management skills, strong interpersonal abilities, and proficiency in Microsoft Office and CRM tools like Salesforce.

Qualifications: A BA/BS degree with at least five years of relevant experience is required, preferably in higher education or project management; a master's degree is preferred.

Location: Remote; Silver Spring, MD with moderate travel required.

Compensation: $95000 - $105000 / Annually

Position Details:

Position Type:

Full Time, Exempt

Reports To:

Executive Director, Network Engagement

Work Location:

Remote; Silver Spring, MD

Level of Travel Required:

Moderate, Occasional travel per department and organizational needs

Job Overview:

The Associate Director, Outreach and Engagement, is responsible for leading comprehensive efforts to recruit, onboard, support, and retain Achieving the Dream (ATD) network colleges. This role plays a central part in expanding ATD’s impact by implementing targeted, data-informed recruitment strategies and cultivating strong relationships with prospective and current member colleges. The Associate Director ensures engaging and seamless onboarding experience and designs opportunities that promote long-term network involvement and institutional success.

As a key member of the Network Engagement Team, the Associate Director works in close collaboration with the services management team, coaching team, and CRM staff to enhance outreach and engagement efforts, inform leadership transitions, and develop institutional profiles that support strategic partnerships. The position is also responsible for ensuring high-quality peer learning opportunities and data-informed recommendations that foster value and sustained engagement within the ATD Network.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Network Outreach (30%)

Build and maintain strong working relationships with prospective colleges interested in joining the three-year experience.
In partnership with services management, follow-up on leads for perspective colleges interested in joining the three-year experience.
Support the development and implementation of targeted, year-round recruitment strategies that include direct outreach, peer referrals, strategic event participation, and data-informed marketing campaigns to attract new colleges. Expected results include an annual increase in qualified applicants and expansion into priority regions or college segments aligned with ATD's strategic goals.
Maintain effective case management practices for documenting all interactions with prospective and network colleges in Salesforce and provide reports as requested.
In partnership with Marcomm, develop recruitment materials for outreach campaigns, webinars, and in-person events.
In consultation with ED of Network Engagement, organize learning opportunities for prospective ATD colleges at the Annual DREAM Conference and other ATD learning events.
In collaboration with services management, inform senior leadership of presidential transitions at current or prospective colleges and recommend strategic outreach or relationship stewardship steps.

Network College Management (30%)

Project manage the ATD Network application processes and onboarding experiences for colleges applying to the network.
Lead asset development for the Kickoff Institute.
Develop and coordinate a first-year experience for orienting and supporting colleges new to the network.
Build and maintain strong working relationships with ATD colleges throughout the three-year experience.
In collaboration with the research and assessment team, develop processes for collecting and analyzing key information from network colleges to better understand their engagement and satisfaction.
In collaboration with the coaching team and CRM staff, develop a comprehensive institution brief for each new college president within the network to support effective onboarding and engagement.

Network Engagement and Retention (30%)

Organize peer learning and networking opportunities for new ATD colleges at ATD’s learning events, to include DREAM and Data Summit
Develop written recommendations for senior leadership based on proactive and ongoing analysis of annual reports, action plans, and other college data.
Lead the development of the annual Network webinar series, ensuring that topics reflect keen awareness of pressing topics in the field as well as ATD foundational content.
Design strategies to maximize the value of annual network benefits for network colleges and create approaches to re-engage colleges that have stopped out of the network. 
Develop and implement strategies to foster peer-to-peer learning and to create. opportunities to deepen engagement in ATD.

Other Responsibilities (10%)

Support ATD programs, events, and other network engagement team needs as requested.
Support the annual awards and recognition and annual report processes.
Perform various research assignments and assist with grant writing and concept development as requested.

Skills/Qualifications/Experience:

BA/BS and minimum five years of related work experience required, preferably in project management, management of memberships, higher education, institutional research, information technology, or research and analysis. 
Master’s degree, preferably in a field related to higher education, public policy or social science. 
Experience working on multiple projects and initiatives with the ability to prioritize based on changing demands; must be very detail-oriented and organized; able to monitor and execute multiple projects at once. 
Experience working in or with community colleges strongly preferred.
Demonstrated project management experience; experience creating goals and action plans with measurable outcomes. 
Exceptional interpersonal skills and professional demeanor with ability to manage work processes effectively and efficiently, and ability to manage stakeholder expectations by clarifying assumptions at the onset of and during a project. 
Excellent self-motivation, attention to detail, and strong organization skills.
Excellent research, writing, and oral communication skills. 
Detail-oriented and highly organized with proven ability to also contribute to the enhancement of the network management strategy.
Critical thinking, project management, and exceptional written and verbal communication experience are required.
Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of constituencies including technical, professional, and executive audiences, with ability to communicate crucial information up, down and across. 
Ability to work productively in both team and independent settings; demonstrated experience in building strong and trusting relationships among colleagues, external partners, and others to achieve buy-in and shared understanding. 
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher), required; ability to learn new technology products quickly and knowledge of Salesforce, Qualtrics, and Learning Management Systems preferred.

Core Competencies:

Collaboration: Demonstrates respect, humility, and willingness to collaborate when seeking to understand others and making decisions.

Equity Mindset: Demonstrates capacity to recognize and address racialized structures, policies, and practices that produce and sustain racial inequities.

Learning Orientation: Embraces challenges, new ideas and different perspectives as an opportunity to learn; continually seeks out and applies new learning to activate change or improvements.

Systems Thinking: Defines the system and one’s role in the system. Sees relationships and the dynamic elements of the holistic system and executes work accordingly. Influences the system and maps connections to ATD’s external landscape.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; and talk or hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Achieving the Dream is committed to creating and maintaining a diverse work environment. Employment policies and decisions are based upon merit, qualifications, performance, and business needs. All qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), gender identity or expression, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, legally- protected genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or sexual orientation.

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Associate Director, Outreach and Engagement