Strategy Officer for Participation
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Strategy Officer for Participation

Department:  BA Attainment Team
Reports to:  Strategy Director, Participation
FLSA Status: Exempt
Location:  Remote within the contiguous United States
Compensation: $87,000-$109,000 (final pay commensurate with experience)
Benefits:  Include, but are not limited to, health insurance (medical, dental, and vision), 401(k), pension, vacation and sick time, paid leave, 100% employer paid group life, and long-term disability

Purpose

The strategy officer for participation works with the director to implement Lumina’s strategy, approach, and portfolio of grants and contracts designed to increase enrollment and re-enrollment in bachelor’s degree programs. The strategy officer should have practical expertise in effective approaches to identifying, informing, engaging, and enrolling students in high-quality programs designed to promote credential attainment.  The officer should also have insight into innovative marketing strategies, behavioral barriers to enrollment, and best practices in recruitment, onboarding, student advising, and navigation.  In addition, the officer should be conversant with an array of strategies and reforms that address equity, quality, scale, and innovation to dramatically increase the enrollment, persistence, and completion of bachelor’s degrees, particularly for learners of color and adults. 

At Lumina, how we approach the work is as important as what we accomplish. Candor, collaboration, and connection are the organization’s core values, and everyone at Lumina strives to live these values through their words and actions.

The Role 

Commitment to Equity

  • Strategy officers advance Lumina’s commitment to ending systemic racism and barriers to learning beyond high school for Black, Latino, Hispanic, and Native American individuals.
  • Officers will further Lumina’s specific practices that promote racial and ethnic diversity in hiring, contracting, grantmaking, inclusive decision making, and achieving fair and just outcomes arising from the BA Attainment department’s exercise of its duties and responsibilities.
  • Officers will effectively communicate Lumina’s commitment to racial equity to internal and external partners. 

Strategy Conceptualization and Leadership

  • Manage an assigned portfolio of grants and contracts through the lifecycle.
  • Support the director in conceptualizing a portfolio of work aimed at increasing bachelor’s degree participation.
  • Clearly articulate and champion the bachelor’s degree participation strategy to internal and external stakeholders.

Strategy Analysis and Synthesis

  • Analyze and synthesize information across a variety of sources.
  • Make recommendations to the Strategy Director the design, development, and piloting of new initiatives.
  • Partner internally and externally on integrated strategy approaches that aim to scale promising practices.
  • Extract key lessons from past or current work and use those learnings to shape and inform future work.

Portfolio Design and Management

  • Responsible for leveraging existing relationships with trusted colleagues and cultivating new partnerships to help support a portfolio of grants and contracts related to bachelor’s degree participation.
  • Create and support projects that lead to increased numbers of enrollments. Develop metrics and targets to ensure grants and contracts are designed to produce intended outcomes/outputs.
  • Constantly research and stay aware of key issues and players in the field to assess how the portfolio can be enhanced.

Integration and Collaboration

  • Collaborate in an intentional and forward-thinking way with colleagues across the organization to maximize the impact of the Foundation’s resources.
  • Proactively address questions and concerns, and communicate with director on ways to support, enhance, or pivot in strategy execution.
  • Engage with the director consistently for feedback, guidance, and alignment. 

Education/Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree required
  • At least five (5) years of experience preferably in the higher education, nonprofit, public and/or philanthropic sectors.
  • Knowledge of best practices for and barriers to participation in bachelor’s degrees, particularly for Black, Latino, and Native American communities. Demonstrated success in influencing, affecting, and implementing change, or some other mix of relevant skills and experience are preferred.

Skills, Competencies, and Characteristics

  • Ability to learn quickly and connect learning to ongoing conversations related to the assigned body of work.
  • Ability to make decisions in concert with others without complete information and to thrive in an outcomes-oriented, continuously evolving work environment in which thinking beyond the curve is encouraged.
  • Project management skills with demonstrated ability to execute and follow through to achieve intended results, by following through on commitments, prioritizing work, and managing time and resources well.
  • Experience building and managing diverse networks that support efforts to produce systemic change.
  • Strong verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate accurately, effectively, and in ways appropriate to different audiences.
  • Strong writer, with the ability to review, revise and synthesize a variety of information and help connect the Foundation’s work to broader discussions within the higher education landscape.
  • Ability to manage internal and external constituents, projects, and budgets.
  • Analytical, problem-solving, and research abilities and an ability to coordinate with researchers and program evaluators.
  • Capable of applying adaptive problem-solving skills in response to unforeseen challenges and new assignments.
  • Ability to prioritize a wide range of duties and responsibilities, organize tasks, and remain flexible to changing and multiple requests.
  • Ability to work collegially and diplomatically across the organization and audience groups, with an ability to resolve any conflicts.
  • Exercise sound judgment in handling sensitive or confidential information.
  • Ability to use technology effectively, including Microsoft Office 365 products such as Outlook, Word, and Teams, and the Fluxx grants and contracts database.

Work Environment and Physical Demands

  • Work is performed in an office environment, mostly sedentary.
  • Extensive use of various forms of technology.
  • Travels 10-20%, including overnight stays.

This Position Summary is only a summary of the typical job functions, not an exhaustive list of all possible responsibilities, and may be subject to change at any time due to reasonable accommodation or other reasons.

Please submit your application to careers@luminafoundation.org  with the subject Strategy Officer, Participation. Applications should include a resume and cover letter communicating your interest and qualifications for the role. Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.