Director, Workforce Student Success

Cuyahoga Community College; Cleveland, Northern (OH, KY); Hybrid; USD 85,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland seeks a strategic leader to foster student success in workforce and career-focused programs. This role serves as the lead project manager for the Workforce Innovation division, coordinating with five Academies, Academic Affairs, and Student Experience to remove barriers to retention and completion.

You will analyze data, develop retention strategies, oversee staff, and collaborate across campuses to align services with workforce goals.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree required; significant related experience may substitute.
• Minimum of five (5) years in a higher education setting such as student services or workforce development.
• Demonstrated experience making decisions with major implications for departmental operations.
• Proven ability to solve problems across diverse situations and coordinate cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead project management for departmental student-success initiatives, managing timelines, deliverables, and reporting.
• Interact with students and staff to improve Workforce Innovation student success and retention.
• Guide pathways and eligibility navigation in coordination with Financial Aid and other offices.
• Coordinate scholar intake, onboarding, and cohort engagement for targeted initiatives.
• Advance AI literacy and fluency initiatives in student-facing services.
• Support Perkins V goals and performance improvement efforts.
• Collaborate across college units to align services with workforce development goals.
• Develop strategies to identify and remove barriers to program completion.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Communication

Project management

Staff collaboration

Data analysis

Adaptability

Problem solving

Education

Master’s degree in a related field

Tools

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

Recruitment Type: External/Internal

Requisition ID:req7420

Employment Type: Administration and Professionals

Union Position: Non-Union

Work Schedule: M-F 8:30am - 5:00pm

Number of Openings: 1

Job Description:

SUMMARY

A strategic leader and primary resource dedicated to fosteringsuccess for students enrolled in workforce and career-focused programs. Interactswith students across the College to address complex student challenges relatedto institutional navigation, administrative processes, and removes barriers toretention, persistence, and completion, especially for students pursuing careercredentials, technical training, and fast-track pathways to employment. Workswithin the Workforce Innovation division including the five Workforce TrainingAcademies, the College wide Student Experience Division, and Academic Affairs,to ensure consistent, proactive, and care-centered student support. Servesacross the Workforce Innovation Division as the lead project manager for thedepartment’s student-success initiatives, collaborating closely with theStudent Liaison and the Vice President & Chief Student Services Officer forWorkforce Student Success. Works collaboratively across the College tostrengthen retention among Workforce students and expand awareness of andaccess to existing college resources.

ESSENTIALFUNCTIONS

• Serves as lead project manager for departmental student-success initiatives, coordinating timelines and deliverables, cross functional teams, and reporting.
• Interacts with students across the Workforce Innovation division, including the five Academies, Academic Affairs, and Student Experience divisions to improve Workforce Innovation student success and retention.
• Supports Workforce Pell awareness, readiness, and implementation, including guiding students through non-credit-to-credit pathways, eligibility navigation in conjunction with Financial Aid, and term-based progression and monitoring.
• Coordinates the student-success components of the OMD/CCA NEXT workforce scholar initiative (One Million Degrees/Complete College America), including scholar intake, recruitment, onboarding, and cohort engagement.
• Advances the Divisions’ AI Literacy & Fluency initiatives as it relates to student-facing services and staff capacity.
• Supports Perkins V performance goals, including retention and credential-attainment strategies tied to the local performance improvement plan.
• Supports Achieving the Dream LIFT priorities related to K-12 to college transitions and students with diagnosed learning differences.
• Serves as a visible advocate and liaison for students navigating institutional systems, with a focus on resolving roadblocks and enhancing clarity.
• Collaborates with academic departments, student services, and external partners to align support services with workforce development goals.
• Develops and implements strategies to identify, track, and eliminate internal and external barriers to completion for career-focused students.
• Guides and supports frontline staff in delivering consistent and responsive student assistance across campuses.
• Monitors institutional policies, procedures, and student feedback to recommend and execute improvements.
• Analyzes data and outcomes to inform continuous enhancement of workforce student success strategies.
• Develops, implements, and evaluates retention strategies and milestones for Workforce Innovation students.
• Provides leadership and serves as a liaison to numerous academic and Workforce program areas, and other business units (i.e., Student Business Services, Enrollment Center, Counseling, Financial Aid, Corporate College, Legal Services) to investigate, refer and/or respond to student inquiries related to funding, tuition assistance/tuition reimbursement programs, short-term certificates, and other industry credentials.
• Collaborates with Recruitment Specialists and other staff to facilitate the coordination of information and orientation sessions both on and off-site.
• Serves as a champion and guide for prospective students interested in leveraging tuition assistance/tuition reimbursement funds, or other sources of funding.
• Supports students interested in transitioning from non-credit to credit programs and credit to non-credit programs.
• Collaborates with Faculty Counselors to proactively communicate, guide, and assist students regarding progression and persistence.
• Collaborates college wide to create, track, present on, and evaluate enrollment, retention and completion campaigns to support enrollment and completion goals.
• Recommends and implements strategies to improve consistency of service to prospective and matriculated students in the college.
• Partners with the Recruitment Specialists to support Workforce recruitment efforts, leverages relationships with community partners, coordinates outcomes reporting, and provides resources and support to increase recruitment opportunities for Workforce training programs.
• May teach Workforce Success Seminar.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION ANDEXPERIENCE/TRAINING

• Master’s degree in a related field.
  • Significant related experience may substitute for education.
• Minimum of five (5) years working in a higher education setting such as student services, academic support or workforce development support.
• Demonstrated experience effectively making decisions that have major implications on the management and operations within a department.
• Demonstrated experience in a role requiring diverse problem-solving methods in a variety of situations.
• Demonstrated experience speaking to the public and presenting to groups of all sizes.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, andABILITIES

• Possess comprehensive knowledge of credit/non-credit programs and career pathways concepts, practices and procedures with the ability to use in varied situations as it pertains to the departmental focus.
• Demonstrated critical thinking skills with ability to strategize, prioritize and multi-task to meet goals and deadlines.
• Ability to adjust to changing priorities and respond appropriately to deadlines.
• Ability to be supportive, compassionate, and encouraging to students.
• Possess excellent written, verbal and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to be creative and exercise initiative, excellent judgement and discretion.
• Ability to determine needs and identify creative solutions to remove barriers.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships with key contacts to enhance workflow and quality.
• Ability to collaborate, persuade, and gain cooperation and acceptance of ideas on significant projects.
• Ability to collaborate, negotiate, and resolve conflicts within project teams.
• Demonstrated intermediate project management skills, including the ability to lead multiple concurrent initiatives, timelines, and deliverables across modalities and teams.
• Ability to independently set goals and determine best course of action to achieve desired results.
• Intermediate-level proficiency with Microsoft: Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint equivalent software)
• Ability to work effectively with and manage people and resources in an ever-changing environment.
• Ability to effectively complete work assignments independently
• Ability to confidentially and discreetly manage subject matters requiring privacy and sensitivity.
• Possess sensitivity to respond appropriately to the needs of students and the community.

COMPETENCIES

CRITICAL COMPETENCIES

• Service Focus
• Communication

VERY IMPORTANT COMPETENCIES

• Quality of Work

IMPORTANT COMPETENCIES

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION ANDEXPERIENCE/TRAINING

• Doctorate degree in related field.
• Experience working in a student-facing department.
• Experience assessing programmatic needs and successfullyimplementing new initiatives.
• Experience working with student-focused online platforms.
• Familiarity with regional population, labor market trends, andTri-C’s academic/workforce programs and career pathways
• Prior teaching experience

PHYSICAL DEMANDS/WORKING CONDITIONS

• The work is performed in a normal, professional office environment.
• The work area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated.
• Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform the duties of the job and will perform repetitive motions with hands/fingers using a computer mouse and keyboard to type. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying light items such as papers, files, pamphlets, books, etc.
• Work may also require walking and standing in conjunction with travel to and attendance at meetings and conferences away from the worksite.

Target Starting Salary Range: $85,000 to$95,000 The final offer for the successfulcandidate is targeted to fall within this range, but will be based upon anassessment of internal equity, the unit’s available budget, and the candidate’squalifications in relation to the minimum and/or preferred jobrequirement(s).

Special Note: If hired, you must reside in the state of Ohio and be within commuting distance of this work location/campus to respond to onsite work demands upon the employment start date and throughout the duration of your employment with the College, as outlined in 3354:1-40-01.1 Recruitment and Selection Procedure .

Equal Opportunity Statement: Cuyahoga Community College is committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a qualified workforce. Cuyahoga Community College is an equal employment/educational opportunity institution.