Program Director/ Summer Site Director

Breakthrough Twin Cities; Minneapolis, Saint Paul (MN, MN); Hybrid; USD 48,000 - 58,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits

Job summary

Breakthrough Twin Cities is seeking a Program Manager to oversee BTC’s year‑round programming and one of three portfolios, including Community Connections. You will supervise staff and Fellows, help recruit students, plan Saturday Sessions, and ensure data-informed program improvements across our six‑year college path.

The role offers hybrid work, occasional travel within the Twin Cities metro area, and a salary of $48,000–$58,000 with benefits.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Experience supervising staff, volunteers, or student leaders.
• Strong communication and relationship-building abilities.

Responsibilities

• Lead BTC's programs and portfolios with a focus on school-year and summer activities.
• Supervise, train, and support program staff and Teaching Fellows.
• Support student recruitment, selection, and enrollment in partnership with the Student Engagement lead.
• Plan and attend monthly Saturday Sessions and occasional evening events.
• Track program data and support evaluation and compliance.
• Build professional relationships with students, families, staff, and partners.

Skills

Leadership

Project management

Organizational skills

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Data management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Excel

Salesforce

Job description

Breakthrough Twin Cities (BTC) prepares students for college success and cultivates the next generation of educators. An independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit with sites in St. Paul and Eastern Carver County, BTC offers a six-year pathway to college for historically marginalized students and their families. Students in the middle school program complete three summers of academic enrichment—taking classes in math, science, literature, and social studies—taught by a diverse faculty of Teaching Fellows: college and high school students exploring the field of education with training and support from Breakthrough. Throughout the school year, middle school students attend Saturday Sessions to continue building the skills, habits, and resumes they need to become successful high school students. Students then matriculate into the College Bound program (grades 9–12), where they receive targeted, grade‑specific support, continue Saturday programming, and work one‑on‑one with a college counselor in 11th and 12th grades—with 99% graduating from high school. Breakthrough Twin Cities is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages candidates who identify with the backgrounds and lived experiences of our students to apply.

Organization Description

Breakthrough Twin Cities (BTC) prepares students for college success and cultivates the next generation of educators. An independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit with sites in St. Paul and Eastern Carver County, BTC offers a six-year pathway to college for historically marginalized students and their families. Students in the middle school program complete three summers of academic enrichment—taking classes in math, science, literature, and social studies—taught by a diverse faculty of Teaching Fellows: college and high school students exploring the field of education with training and support from Breakthrough. Throughout the school year, middle school students attend Saturday Sessions to continue building the skills, habits, and resumes they need to become successful high school students. Students then matriculate into the College Bound program (grades 9–12), where they receive targeted, grade‑specific support, continue Saturday programming, and work one‑on‑one with a college counselor in 11th and 12th grades—with 99% graduating from high school. Breakthrough Twin Cities is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages candidates who identify with the backgrounds and lived experiences of our students to apply.

Position Summary

Program Managers lead the people, processes, and programming that move BTC students along their six‑year path to college. All Program Managers share core responsibilities for school‑year and summer programming, supervision of program staff and fellows, and data‑informed program improvement. In addition, each Program Manager leads one of three portfolios: Student Engagement, Community Connections, or Summer Coordinating. Portfolio assignments are made by the Program Director based on organizational needs and staff strengths and may change over time. This position is slated to lead BTC's Eastern Carver County (ECC) site during the summer. This search will fill the Community Connections portfolio.

Essential Functions

Core Responsibilities (All Program Managers)

• Work as a team with the Program Director, Advisors, College Counselors, and Academic Success Fellows to envision, design, and improve programming using data, stakeholder input, and relevant research and frameworks.
• Design and refine organization‑wide processes that support program goals and outcomes.
• Supervise, train, and support assigned program staff, Teaching Fellows, and/or Saturday Session facilitators.
• Support student recruitment, selection, and enrollment in partnership with the Student Engagement lead.
• Plan, support, and attend monthly Saturday Sessions and occasional evening events, including Family Nights.
• Lead one of BTC's summer sites during the intensive nine‑week summer program from June through August.
• Track student and program data in BTC's systems (Salesforce) and support evaluation, reporting, and AmeriCorps/grant compliance.
• Build high‑quality, professional relationships with students, families, Teaching Fellows, Instructional Coaches, school staff, and partners.
• Assist with additional programming, evaluation, storytelling, and development tasks as assigned.

Portfolio Lead Area (One of the Following)

• Student Engagement: Supervise, coach, and support BTC's AmeriCorps Academic Success Fellows; lead BTC's annual student admissions process, including recruitment, applications, selection, and enrollment; design and lead strategies that build student belonging, leadership, and consistent participation across middle school and College Bound programming; monitor attendance and engagement data and coordinate outreach and retention efforts; gather student voice and feedback to improve programming; and use restorative, strengths‑based practices to strengthen student community.
• Community Connections: Lead the moments when the BTC community gathers, including Monthly Saturday Sessions, the Junior Retreat, student conference visits, and the senior activity; serve as point person for Senior Celebration; lead alumni engagement and family engagement efforts; and build relationships with school and community partners that support these events and connections.
• Summer Coordinating: Before summer begins, serve as Placement Director, placing Teaching Fellows in teaching assignments and summer sites; plan and manage summer program operations, including calendars, schedules, logistics, space, transportation, meals, and materials; coordinate Teaching Fellow recruitment, onboarding, training, and daily support with the Program Director and Instructional Coaches; oversee student safety, supervision, and compliance during summer; and lead post‑summer evaluation and planning for continuous improvement.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree.
• Strong sense of purpose and vision for expanding educational opportunities for aspiring educators and under‑resourced youth.
• Ability to initiate and follow through on ideas; strong leadership, project management, and organizational skills.
• Experience supervising, coaching, or leading staff, volunteers, or student leaders.
• Experience working with diverse groups of people.
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship‑building, and facilitation skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Strong computer and data management skills (experience with Excel and Salesforce preferred).
• Ability to work effectively with a wide variety of personalities, ages, and situations, requiring diplomacy, friendliness, poise, and firmness.
• Flexibility and willingness to adjust as needed to best serve the program mission.
• Commitment to educational equity and to restorative, strengths‑based approaches with youth.
• Access to reliable transportation (travel is expected during the day within the Twin Cities metro area and Eastern Carver County).

Preferred Qualifications

• 2–3 years of experience in youth programming and/or study in a relevant field (including, but not limited to, Education, Cultural Studies, Psychology, Youth Studies, Social Work/Counseling).
• Breakthrough, LearningWorks, or Summerbridge experience.
• Experience in the selected portfolio area (student engagement and admissions, community and family engagement events, or summer program operations and staffing).
• Experience with Salesforce or a comparable CRM/database.
• Proficiency in one of the following languages: Hmong, Karen, Oromo, Spanish.

Terms of Employment

Full‑time, year‑round, exempt, salaried position with benefits. Salary: $48,000–$58,000. Successful completion of a criminal background check is required.

• Location: Hybrid; remote Tuesdays and Fridays. In‑person work takes place at Mounds Park Academy , school and program sites, and recruitment sessions across the Twin Cities metro area. Summer work is based at the Eastern Carver County (ECC) site in Chanhassen.
• School Year (mid‑August–mid‑June): 40 hours per week, including monthly Saturday Sessions (7:00 AM–3:00 PM) and occasional evening events and recruitment sessions.
• Summer (mid‑June–mid‑August): About 50 hours per week (7:00 AM–5:30 PM) for eight weeks of orientation and programming, then 40 hours (8:00 AM–4:30 PM) for the final wrap‑up week. Includes occasional evenings and one all‑day Saturday event.

Hiring Process

Our hiring process has four steps. We will keep candidates informed by email at each stage.

• Application: Submit the online application, including your resume and short responses about your experience.
• Application review: Our team reviews each application. Selected candidates are invited to the next step.
• Video interview: Candidates record a short video answering a few questions about their interest in the role, community engagement, and approach to equity.
• In‑person interview: Finalists are invited to an in‑person interview made up of two 30‑minute conversations with two groups of BTC staff. References are requested from finalists after this interview.

Reasonable accommodations are available upon request for individuals with disabilities.