Director, Transformation and Strategy

Braven

Director of Transformation and Strategy at Braven, a nonprofit focused on career opportunities for college graduates. Leading strategic initiatives and partnerships to enhance organizational impact.

Posted 5/12/2026full-timeChicago • Illinois, New Jersey, New York • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $101,200 - $126,400 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Develop and own Braven’s multi-year strategy for key pilot initiatives — synthesizing insights from program delivery, partner relationships, financial modeling, and student outcome data into a coherent, evidence-based framework
Build and maintain the business case for key pilot initiatives as a scalable Braven offering: model unit economics, cost per student, and revenue potential across partner types; translate findings into recommendations for Braven leadership and, where appropriate, external stakeholders
Establish consistent measurement baselines (including financial, programmatic metrics) so we can make data-driven decisions and meaningful comparisons over time and across pilot partners, surfacing ROI and risks/opportunities on an ongoing basis
Gather updates from across the team and synthesize them into cohesive, well-structured presentations that reflect both progress and honest challenges
Prepare materials, briefings, and talking points for board meetings — distilling complex program activity into clear, compelling narratives for a non-operational audience
Conduct ongoing landscape research to stay current on what is happening in the industry (on university campuses, peer organizations, etc.) and test our assumptions about the model.
Develop a scalable program framework and multi-year roadmap that aligns with Braven’s mission and current model, and enables us to pivot towards new future opportunities
Execute pilots, launching a suite of programming at initial partner sites, and assess what's working and build a clear framework for what can be replicated versus what needs to be redesigned for each new context, culture, and student population
Define what should be consistent across pilot contexts and what must be adapted, honoring institutional differences while staying true to our model and principles
Build authentic relationships with collaborating teams to understand their goals and constraints well enough to be a genuine thought partner (vs. a vendor)
Define how we partner effectively with internal and external stakeholders to strengthen relationships, increase efficiency, and ensure strong outcomes
Build the operational scaffolding behind launch work — the checklists, timelines, communication templates, and handoff documents that make programs sustainable beyond your direct involvement
Create and own project plans across program initiatives — timelines, milestones, cross-functional dependencies — and keep work moving forward with minimal oversight
Conceive, design, and execute specific programs that get participants genuinely excited about the results
Create and own the project plans behind our program initiatives while building timelines, setting milestones, tracking dependencies, and keeping cross-functional work moving forward
Manage all logistics end-to-end: vision, venue, promotion, materials, execution, and follow-up with little hand-holding and strong attention to detail
Debrief every program honestly — what worked, what flopped, what to try next time — and feed those insights back into the overall design
Design and run a data collection campaign to capture key outcomes
Build the forms, trackers, and processes that make data collection feel easy for stakeholders — low friction, high compliance
Synthesize findings into clear, compelling narratives for a wide variety of audiences — from student-facing summaries to Alignment Team briefings to board-level presentations
Ensure data is actionable, not just reported; ensure reports are simple and useful
Develop high-quality memos, briefings, and presentation materials for high-stakes meetings with external key stakeholders
Document learnings from each launch in a way that makes the next one faster and smarter and we add to our institutional knowledge base
Support the broader team in understanding what the data says about the outcomes, and implications for future decisions

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent
7+ years of strong track record of managing multiple complex, cross-functional strategic initiatives and leading others to outcomes – including building or launching a new program, function, or business line from the ground up
Track record of operating in ambiguous environments and creating structure where little exists, requiring constant iteration and resourcefulness
Exceptional ability to collaborate and work in cross-functional teams
Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to draft clear, audience-appropriate communications quickly and with minimal direction
Exceptional ability to synthesize information, identify what should stay consistent, and where adjustments are needed due to various contexts
Demonstrated ability to move between strategic altitude and hands-on execution: you have set the strategy and built the business case, and you have also done the operational work yourself
Track record of influencing and driving alignment across senior stakeholders — including organizational leadership — without formal authority
Strong financial acumen: experience building business cases, modeling unit economics, and translating financial analysis into strategic recommendations for senior leaders
Experience in the education or nonprofit sector
Fluency in Asana, Trello, Salesforce, and Claude, Zoom, and Slack are ideal; ability to navigate myriad technology tools
A genuine appreciation for and enjoyment of the dynamic, fast-paced energy of a college campus, coupled with an ability to connect authentically with diverse stakeholders, ranging from students to university leadership.
Demonstrated commitment to building strong and welcoming cultures that help to develop others
Exemplification of Braven’s core values
Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and has prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population
Ability to work in-person in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ), or New York City (NYC)
Travel 30% of the time.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
Braven supports your path to parenthood and beyond with $25,000 in lifetime Carrot benefits for fertility, family-building, and hormonal health
Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
12 weeks of paid parental leave
A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

financial modelingunit economicsdata collectionprogram developmentstrategic planningbusiness case developmentprogrammatic metricsproject managementdata analysisROI assessment

Soft Skills

collaborationcommunicationsynthesis of informationinfluencingresourcefulnessadaptabilityattention to detailproblem-solvingrelationship buildingcultural competency

Certifications

Bachelor’s Degree