Director, Digital Solutions - Atlanta, GA Job at UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND in At

Director, Digital Solutions – Atlanta, GAJob Description

The Director of Digital Solutions is responsible for designing, developing, and executing a shared digital infrastructure and innovation strategy that leverages the latest technologies to drive partnering institutions and their students’ success. Reporting to the Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Institutional Programs, the Director of Digital Solutions will work with internal and external stakeholders to launch and implement a comprehensive strategy dedicated to increasing the digital capabilities, including online learning and other technological innovations, of our network of institutions: member HBCUs, other HBCUs, and PBIs.

The Director of Digital Solutions will be a proven leader with demonstrated ability and prior achievements in online learning, technology adoption, stakeholder engagement, program strategy development, change management, and relationship-building. As a senior team member within ICB, the position will require an individual to be a fearless and collaborative leader, and an entrepreneurial self-starter. The individual selected for this position must possess a deep understanding of higher education, online platforms, shared services, program strategy, and the strengths and challenges of digital infrastructures at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

About UNCF

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, has been an engine of minority educational achievement for more than 80 years. UNCF’s mission is to build a robust and nationally recognized pipeline of black students who, because of UNCF support, become highly qualified college graduates. In addition, UNCF ensures that its member institutions remain respected models of best practices in moving students to and through college. Since its inception in 1944, UNCF has raised over $6 billion in private support, distributed more scholarships to help minorities attend school than any entity outside of the federal government, and enabled more than 500,000 minority and low-income students to graduate from UNCF’s member historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and launch professional careers. UNCF is committed to closing the educational attainment gap between African Americans and other populations by increasing postsecondary access and success for students from underrepresented groups, particularly low-income and first-generation students.

About ICB

Launched in 2006, UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) provides targeted capacity-building resources to help HBCUs improve their resilience. We define resilience as the institution’s ability to improve its operation today and future-proof them for tomorrow. ICB’s engagement equips UNCF member institutions, and other HBCUs and PBIs, to provide high-quality educational experiences to their students and the broader Black community. ICB’s work focuses on three areas critical to HBCU success: institutional effectiveness, academic competitiveness, and financial viability. Beyond our strategic advisory and project management support, ICB serves as an innovation hub for Black colleges, connecting institutions to funders, best practices, resources, and subject matter experts both within and outside of UNCF.

Successful candidates will join the Institute for Capacity Building team which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to specific roles and responsibilities, ICB team members have proven to be successful when they:

• Are driven to serve people and institutions that are often undervalued and overlooked;
• Embrace collaboration as a critical value to ensure effective teamwork and adoption of best practices;
• Seek out opportunities to innovate and improve upon conventional practices and procedures;
• Take personal responsibility for executing key projects and developing relationships; and
• Operate with a sense of mission and purpose.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties

The Director of Digital Solutions reports to the Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Institutional Programs. This person will have the following key responsibilities:

• Shared Services Development

1. Create and execute a clear strategy for digitally enabled shared services that deliver high quality, effective services to a network of institutional partners
2. Drive the development, implementation and continual review of robust strategies, approaches, frameworks, and operational and service delivery plans to ensure the effective development of a portfolio of shared services activities for partnering institutions
3. Lead and manage all contracted services purchased or provided by consultants and contractors by ensuring robust contract frameworks are established and systematically reviewed
4. Collaborate to deliver effective governance across the shared services portfolio of activities and across an ecosystem of institutional partners as key participants in critical planning and decision-making processes
5. Achieve a culture of innovation, continuous improvement and excellence with institutional partners

• Project and Program Management

1. Incubate new programs and concepts that build the digital infrastructure of HBCUs, including leading background research, drafting of proposal materials and internal and external socialization processes
2. Oversee development of a shared digital learning platform to improve capability, effectiveness, and viability of online learning for HBCUs
3. Manage relationships with technology vendors to ensure best-in-case technology, service, and support

• Collaboration and Stakeholder Management

1. Create and maintain credible and effective relationships with HBCU administration, faculty, technology providers, and internal UNCF/ICB colleagues
2. Interface with multiple stakeholders within HBCUs including registrar, financial aid, administration, institutional research/accreditation, technology leaders, and faculty to ensure buy-in and relevance of activities
3. Serve as primary advocate for shared services and a digital infrastructure – its adoption and evolution – among HBCU administration, faculty, and students

• Strategic Planning

1. Engage in long-range planning and strategic goal setting, including setting priorities, reviewing financial budgets, establishing staffing structure and future needs, revising policies, and prioritizing key stakeholder relationships
2. Define, track, analyze, and report on key success metrics for digital learning initiatives

• Leadership

1. Build a new ICB digital learning team from the ground up; lead a team responsible for designing, developing, and executing digital infrastructure strategies, both programmatic and technical
2. Coach, develop and mentor direct reports, team members, and other colleagues across the organization
3. Coordinate with the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, and other UNCF’s business partners to drive ICB’s strategic priorities and communications
4. Identify, build relationships, and spearhead efforts to secure funding with key funders and philanthropies
5. Support the development of ICB’s network engagement strategy by building connections with HBCUs and other higher education institutions, educational intermediaries, funders, community organizations and workforce stakeholders
6. Expand the scope and breath of the digital infrastructure & innovation strategy to support other identified needs of our partnering institutions

Qualifications

Candidates should have:

• Minimum 5 years’ experience successfully leading people and a dispersed team
• Proven experience in creating strategic plans aligned with high-level organizational goals; and leading the achievement of strategic goals and objectives through the delivery of high-quality customer focused services.
• Knowledge and/or experience with digital learning technologies - particularly, Online Program Enablement (OPE) or Online Program Management (OPM), and learning management systems (LMS)
• Significant experience in the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide technologies
• Significant experience in using digital mediums and platforms to facilitate learning across multiple stakeholder groups
• Experience in higher education
• An entrepreneurial spirit is critical for this role
• Demonstrated experience of leadership development
• Strong ability to communicate both verbally and in writing
• Ability to move deftly between big picture and details
• Comfort with concurrently managing multiple ongoing projects in different phases
• Strong cognitive and emotional management (CEM) skills
• Ability and high comfortability operating at the most detailed level
• Thrives with the execution of deadlines
• Strong multi-tasker, and operates with a high degree of flexibility to adapt to changing needs and direction
• Bachelor’s degree required; master’s or terminal degree preferred
• Commitment to education and social justice

Additionally, the individual must be a self-starter, who is able to problem-solve and take on a wide range of tasks to deliver results; collegial and professional manner; excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Compensation and BenefitsBenefits include:

Medical, Dental & Vision

Vacation, Sick & Personal Leave

Life Insurance (Basic & Optional)

Flex Spending Accounts

403(b) Retirement Account

Holiday Savings Plan

Salary Range: $84,900 - $95,500 (Salary is commensurate with experience.)

UNCF is EOE M/F/D/V