Nursing Program Director

About Stepful:

Stepful is a workforce platform redefining how America's largest health systems build, train, and retain their talent. Since our founding in 2021, Stepful’s trained over 32,000 practice-ready healthcare workers.

Layering onto our successful direct-to-consumer training, Stepful partners with leading healthcare institutions to address the growing national shortage of healthcare workers. We’re improving access to quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere, and improving access to healthcare career ladders for those who need them most.

Our students form the talent pipelines for major employers such as NY-Presbyterian, Mt. Sinai, HCA, Providence, CVS, and Walgreens. We have partnerships with half of the top 10 health systems in the US and are in process with many more.

Stepful is backed by Y Combinator, Reach Capital, and AlleyCorp, with a recent $55M Series C led by Oak HC/FT. We were named the #1 EdTech company in the U.S. by TIME for 2025.

Our values:

We credit much of our success to our exceptional team. We’re looking for mission-driven builders who thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, and embody our four core values:

• Care first: We do whatever it takes for our students to succeed.

• Learn quickly: We test, learn with data, and iterate.

• Build together: We win when we rely on each other.

• Own it: We show up, take initiative, and show pride.

The opportunity:

Stepful College, an ABHES-accredited institution, is seeking an experienced nursing education leader to join our team as a Program Director to lead our nursing programs in Missouri. This is a dynamic, high-impact role for someone who is passionate about healthcare education and committed to expanding access to nursing careers for working adults.

Stepful is building a different model for nursing education, combining rigorous academic quality with the speed, technology, and employer connection of a modern education company. As our Nursing Program Director, you will serve as the on-the-ground program leader for Stepful College’s Missouri nursing programs. You will be accountable for program quality, student outcomes, regulatory compliance, curriculum, and continuous improvement.

This is a hands-on academic leadership role in a growing organization and requires a mix of traditional nursing education background with a ‘builders mentality’ that can build a strong foundation for program growth. You will work closely with faculty, students, Stepful teams, clinical and employer partners, and state regulators & accreditors to ensure our programs are rigorous, compliant, and student outcome focused.

The Program Director will lead the nursing programs at our physical campus in Fenton, Missouri, evolving the long running program that was formerly managed by the St. Louis College of Health Careers (now Stepful College).

If you are driven by the opportunity to shape the future of nursing education and make a meaningful difference in students' lives, we'd love to hear from you!

What you'll do:

• Lead Stepful College’s Missouri nursing programs. Hold primary responsibility for the academic quality, performance, and administration of assigned programs and serve, where designated, as the Missouri State Board of Nursing-approved Program Administrator.

• Own academic quality and student outcomes. Ensure strong curriculum delivery, assessment, clinical education, and academic rigor while monitoring progression, retention, completion, licensure readiness, NCLEX performance, and other key program outcomes. Identify risks early and lead improvement efforts.

• Lead a high-performing faculty team. Support qualified faculty, set clear expectations, coach and develop team members, lead performance management, and ensure effective onboarding and mentoring for new faculty.

• Ensure appropriate staffing and academic operations. Maintain sufficient qualified faculty and appropriate workloads based on enrollment, clinical capacity, instructional needs, and regulatory requirements.

• Lead regulatory compliance and program stewardship. Maintain strong relationships with the Missouri State Board of Nursing and ensure programs meet applicable approval, reporting, faculty, enrollment, governance, and program-evaluation requirements. Manage required approvals for material program changes.

• Manage program resources and growth. Own the nursing program budget, make informed resource recommendations, and support the design and launch of new programs, sites, modalities, and partnerships in line with Missouri requirements.

• Strengthen clinical and employer partnerships. Work with Stepful teams and external partners to ensure strong clinical learning experiences, adequate placement capacity, and alignment between curriculum, practice readiness, and employer needs.

• Partner across Stepful while retaining accountability. Work closely with other Stepful College staff, Learning, Student Success, Operations, People, Finance, Product, and Compliance. Central teams will provide collaboration in strategy and execution, while the Nursing Program Director retains required academic and regulatory program accountability on the ground

• Maintain a limited teaching presence where it strengthens program quality or continuity and provide insight into the student experience

What you'll bring:

• Current, unencumbered licensure as a Registered Nurse in Missouri (or eligibility to obtain, if you’re licensed in another state)

• A graduate degree in nursing, with 5+ years of RN nursing practice experience

• At least 5 years of people leadership experience - ideally, you've also led teams of faculty and nursing educators

• Working knowledge of Missouri State Board of Nursing requirements, nursing accreditation, and regulated academic program operations

• Experience teaching across multiple modalities, which may include didactic, skills lab, simulation, or clinical environments

• Experience with Laerdal manikins, or similar simulation technology

• Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment and building processes as Stepful’s nursing programs grow

• Strong cross-functional leadership and communication skills, including the ability to work effectively with faculty, students, regulators, clinical partners, employer partners, and business teams

Interview Process:

• Introductory call with Talent Acquisition

• Interview with Hiring Manager

• Take-Home Assignment

• Final Panel Interviews

Benefits and Compensation:

• Subsidized Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance plan options

• 401(k)

• FSA, HSA and commuter benefits

• Learning stipend

• Open vacation policy, including:

  • Guidance of 15 days PTO annually

  • 10 public holidays observed for 2026

Stepful is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or any employment decision based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, ancestry, disability, genetic information, veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or other applicable legally protected characteristic.

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In light of recent hiring scams, if you're selected to move onto the next phase of our hiring process, a member of our Talent Acquisition team will reach out to you directly from an @stepful.com email address to guide you through our interview process.