College Board – BigFuture
100% Remote
About the Team
BigFuture reaches over 7 million students each year and is the leading free online resource for College, Scholarship, and Career Exploration. BigFuture demystifies the college going process, helping students unlock options to afford college and explore careers that connect to their skills and interests. Recently, BigFuture launched an innovative, privacy-forward mobile app, BigFuture School, that puts students in the driver’s seat and allows them to connect with and receive messages from over 1500 Higher Education institutions. BigFuture also hosts an online platform (BigFuture.org) which helps students plan for college, pay for college, and explore careers. In addition, Higher Education institutions use our Search and Connections solutions to look across the 25,000 high schools to fill their classes and to reach a broad student population. BigFuture has an 85+ person core team and collaborates deeply with other divisions including Technology, Strategic Higher Education, State & District Partnerships, Legal, Engagement and Reach, and Finance.
About the Opportunity
As the Executive Director, Data Strategy for the BigFuture division, you will lead the development and execution of a holistic data strategy that transforms large data sets into critical insights for higher education institutions and learners. You will seamlessly bridge a deep understanding of user needs with the technical data pipeline and analytics needed to deliver reliable and valuable insights. You approach problem-solving with urgency and efficiency, avoiding passivity or simply passing requests along. You bring a customer-focused and organizationally aware mindset. You are inquisitive and demonstrate tremendous learning agility while constantly seeking useful information to shape products for the good of the user. You build strong, productive relationships while leading and nurturing stakeholders to produce tremendous value for our customers.
Your extensive experience will advance our mission and member focused work for BigFuture. You have experience in higher education enrollment and recruitment including a strong understanding of admissions processes and technologies. You will apply this expertise along with your strong technical aptitude for designing data pipelines and outputs to advance a strategy that delivers internal and external insights, with a focus on productized data solutions. Your role will encompass understanding available data, adhering to principled data governance, designing end-to-end solutions to support a wide variety of use cases, collaborating across diverse stakeholders, developing business cases for key initiatives, and leading new solution development for analytics products.
In this role, you will:
Solutions Strategy, Planning, and Execution (75%)
Develop business case and rationale for new product and solution investments
Lead development and execution of analytics tools for external members and users; coordinate with internal teams, including technology and research, to generate requirements, test features, implement updates, etc. that align with the organization’s strategy
Understand customer needs and validate solutions
Collaborate with key external stakeholders and partners to deliver value and outcomes
Develop and manage highly collaborative relationships across the organization to support program implementation
Collaborate with teams across the organization to develop a go-to-market strategy and launch plan
External User/Member Engagement (25%)
In partnership with the Strategic Higher Ed unit, engage with external organizations and campuses to determine user needs, collect feedback, test features and capabilities, and communicate user experience back to internal business units
Coordinate with external vendors and organizations to procure and exchange data, integrate products within 3rd party systems, and verify the consistency of admissions tools across technologies
In partnership with the BigFuture teams and Strategic Higher Ed unit, monitor industry trends to ensure that our solutions utilize appropriate conventions and best practices to drive value
About You
You have:
8+ years’ experience managing data products from inception to launch in innovative, complex environments prioritizing data privacy and governance
Demonstrated expertise with data and analytics across the full data stack including strategy development and execution of data collection, storage, ETL processes, analysis, and visualizations
Experience in Agile product development with the ability to develop agile proofs of concept using various data tools including databases and other data stores, scripting, and BI solutions
Understanding of higher education recruitment, admissions, and enrollment processes
Experience collaborating with internal stakeholders and external clients, with excellent verbal and written communication skills
Proven ability to prioritize and complete complex tasks under tight deadlines in fast-paced environments
Experience distilling data to inform key decisions and designing and communicating Objective and Key Results (OKRs)
Experience mentoring junior colleagues
Experience creating business cases and receiving buy-in from senior leadership
Experience presenting in high stakes internal and external settings, seeking to drive understanding and alignment
Authorization to work in the U.S.
About Our Process
Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled
While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise and/or panel interview, and reference checks. This is an approximately 8-week process
About Our Benefits and Compensation
College Board offers a competitive benefits and compensation program that attracts top talent looking to make a difference in education. As a self-sustaining non-profit, we believe in compensating employees equitably in relation to each other, their qualifications, their impact, and the relevant market.
The hiring range for a new employee in this position is $152,000 to $220,000. College Board differentiates salaries by location so where you live will narrow the portion of this range in which you can expect a salary.
Your salary will be carefully determined based on your location, relevant experience, the external labor market, and the pay of College Board employees in similar roles. College Board strives to provide our best offer up front based on this criteria.
Your salary is only one part of all that College Board offers, including but not limited to:
A comprehensive package designed to support the well-being of employees and their families and promote education. Our robust benefits package includes health, dental, and vision insurance, generous paid time off, paid parental leave, fertility benefits, pet insurance, tuition assistance, retirement benefits, and more
Recognition of exceptional performance through annual bonuses, salary growth over time through market increases, and opportunities for merit raises and promotions based on increased scope of responsibility
A job that matters, a team that cares, and a place to learn, innovate and thrive
You can expect to have transparent conversations about benefits and compensation with our recruiters throughout your application process.
About Our Culture
Our community matters, and we strive to practice and improve our culture daily. Here are some headlines:
We are motivated to positively impact the educational and career trajectories of millions of students a year.
We prioritize building a diverse and inclusive team where every employee can thrive, and every voice is heard.
We welcome staff to join any or all six of our affinity groups: ARISE (Alliance for Asian Retention, Inclusion, Success, and Engagement; DIASPORA (Alliance for Pan-African Success and Achievement); Pride (alliance for LGBTQ+ staff and allies); Resilience (alliance for Native staff and advocates); SALSA (Staff Alliance for Latinx Success and Achievement); and WIN (Women’s Impact Network).
We value learning and growth; we offer formal and informal ways to lead through your superpowers, sharpen your strengths, and meet your development goals.
We know that our impact is strongest together. Our College Board Cares program offers all staff up to $1,000 annual match against partner non-profit organizations.
We offer a transparent approach to promotions and merit raises, annual performance-based bonuses, and how to grow your career here over time.
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