Director, Special Projects

Job Description

Director, Special Projects

College Board - L&A

Location: This is a remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office). All CB employees are required to occasionally travel to meet in person for business purposes.

Role Type: This is a full-time position

About the Team
Learning & Assessment is College Board's center for researching, designing, delivering, and strengthening high-quality assessments that serve more than 7+ million students annually and advance opportunity around the world. The division brings together 150+ experts in research, psychometrics, and assessment design and development to ensure our assessments are rigorous, accessible, and grounded in evidence. The Director, Special Projects operates as a “chief of staff” and strategic thought partner to the Senior Vice President, who leads the Learning & Assessment division. This is a high-impact, high-visibility role at the center of one of the organization’s most important areas of work.

About the Opportunity

The Director will serve as a trusted partner and force multiplier to the Senior Vice President, helping drive the division’s priorities, operating rhythm, leadership alignment, and execution against ambitious goals. The role will lead goal-setting and performance-driving efforts across the division, ensure critical initiatives are well planned and executed, and help manage the Senior Vice President’s internal and external agenda. Operating at the intersection of strategy and execution, the Director will identify priorities, surface risks, unblock progress, prepare executive-level materials, lead special projects, and represent the Senior Vice President and division in a variety of settings, including with C-Suite and Executive Leaders across the College Board.  The role requires equal comfort orchestrating cross-functional work through others and personally project-managing initiatives end-to-end - the Director will flex between both, often within the same day. This role will serve as a critical partner in helping the Senior Vice President manage priorities, maximize effectiveness, and drive the division to reaching mission critical outcomes.

As a member of the Senior Vice President’s leadership team, the Director will also serve as a key connector across the division on mission critical initiatives, ensuring clarity, alignment, accountability, and strong communication between the Senior Vice President, her leadership team, and managers across the organization. 

In this role, you will:

SVP Support (40%) 

- Serve as Chief of Staff and strategic thought partner to Senior Vice President, helping the Senior Vice President manage priorities, make effective decisions, and maximize impact across the L&A Departments and adjacent divisions and teams.

- Drive cross-functional initiatives from concept to execution, aligning stakeholders across Psychometrics, Assessment Design & Development, Academic Leadership Engagement Team, Research, and external partners who don't report directly to this role.

- Own follow-through decisions made in meetings - track commitments, flag slippage, and close loops quickly.

- Represent the Senior Vice President in internal working groups and meetings, making recommendations and decisions on behalf of SVP and L&A, through sound judgment, professionalism, and executive presence.

- Draft, proofread, and edit mission critical correspondence, emails, and presentations for the Senior Vice President, representing the entire division and College Board.

Divisional Support (30%) 

- Develop a deep understanding of the L&A capabilities and functions and serve as a member of the L&A leadership team, while providing sound counsel and professional discretion.

- Refine and own the operating infrastructure (cadences, reporting tools, dashboards, and analysis ) that gives the Senior Vice President and Leadership Team real-time visibility into progress against divisional goals, surfaces risks early, and helps drives the decisions and course-corrections needed to stay on track and achieve outcomes.

- Define and drive the division’s culture and employee engagement, ensuring these efforts reinforce collaboration, community, transparency, inclusion, and commitment to the College Board’s mission.

- Partner with our Finance Business Partner on the annual budgeting process and quarterly financial reviews.

- Collaborate closely with our Talent Business Partner (HR) on promotion/raise processes, organizational design, headcount, talent and succession planning, and other Talent initiatives.

- Plan, manage, and lead our weekly divisional Leadership Meeting and quarterly all-divisional meetings, bi-annual in-person convenings, and quarterly in-person leadership retreats.

- Work closely with the Assistant Director, Division Operations & Knowledge Management to support the Senior Vice President’s priorities and ensure team operations and divisional communications are as effective as possible.

Special Projects (30%) 

- Advance high-priority special projects that require strong problem solving, cross-functional coordination, and the ability to move complex work from ambiguity to execution. 

- Foster relationships with a broad set of employees from across the College Board, including senior management and other special projects staff across the organization, establishing mutual trust and respect that helps the team drive org-wide impact.

About You

- Minimum 5-10+ years professional experience including, ideally, several years of experience in a strategic operations role and experience working closely with a senior executive  

- Bachelor’s degree

- An outstanding record of professional achievement and leadership 

- A passion for supporting educational and career opportunities for millions of students    

- Comfort with ambiguity, complexity, and fast-moving priorities

- Experience managing complex, cross-functional projects simultaneously, with attention to detail and command of project specifications including driving and through lateral leadership and influence

- Strong strategic, analytical, and problem-solving skills, including using data to inform decisions and actions

- Excellent judgement and ability to engage with, influence, and make recommendations to senior leaders across the organization 

- Strong ability to work collaboratively and build trust across teams 

- Exceptional verbal and written communications skills, including facilitating meetings and presenting remotely and in-person to groups of 40 or more  

- Experience leading effective meetings and driving follow-through and progress tracking 

- Proficiency with using generative AI to expedite workflows, drive efficiencies, and enhance final work products

- Ability to travel 1-2 times per quarter, particularly to New York City and Washington, DC 

- Authorization to work in the United States 

All roles at College Board require:

- A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work.

- Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and comfort with learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.

- Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal.

- A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.

- A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.

- A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success

- Authorization to work in the United States

About Our Process

- Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

- While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.

What We Offer

At College Board, we offer more than a paycheck- we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We’re a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation

- The hiring range for this role is $80,000-$125,000,

- Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.

- We aim to make our best offer upfront, rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data.

- We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.

You’ll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it’s like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.

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