Director of Innovations in Workforce Alignment

Title: Director of Innovations in Workforce Alignment

Employee Classification: Executive/Admin & Managerial

Institution: System Office

Department: Office of Research & Innovation

Campus Location: Tennessee Board of Regents System Office

Job Summary

TBR—The College System of Tennessee serves community colleges and colleges of applied technology across the state. The Office of Research and Innovation works at the front lines of TBR’s efforts to support innovation that advances postsecondary access and student success. Through the Office of Research and Innovation, TBR turns data, research, and field-based learning into actionable information for system leaders, colleges, and partners.

TalentTN (Tennessee Accelerated Learning for Education & New Technology) is a statewide initiative funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community Colleges program. TalentTN will expand the state’s capacity to develop, enhance, and continuously improve short-term academic programs. The initiative brings together colleges and workforce partners to ensure that programs are informed by labor-market demand and connect students to continuing education and employment opportunities. This position offers an opportunity to build the infrastructure behind a statewide initiative that will help colleges create stronger pathways from education to workforce opportunities.

The Director of Innovations in Workforce Alignment will lead TBR’s day-to-day coordination of statewide TalentTN implementation. Working closely with the Senior Researcher for Workforce Data, participating colleges, staff at Pellissippi State Community College, and workforce partners, the Director will manage implementation of the project work plan; convene and support college project teams; coordinate technical assistance; work across TBR offices to align efforts; and help ensure that grant activities, milestones, deliverables, and partnerships remain coordinated and on schedule.

This is a full-time, grant-funded position dedicated to TalentTN implementation and contingent upon sustained grant funding.
This position may have the opportunity to work remotely within the state of Tennessee, with periodic visits to the TBR System Office (Nashville, TN) at the employee’s expense, and potential travel to TBR colleges in Tennessee.

Job Duties

• 30% - Lead the statewide implementation of TalentTN for TBR. Manage the TBR components of the project work plan; coordinate timelines, milestones, deliverables, and maintain close coordination with Pellissippi State project leadership and fiscal staff. - (Essential)
• 20% - Convene and support consortium colleges and project teams. Plan and lead implementation meetings, webinars, convenings, and technical assistance; coordinate responses to college needs; and support timely development, launch, improvement, and scaling of short-term programs seeking Workforce Pell eligibility. - (Essential)
• 20% - Coordinate the competitive selection and implementation support process for college project teams, including selection criteria, request-for-proposals activities, proposal review, project launch, and other program-development supports. - (Essential)
• 15% - Coordinate cross-functional grant activities with the Senior Researcher for Workforce Data and relevant TBR offices. Serve as a liaison among TBR, Pellissippi State, consortium colleges, state agencies, workforce partners, and others as needed. - (Essential)
• 10% - Coordinate employer and workforce engagement. Coordinate with partners to lead the TalentTN Industry Advisory Board in partnership with the TBR Center for Workforce Development; support the statewide employer survey, regional workforce summits, and jobs-to-programs market analysis; and help translate employer and labor-market findings into program-selection and curriculum-alignment tools. - (Essential)
• 5% - Perform other duties as assigned. - (Marginal)

Minimum Qualifications

• Graduate degree in higher education, public policy, or a related field.
• Five or more years of progressive professional experience leading complex projects or initiatives involving multiple institutions, agencies, employers, or community partners.
• Experience managing project plans, timelines, deliverables, stakeholder communications, and implementation across multiple workstreams.
• Experience building and sustaining employer, workforce, education, or public-sector partnerships.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a community college system, higher education system office, state agency, workforce development organization, or comparable multi-institution environment.
• Knowledge of higher education and workforce data, including enrollment, progression, completion, credentials, labor-market demand, and post-college employment and wage outcomes.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong project-management and organizational skills, including the ability to coordinate interdependent workstreams, document processes, meet deadlines, and deliver high-quality work across a complex statewide initiative.
• Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships and provide technical assistance across colleges, system offices, state agencies, workforce organizations, employers, evaluators, and research partners.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work independently while contributing effectively to a collaborative, multidisciplinary team.

Physical Demands / Working Conditions

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