Location: Remote + up to 6 weeks of travel during the summer to various Academies sites

Employment Type: Full-time, exempt

Salary Range: $80,000 - $85,000

Start Date: Early July 2025 preferred

Benefits: High-quality health and dental insurance, paid vacation, employer-matched retirement plan

The Organization

At Thrive Scholars, we provide high-achieving students from under-resourced communities the opportunities they need to thrive at top colleges and in meaningful careers.

Our comprehensive and data-driven program model focuses on the key inflection points that can be the difference between graduating from any college and graduating from a top college with the grades, degree, career skills, and network needed to thrive in any career. Thrive Scholars originated in Los Angeles as South Central Scholars (“SCS”) twenty years ago. Over this time, the organization has refined its program model and, in the last five years, has focused on expanding nationally; reaching more high-achieving students from under-resourced communities, growing the number of Scholars we serve; and deepening our program impact. Thrive Scholars has begun to grow its footprint with new summer program offerings in three additional cities. The organization has approximately 75 year-round employees and close to 200 summer employees.

College Access

At Thrive Scholars, we know that graduating from an elite college can directly impact earning potential and career opportunities. Elite colleges offer smaller class sizes, stronger student support services, and better financial aid packages so that our Scholars graduate with little to no loans. Our high school Scholars receive tailored guidance and admissions support from our highly trained College Access Managers. We help our Scholars find “best fit” selective colleges and showcase their qualifications for acceptance into these elite schools. 

The Position

Thrive Scholars seeks a strategic, student-centered leader to support the work of our College Access team. In this role, the Associate Director will manage a team of College Access Managers, with the potential for additional supervision assignments as the organization moves into additional phases of our strategic plan. The Associate Director will take the lead on project-based work, including building out our curriculum and activities for our commuter program Scholars and planning for Summer Academies and our Scholar engagement events. The Associate Director will help cultivate a strong team culture alongside the Director of College Access and Success and work to design effective coaching strategies that prioritize Scholars’ economic mobility and career optionality at selective colleges.

This position is remote and reports to the Director of College Access and Success. During our Summer Academies, the Associate Director will be expected to travel to and reside at our academy sites. Travel time should not exceed 6 weeks.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Program Supervision (30%):
• • Support the hiring, onboarding, and supervision of College Access Managers.
  • Supervise a team of College Access Managers (with the potential for additional supervision caseload expansion based on the strategic plan growth).
  • Foster a positive and effective team culture focused on high performance, talent development, and staff engagement, through the work of hiring, onboarding, coaching, and leading alongside the Director of College Access and Success.
  • Co-lead weekly team meetings, host one-on-one meetings with supervisees, and lead professional development sessions for the teams. 
• Project Management (30%):
• • Lead project-based work for our Summer Academies and Scholar engagement events, collaborating across departments to ensure programs align with Scholars’ learning outcomes and curriculum.
  • Create and review college access workshops and group coaching session guides. Partner with departments across the Program team to ensure successful program and partner activation and stewardship.
• Administrative (20%):
• • Support the onboarding and handoff processes between cohorts, ensuring smooth delivery from one program team to the next.
  • Monitor Scholar progress to goals through relationship manager documentation and work with relationship managers to administer case plan requirements.
  • Support the improvement of all Scholar-facing communications, practices, policies, and protocols. 
• Cross-Departmental Collaboration and Support (20%):
• • Support cross-departmental and organization-wide events and initiatives, including student recruitment and selection, college success transition programs, development opportunities, and career exploration programming.

Other job duties within the general scope of the role may be assigned.

Qualifications and Experience:
There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. The qualifications and experiences listed below are intended as a guide; we do not expect candidates to check every box.  If you believe you can meet the expectations and responsibilities of this position, we want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work.

• 5+ years of professional experience directly serving high school or undergraduate students
• 3+ years of professional experience managing complex projects
• 3+ years of professional experience leading a team or managing at least one person 
• Ability to coordinate diverse groups of stakeholders toward a common objective in a dynamic environment
• Strong understanding of college admissions and student success, especially for low-income and first-generation students.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to document and manage detailed data
• Ability to leverage technology to provide remote support to and maintaining strong rapport with team members across the country
• Experience using data to assess progress and inform decisions
• Commitment to the Thrive Scholars mission in all aspects of the work

Competencies:

Along with the specific qualifications and experiences noted above, leaders at Thrive Scholars are expected to demonstrate the following leadership competencies:

• Strategic Collaboration: Understands how and when to work with others to drive strong results; able to balance attention to both results and relationships
• Problem solving: Is able to analyze situations and apply critical thinking in order to identify issues and solutions
• Talent Development: Plans and supports the development of individuals’ skills and abilities so that they can effectively fulfill current responsibilities and prepare for future career opportunities. 
• Project Management: Effectively and consistently manages tasks and processes to on-time completion of clear and predetermined outcomes.

Travel Expectations: This position requires some travel, up to six weeks, to different Summer Academy sites between June - August. There may also be some travel for in-person college access events during the fall. The travel schedule will be set in consultation with the Director of College Access and Success to support the Director’s team management time and college access goals.

Equal Employment Opportunities

Thrive Scholars provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

For more information, please visit thrivescholars.org