Senior Director of Learning

Job Title: Senior Director of Learning

Reports to: Chief Program Officer

Type: Full-Time

Category: Programs

Location: Lowell, MA

Background on UTEC, Inc.

UTEC’s promise is to ignite and nurture the ambition of our most disengaged youth to trade violence and poverty for social and economic success. UTEC’s outcomes-focused model begins with intensive street outreach, reaching proven high-risk youth where they’re at. UTEC engages youth in workforce development and educational programs and provides mental health services and intensive case management. Social justice and civic engagement are embedded in all programming. For more info, please visit www.utecinc.org.

UTEC is committed to its vision for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion which pledges to honor the lived experiences and expertise of individuals; create community and celebration of cultures; challenge all forms of oppression; and embody a culture that leans into discomfort and recognizes it as a growth opportunity. UTEC is dedicated to fair and equitable compensation practice, the health, mental health, and overall well-being of young adults and staff and to creating an environment that supports work-life balance and the individual and professional growth of all.

Job Summary:

The Senior Director of Learning will lead a program designed on the values of young adult-centered goal setting, competency-based instruction and social justice. The Senior Director of Learning will lead all agency efforts to develop and enhance an integrated model that advances young adult opportunities for personal development, education, and job skills development. This position also advances work around embedding data-driven practices to best inform and assess program quality and outcomes. The work of the Director of Learning will support UTEC’s replication in Lawrence and Haverhill and expansion of services behind the walls of local county jails. 

The perfect candidate for the position will have the experience to design new program models while setting targets for success, develop and/or identify curriculum, infuse data into all learnings, supervise staff, and cultivate students’ interest in social justice. This is an exciting position for an individual who desires a leadership role in a dynamic community-based setting, collaborates well with others and is committed to serving a youth population with the support needed to excel. The position reports to UTEC’s Chief Program Officer.

Responsibilities:

Agency Leadership: The Senior Director of Learning will serve on the CEO’s Leadership Team and in this capacity will have the opportunity to support:

• Agency direction setting and monitoring and gathering input from colleagues and young adults to inform this work,
• Novel initiatives with a lens of learning and competency development for young adults, 
• Representation of the organization in meetings with partner agencies, funders and others as needed,
• Agency culture keeping, development and support.
• Supporting agency efforts to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in all we do. 

Educational Leadership: The Senior DIrector of Learning will support our educational team and lead growth of all learning activities offered to UTEC Young Adults. Key activities include:

• Supervise the Assistant Director of Education and her work with the HiSET teachers and any educational consultants/contractors,
• Oversee professional development of teaching staff and support the development of professional development opportunities for UTEC staff and program managers,
• Identify the workforce and educational needs of local employers to ensure that UTEC participants gain the knowledge and skills needed to gain and sustain employment,
• Participate in organizational leadership meetings with fellow UTEC Directors.
• Collaborate with external partners to identify and offer additional or alternative educational programming to UTEC young adults that meet their needs and interests (i.e. apprenticeship programs, community colleges and workforce investment boards),

Development of the Learning Agenda: In partnership with the Chief Program Officer, UTEC teachers and UTEC Program Managers, refine the current UTEC competencies and curriculum.

Develop and oversee the provision of educational and learning opportunities that support young adult economic and social success with a focus on:

• Academic programming required to pass the HiSET exam,
• Vocational learning that integrates with workforce development provided through UTEC core programming (Transformational Beginnings, Fresh Inspirations, Culinary, Woodworking and Social Justice),
• Increasing young adult life-skills such as financial literacy, self-care, parenting skills, social-emotional development, and civic engagement,
• Support expansion of the learning components of the UTEC model to Lawrence, Haverhill, and behind the walls of local jails. 

Evaluation Effectiveness: Review and revise as necessary evaluation methods and resultant data in order to effectively track metrics of program effectiveness and positive outcomes for young adults. 

• Evaluate program implementation processes, 
• Develop metrics to identify, recognize and quantify attainment of goals,
• Work with the Evaluation Team to ensure data collected integrates with or expands upon existing data collection methods and supports UTEC capacity to measure program effectiveness and young adult outcomes,
• Align competency framework with learning goals,
• Collaborate with leadership of Transitional Coach, Streetworker, Workforce and 2Gen programming with the integration of learning that supports competency development and whole family outcomes across all stages of UTEC programming ,
• Develop strategies to engage proven-risk young adults and create procedures regarding operations, discipline, and instructional practice that will promote student learning and success.

Requirements: 

• Master’s degree preferred
• Previous youth work and/or urban teaching experience a plus
• Ability to utilize data to develop and track benchmarks for success
• At least 3 years of management and supervision experience in a school, non-profit, government agency or comparable setting required
• Ability to multi-task and adapt to a changing environment
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work as a leader and as part of a team
• Ability to provide instruction to students on an as-needed/substitute basis

Salary range is $90,000-$110,000 plus benefits, commensurate with experience. UTEC offers a competitive benefits package that starts with 4 weeks of vacation (3 standard for all new employees and a week of agency-wide closure between the Christmas and New Year holidays), 12 holidays, 10 sick days, 2 personal days, health, dental and vision insurance, life insurance, an annual cost of living increase, a 457B retirement plan and up to $4,000 per employee of professional development support. With time, benefits grow to include up to 6 weeks of vacation, 80% coverage of employee health and dental insurance costs and availability for a 3 week sabbatical. 

UTEC also stresses the importance of work-life balance and offers several wellness opportunities including additional time off (i.e. for the past two years we have closed at 3pm on Fridays during the summer months), an employee assistance program, down payment assistance for first time home buyers, parental leave, bereavement supports and unlimited free coffee.