Director, College Partnerships (West)

About The Position The KIPP Foundation is investing heavily in resources and strategies to increase the number of KIPP alum who graduate from college. To that end, we’re hiring several new Directors of College Partnerships to identify, cultivate, and formalize college/university partnerships that position KIPP alum to enroll and persist in colleges compatible for their aspirations and needs. Our incoming Director of College Partnerships – West will oversee this work in our Western portfolio, which comprises KIPP regions in California and Colorado + college/universities in those areas and several surrounding states. We will consider you our primary point person and expert on college partnerships across the Western terrain. In this role, you’ll: identify and cultivate university partnerships; negotiate and formalize MOUs that capture partnership agreements, and; collaborate with our national College Advancement and regional KIPP Forward teams to ensure partnerships are leveraged and aligned to students’ needs. This is an excellent opportunity for a mission-aligned individual who enjoys building and leveraging relationships to achieve ambitious goals. Our ideal hire will have excellent communication and enjoy leveraging them to inform and invest others in our vision and efforts. You’re someone who is comfortable working autonomously while also being invested – and skilled - in collaboration that will maximize collective opportunities and performance. You have the organizational, project management, and portfolio management skills to structure fast-paced work across a broad geographic portfolio and matrixed organization. You are invested in data-informed decision making and have the skill required to track and analyze data, at the portfolio level, that helps you make strategic partnerships decisions. You’ll report to our VP of College Partnerships and sit, alongside a suite of Directors of College Partnerships, on our broader College Advancement and Partnerships team. Responsibilities 1. Build and Manage a Portfolio of Partnerships a. Identify, cultivate, and formalize university partnerships that increase college enrollment and completion for KIPP students & alum. This will require a blend of: fortifying existing partnerships, reactivating dormant partnerships, and building entirely new partnerships with national universities, regional institutions, HBCUs, and HSIs. b. Develop, negotiate, and finalize MOUs, stewarding the development of clear commitments and measurable, symbiotic goals that fuel our path to our 2030 vision c. Ensure we, and partnerships, maintain our MOUs, fulfilling agreements as outlined and revising commitments as needed to align with evolving context, outcomes, and needs 2. Internal Collaboration and Regional Support a. Partner with our national College Advancement Team and regional KIPP Forward teams to integrate partnerships into student advising and match strategies b. Exchange work & best practices with other Directors of College Partnerships , fueling cohesion, ability to reach ambitious goals, and stronger collective performance 3. Knowledge Management a. Strengthen our institutional memory of strategies, plans, wins, and challenges with college partners b. Support the codification of our best practices 4. Strategic Planning a. Contribute to the development of our College Partnerships strategy, including the determination of partnerships criteria, baseline MOU structure, goals, benchmarks, and accountability structures. Skills and Mindsets Core Mindsets: - Strong Alignment to our Mission and Student Focus: Demonstrates passion for, and commitment to, KIPP ’s mission and core values. - Exceptional Self Awareness: Practices self-awareness at work, understanding that it is foundational to leading self, leading people, and leading results; uses reflection, self-understanding, and feedback to grow, and persist through challenges, and as a result, are cognizant of the impact of th