Director of Schoolwide Postsecondary Advising Programs

Breakthrough is the leading college access and success nonprofit in Central Texas. For more than 20 years, we have partnered with thousands of middle and high school students who aspire to be the first in their family to graduate with a degree or certificate. We make a radical, long-term commitment to students, to and through college, unlocking the power of education and a lifetime of opportunity. We support the whole student with personalized services, work closely with community partners, campuses, and employers, and advocate for our students with lawmakers. Breakthrough students attend 60+ public schools and persist at nearly 100 colleges and universities. The result is that 55% of Breakthrough students graduate from college, compared to 17% of low-income students in our region. Our work has resulted in more than 550 college graduates, with 4,000 on their way, positively impacting families for generations, our region’s educational access, and the Central Texas economy.

You are a strong candidate for the Director of Schoolwide Programs role if, above all, you are a champion for increasing social and economic opportunity through educational attainment. You are an equity-driven leader who thrives at the intersection of strategy, implementation, and people leadership, and you are motivated by strengthening advising quality and improving student outcomes at scale.

You are a relational and outcomes-oriented leader who builds trust across school partners, internal teams, and program stakeholders. You navigate complex educational environments with confidence and translate strategy into clear systems, strong advising practice, and consistent execution.

You bring experience in college access, youth development, or postsecondary success environments and are confident leading teams, developing talent, and working across programs and school systems to improve implementation and student outcomes.

You will also bring demonstrated capacity in the following competencies:

• Advising Quality and Student Outcomes Leadership: Drive high-quality advising practices through coaching, systems, and performance management. Holds managers and advisors accountable for student outcomes, including application completion, financial aid, enrollment, and matriculation, and uses data and observation to continuously improve practice. 
• Talent Development and Team Leadership: Develop managers and advising staff to strengthen leadership practice, advising quality, and team effectiveness. Builds a high-performance, inclusive, and student-centered culture grounded in accountability, belonging, and continuous growth. 
• Managing Through Layers: Lead through managers and program leads, ensuring strong supervision structures, clear expectations, and consistent execution. Uses skip-level engagement to maintain alignment and visibility into team performance and student outcomes. 
• Operational and Project Management: Align systems, workflows, and resources to deliver consistent college access outcomes. Manages complex, multi-workstream initiatives with clear scope, ownership, and measurable results. 
• Managing Complexity: Exercise sound judgment in ambiguous, multi-stakeholder environments. Navigates competing priorities with flexibility, equity-centered decision-making, and a bias toward action. 

• Cross-Functional Leadership and Collaboration: Lead collaboration efforts across Schoolwide Advising, 12-Year High School, and College and Career Success teams to ensure alignment, clear communication, and shared accountability for results. 
• Strategy-to-Execution Leadership: Translate Schoolwide Programs’ organizational strategy into operational systems, tools, and workflows. Identifies execution gaps and strengthens systems to improve consistency, quality, and impact. 
• Partnership Development (Campus-Level): Build and sustain strong relationships with school leaders, including principals, counselors, and CCMR staff, to support effective implementation within school systems. 
• Data Tracking and Use for Action: Ensure accurate tracking and use of student and program data to monitor progress, strengthen advising quality, and inform targeted interventions and continuous improvement. 

The Director of Schoolwide Programs reports to the Chief College Access Officer (CCAO). The Director partners closely with Associate Directors of College Access and senior leaders across the 12-Year High School and College and Career Success teams to drive alignment, execution consistency, and shared accountability for student outcomes.