Director, Break Through Tech DC

Cornell Tech leads a programmatic collaboration between industry and other higher education institutions called Break Through Tech, which works at the intersection of academia and industry to propel more women and underrepresented communities into technology education and careers. Our goal is to achieve gender equality in tech. And we recognize that additional institutional barriers to access exist for specific groups - such as Black, Latina, Indigenous, low-income, and first-generation undergraduate college women and marginalized genders - and seek to elevate their voices and grow their numbers within the tech community.

Launched in 2016 in New York City as a partnership between Cornell Tech and the City University of New York (CUNY), Break Through Tech began expanding nationally in 2020 opening an affiliate site in Chicago, and now seeks a Director, Break Through Tech DC to lead an affiliate site in the Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia (DMV) region.

Cornell Tech seeks a Program Director who will have executive responsibility and management oversight for the affiliate site. This individual will play a critical role in developing the growth strategy for and leading the execution of Break Through Tech programs across two universities in the DMV region, providing oversight to teams located at each university. The ideal candidate comes with experience leading equity-focused programs with multiple corporate and academic partners. More specifically, we are looking for someone with a deep understanding of the culture of the tech industry and nature of tech jobs, is equally comfortable with the culture and nature of working in a higher education academic environment, has experience collaborating with both corporate and startup executives, has demonstrated experience developing new program concepts that support the mission as well as operationalizing those concepts, and is committed to addressing the intersectional barriers facing women and other underrepresented communities in tech.

This role also includes being a public spokesperson for the initiative as well as a partner to their peer Program Directors in the other Break Through Tech affiliate sites. The Break Through Tech Program Director must thrive in a dynamic and continuously evolving environment and be able to independently ‘steer the ship’ to stay on mission. The individual must have experience supervising employees or providing oversight to programs and growing as well as fostering a collaborative environment for student and professional volunteers.

 This is a full-time, benefits-eligible 5-year term position with the possibility of renewal. This position requires occasional work on evenings and weekends, particularly during the academic year. The responsibilities may be completed primarily remotely during the initial employment period and would be expected to work at a location to be determined in the DMV region when conditions allow.

Key responsibilities include:

● Develop deep collaborative partnerships with Break Through Tech staff at 2 partner universities and lead the development and execution of all Break Through Tech programs including but not limited to: Curriculum Innovation Programs, Career Readiness Programs, and Community Building Programs. This includes but is not limited to strategy, coordination, day-to-day oversight/administration and being the senior lead in relationship management with university, corporate and government partners.

● Public spokesperson for Break Through Tech in representing the strategy, programs and opportunities for engagement with the initiative.

● Develop and deliver a strategy for growth of new programs that identify and engage the next generation of women in computer science and tech-related disciplines.

● Collaborate with funders and university leadership to expand, develop and nurture relationships with other funders and corporate partners.

● Champion efforts to broaden diversity and inclusion and gender equality in partner university academic computing departments and the local tech industry

The Director, Break Through Tech Program DC has four high-level responsibilities:

● Strategic Planning to position Break Through Tech for the next 3-5 years (20%)

o Develop program plans that meet the challenges and opportunities aligned with the Break Through Tech program model.

● Develop and deepen Break Through Tech’s relationships with corporate and academic partners and volunteers (30%)

o Serve as a spokesperson for Break Through Tech in engaging new corporate and startup companies as programmatic partners.

o Develop/deepen relationships with partner university computing departments and university leadership in order to increase student and faculty participation in Break Through Tech.

● Plan, lead and oversee the execution of Break Through Tech initiatives in partnership with university staff (30%)

o Oversee the execution of Break Through Tech’s Curriculum Innovation and Academic Pathway programs, including but not limited to: Faculty Grant programs, Faculty Workshops, and Guild.

● Break Through Tech strategic stakeholder management and reporting (20%)

o Establish and/or maintain senior level relationships with the Break Through Tech National team and current and potential funding partners.

o Oversee the data analysis of all Break Through Tech programs in order to report results to Break Through Tech sponsors and ensure continuous data-informed improvement cycles.

Required:

Master’s degree and 3 to 5 years of relevant experience or equivalent combination

Significant experience working in leadership roles in program development and execution in the areas of education, training, talent development, internship and/or mentorship programs, and/or student services.

Must be able to be to take a leadership role in being a public spokesperson for the program.

Must have very strong organizational skills and significant experience in playing a leadership role in planning and executing large academic or corporate programs.

Must have a passion for developing mission-driven strategies for programmatic growth and the ability to communicate and ‘sell in’ those strategic plans to academic and corporate leaders.

Must be organized, data-driven and detail-driven with a program management orientation around ‘getting the job done’.

Strong inter-personal skills and relationship building qualities are essential in order to expand corporate engagement.

Ability to communicate with, work effectively with, and maintain a positive rapport with students, professors and corporate leaders alike.

Proven ability to work in a team context.

Highest standards of integrity in order to develop trust with current students, faculty, staff, and employers.

Preferred:

5+ years of relevant experience

Education in a technology domain

Work experience leading large programs in an academic and/or corporate environment that have a technology orientation and a talent development/training focus.

Specific experience working with both faculty and corporate partners.

University Job Title:

Director

Level:

No Grade - Annual

Pay Rate Type:

Salary

Company:

Endowed

Contact Name:

Debra Marcus

Number of Openings:

1

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