Vice President of Learning and Impact

Vice President of Learning and Impact

Reports to: CEO

Job Summary

The Vice President of Learning and Impact (VP) is responsible for building & executing the learning strategy and oversees the development, delivery, and ongoing evaluation of our products and learning journeys for all members of the Thread community.  In addition, the VP leverages Thread’s learning content to embed Thread’s culture with external audiences, ultimately establishing a broader network of Thread-like organizations. At the center of this, the VP develops and guides the EDI strategy for the organization and its members.The VP is responsible for the identification, development, and implementation of scientific methods, instructional strategies, and learning technologies in the design, implementation, and evaluation of products, including but not limited to: face-to-face workshops, synchronous/asynchronous e-learning, and passive learning modalities etc.  Further, the VP drives Thread’s strategy for business development efforts to approve and finalize potential sources of revenue via fee-for-service partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

Executive Leadership & Management

• Authentically engage in relationships with colleagues, especially across lines of difference, modeling, teaching and coaching the Thread Core Competencies: (a) Show all the way up; (b) Fail forward; (c) Treat relationships as wealth; and (d) Learn from all voices.

• The VP is also a lead advisor on strategic organizational priorities and initiatives, making regular recommendations to the Thread Executive Team. 

• VP provides insight and support to the finance and development teams, including budget management and creation. 

• Share your journey of personal and professional growth with young people, volunteers, collaborators and staff.

• Make the connection between driving towards outcomes and organizational imperatives and diversity, equity and inclusion explicit within the organization.

• Demonstrate the willingness and resilience to engage in an agile and flexible way.

• Engender and promote a culture of mutual respect and restoration and healing.

• Acknowledge in words and behavior that each individual and role bring a unique vantage point and support team members in leveraging that unique vantage point to gain greater visibility that leads to shared understanding and optimized and iterative problem solving. 

• Ensure data derived from the research, learning and development efforts are reported to the CEO and Executive Team. 

• Prepare and manage Lane budget, policies, and practices as needed.

Interconnection Lane Leadership & Management

• Lead the Interconnection Lane, responsible for developing and facilitating the journeys of members of the Thread Community to better understand their biases and bridge and bond to form relationships across lines of difference

• Manage team leads: Research & Impact, Learning & Development

• Attract, develop, and retain high-performing staff members

• Oversee, develop, and work through direct reports to empower, motivate, and mentor the entire Interconnection Lane, serving as a thought partner, strategist, and coach, ensuring continual learning and development as well as progress toward hitting key metrics:

  • Manage the Research & Impact Lead, who oversees the research and evaluation of program delivery and leverages community feedback to inform the development and continuous improvement of Thread’s learning products

  • Manage the Learning & Development Lead who is responsible for creating and maintaining engaging and compelling training content to support Thread strategic goals and community members

  • Provide Directors and Managers with tools, skills, feedback and ongoing development through regular coaching, ensuring they are well-prepared to lead teams of staff members and/or volunteers

• Build positive, long-term relationships within and across Lanes with staff

• Instill a sense of accountability among staff members by modeling transparency and oversight of individual and organization performance standards 

• Provide leadership to optimize communication and cohesiveness of the staff team

Model Innovation 

• Align Thread’s research agenda to provide a deep knowledge of all programs and members of the Thread community; accountable for the development, delivery, oversight, and evaluation of all Thread learning products and program impact (ie Logic Model evaluation)

• Utilize quantitative and qualitative data to identify gaps in learning product impact on overall program outcomes & resource recruitment potential 

• Lead an iterative process to develop and implement initiatives to drive improvement

  • Oversee deployment of various vehicles and strategies for soliciting regular feedback

  • Perform market analyses on an ongoing basis to predict future learning product needs and enhancements, as well as potential resource recruitment (i.e. new collaborators, volunteers, and revenue)

  • Ensure that insights from market analyses guide the development and refinement of new learning products and changes to existing Logic Model

• Envision, explore and pilot new, impactful initiatives and prioritize capacity to fully develop those with most promise

Learning Product Development, Deployment, and Enhancement 

• Lead the strategy for the development of learning content for all members of the Thread community and the annual refinement processes

  • Organize staff & external partner capacity to prioritize development of content that has the broadest impact across the Thread community

  • Ensure content is presented and packaged in a way that is on-brand, concise, attractive, and easy to implement by other audiences

  • Share prioritization, delivery timelines, and prioritization methodology with all members of the Thread community

• Ensure congruence and alignment with Thread values, core competencies, racial equity principles, organizational goals, logic model, and Thread Process across all learning products. 

• Build & organize staff & external partner capacity to develop & deliver strong programs that achieve exemplary outcomes, with a particular focus on Investment staff and student, volunteer, and volunteer leader outcomes

• Ensure team works collaboratively with Interaction & Investment in order to align onboarding of new community members to the orientation of new internal Thread community members.

• Define and execute the consultancy and technical assistance process for internal & external audiences regarding learning strategy, learning product deployment and Thread model, values and core competencies

• Identify needs for additional resources, tools, trainings, skills, enhancements to all learning products and ensure annual budget reflects & supports these needs

• Establish and oversee relationships with all consulting agencies and other external partner teams to support development & delivery of learning products

Oversee and Support Thread’s EDI Strategic Direction

• Establish and oversee the execution of the vision and strategy that advances a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community at Thread, primarily through support of the EDI lead

• Oversee the EDI initiatives to ensure that the trainings, workshops and other learning opportunities are collaborative throughout the organization and align with Thread’s core values

• Support EDI lead in the development of a strategic vision for EDI initiatives in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders

• Define and analyze data that measure EDI progress

Qualifications/Skills

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred

• 7-10 years of experience required 

• Strong curriculum development and leadership skills a must

• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively with key stakeholders

• Passion for Thread’s mission and serving young men, women, and families 

• Strong candidates would possess the following attributes: excellent communication skills, highly organized, positive attitude, self-motivated, adept problem-solver, proactive and rapid prototyper, goal oriented, and results driven

• Ability to make minimum two-year commitment to the position 

• Ability to manage projects, organize and complete complex tasks, assimilate large amounts of information and prioritize multiple assignments and deliver on a timely basis

• Excellent understanding of project management and backwards planning

• Design experience preferred

• Experience using and building content in a Learning Management System preferred

• Familiarity with social service setting and Baltimore community resources preferred