Director, Small Business Development (SBDC)

Ignite Innovation and Inspire Change in Rural Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development.

Mohave College is seeking a dynamic and visionary Director, Small Business Development Center (SBDC) to lead initiatives that strengthen entrepreneurship, expand small business opportunities, and drive economic growth across the region. This role offers a unique opportunity to support local innovators, empower small business owners, and help shape the future of rural economic development through strategic leadership, partnership building, and impactful programming.

The Director will lead the College’s SBDC in delivering high-quality advising, training, and resources that help entrepreneurs start, grow, and sustain successful businesses. Through collaboration with the Arizona SBDC Network, local industry partners, government agencies, and community organizations, this position plays a critical role in advancing workforce alignment and economic vitality throughout the communities Mohave College serves.

The ideal candidate is a strategic and community-focused leader with experience in small business development, entrepreneurship, and workforce alignment. This individual brings a strong understanding of the SBDC network, grant and compliance requirements, and economic development impact. They are relationship-driven and able to build partnerships with local businesses, government entities, and community organizations.

The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to lead programs that support business start-up, growth, and sustainability while integrating training, advising, and resource development. Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills are essential, along with the ability to manage budgets, meet performance metrics, and guide a team. Experience working in or with rural communities is highly valued.

Innovative, adaptable, and committed to expanding access to entrepreneurship resources and opportunities, the Director will help ensure Mohave College continues to be a catalyst for innovation, business success, and community impact across the region.

See additional details here.

What You’ll Love About Us

• We create the future. At Mohave College, curiosity drives everything we do. We inspire innovation, take smart risks, and transform challenges into opportunities for growth. Together, we design new possibilities—learning from both our successes and our setbacks as we shape the future of education and workforce development.
• We engage with passion. We bring energy, purpose, and heart to our work. Whether we’re welcoming new students, collaborating on ideas, or celebrating achievements, we lead with enthusiasm and a sense of fun. Our passion makes a difference—for our students, our colleagues, and our community.
• We build together. Diversity of thought, background, and experience is our greatest strength. We believe every voice matters and that collaboration fuels creativity. By empowering one another and working toward a shared vision, we amplify our collective impact and move the College forward.
• We live with integrity. We communicate openly, invite collaboration, and make decisions transparently. Respect and authenticity guide every interaction, ensuring trust within our teams and across our campuses.
• We care deeply. We care about our students, our colleagues, and our communities. Every action we take is grounded in service and compassion—helping others succeed is at the heart of who we are.

Benefits

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance/FSA, HSA -see more detailed information here. (for eligible positions)
• PTO
  • 120 hours per year - Staff
  • 18 hours per year - 9-Month Faculty
  • 35 hours per year - 12-Month Faculty
• Paid Holidays
  • 21 days - Staff
  • 26 days - 9-month Faculty
  • 39 days - 12-Month Faculty
• Sick Leave – 40 hours per year
• ASRS (Arizona State Retirement System)
• Tuition Voucher (to use towards Mohave courses)
• Summer hours - 4-day work week
• Work Life Balance Schedule 

• Strategic Leadership and Institutional Impact Serve as the College’s senior leader responsible for the strategic direction, performance, and expansion of entrepreneurship, small business development, and related workforce initiatives. Develop and implement short- and long-term strategic plans aligned with institutional priorities, workforce development goals, and regional economic needs. Establish and evaluate key performance indicators (KPIs) including business starts, job creation, capital formation, revenue growth, and program participation. Advise senior leadership on economic trends, entrepreneurship strategy, funding opportunities, and program innovation. Represent the College in local, regional, and state-level economic development, workforce, and entrepreneurship initiatives.
• Program Authority, Policy Development and Compliance Serve as the College’s authorized official responsible for compliance with SBA cooperative agreements, Arizona SBDC Network requirements, and all applicable federal and state regulations. Interpret regulatory requirements and develop institutional policies, procedures, and operational standards. Establish internal controls, compliance protocols, and risk mitigation strategies to ensure audit readiness.

• Serve as the institutional subject-matter expert on SBDC, SBA, and grant compliance requirements.

• Fiscal Oversight and Resource Management Develop, administer, and monitor grant-funded and operational budgets with delegated authority for expenditures and contracts. Align financial resources with program priorities and performance goals. Ensure fiscal accountability and compliance with federal, state, and institutional guidelines. Identify and pursue external funding opportunities, including grants and partnerships.

• Program Leadership and Functional Supervision Provide leadership and oversight of all personnel and resources contributing to SBDC and entrepreneurship program delivery, including staff, contracted consultants, and grant-funded positions. Direct a distributed service delivery model consisting of business advisors, trainers, program facilitators, and external partners. Establish performance expectations, monitor outcomes, and ensure accountability across all contributors. Determine staffing models, consultant utilization, and resource allocation strategies. Ensure quality assurance of advising services, training delivery, and client outcomes.

• Entrepreneurship Education and Workforce Program Development

• Provides strategic leadership and direction for business, entrepreneurship, and small business development initiatives, including SBDC operations, ensuring alignment with institutional priorities and measurable economic and workforce impact across the college’s non-credit training and professional development programs.

• Leads the integration of SBDC services with Corporate Education programming to support career pathways, entrepreneurship, and regional business development.

• Collaborates with Corporate Education leadership and subject matter experts to inform program development aligned with labor market demand and community needs.

• Business Consulting and Client Services Oversight Provide advanced consulting support in complex or high-impact cases. Oversee client engagement strategies aligned with SBDC performance metrics. Monitor and evaluate client outcomes including business formation, growth, and sustainability.

• External Relations, Partnerships and Economic Development Establish and maintain partnerships with economic development organizations, government agencies, industry, and community stakeholders. Represent the College in negotiations and collaborative initiatives. Align program initiatives with regional economic priorities and workforce needs.

• Incubator and Entrepreneurship Infrastructure Oversight Provide leadership and governance for entrepreneurship incubator initiatives. Oversee program implementation, participant progression, and compliance requirements. Monitor and report outcomes including business launches, licensing, and revenue growth.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration and Institutional Integration Collaborate with Corporate & Community Education, Academic Affairs, Student Services, and other units to integrate entrepreneurship into programs and pathways. Coordinate cross-functional initiatives supporting innovation, economic mobility, and community engagement. Contribute to institutional planning and strategic initiatives.

• General Attend meetings and serve on committees as assigned. Maintain confidentiality and compliance with all policies and regulations. Perform other duties of a similar scope and complexity as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Management, or related field and Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in business consulting, economic development, entrepreneurship program administration, or management of federally or state-funded programs, including program leadership, fiscal oversight, and personnel management
  OR equivalent combination of education, training, and experience

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or other related graduate degree

Core Competencies

• Accountability (Advanced Level): Shares quality standards and norms with stakeholders. Acts as a role model for others in terms of reliability and integrity. Ensures that the organizational culture is one in which taking responsibility for personal activities and the actions of others is very important and in which teams pull together when mistakes are made.
• Adaptability & Flexibility (Intermediate Level): Acknowledges and learns from mistakes and successes. Adapts own methods when necessary. Adjusts personal plans/goals in favor of a preferred outcome.
• Analytical Thinking (Intermediate Level): Uses resourcefulness to tap as-yet-unknown sources. Integrates and analyzes all relevant data and information and reduces that information down to manageable components and/or charts, diagrams or graphs. Identifies a number of solutions to the problem by identifying and evaluating the various options developed and selects the most effective solution.
• Budget Management (Advanced Level): Effectively safeguard fiscal resources, and consistently adhere to all internal control procedures designed to prevent and detect theft or misuse of funds. Remain alert to potential breaches of financial security/control procedures and immediately report incidents and problems. Actively seek ways to improve internal controls. Keep up-to-date on changes to fiscal procedures, principles, standards, rates, etc. Ensure all financial data is properly calculated and reported. Responsibly allocate and account for use of fiscal resources, evaluating alternatives and weighing their benefits. Research or recognize market value of goods and services to ensure efficient and reasonable expenditure of resources.
• Effective Communications (Advanced Level): Tailors information to audience and individual needs - flexes style appropriately. Models interpersonal communication that invites participation and future dialogue. Actively seeks perspectives from others to ensure a broad understanding. Refrains from immediate judgment and criticism of others' ideas and delivers criticism in a way that demonstrates sensitivity to the feelings of others and waits for others to finish their intended message before responding.
• Customer Focus (Advanced Level): Develops strategic approaches to various client groups now and in the future. Effectively de-escalates a situation when tempers flare. Obtains and examines all relevant information to assess validity of complaints and to determine possible causes. Shows appreciation and provides final assurances to the customer in the problem solving process by engaging them and providing options of how to resolve concern and letting them decide.
• Decision-Making & Judgment (Advanced Level): Models the use of sound judgment and integrity to make clear, transparent decisions regarding complex and or sensitive issues or materials. Makes independent, critical decisions based on relevant information, considering the total organization. Strikes a balance between being participative, i.e., involving team members in decisions and being directive, depending on the needs of the team and the situation. Consistently and effectively seeks input from unit and campus partners; is nimble and decisive.
• Ethics & Integrity (Advanced Level): Consistently models high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, and respect for the individual. Acts in accordance with standards for ethical judgment consistent with the organizations stated values. Ensures that colleagues displaying unethical behavior are corrected. Exerts power carefully.
• Initiative (Advanced Level): Plans ahead for upcoming problems or opportunities and takes appropriate action. Applies perseverance and energy to improving performance. Generates commitment and enthusiasm from others to set and achieve challenging objectives. Demonstrates the ability to complete even unfamiliar tasks independently by adapting his or her previously gained knowledge. Provides advice and direction to others on how to recognize and take appropriate action on problems and opportunities.
• Innovation & Creative Thinking (Intermediate Level): Takes "smart" risks including trying new and different ways to get the job done. Unique ideas. Integrates input and ideas from different sources to share information and or explore opportunities. Brainstorms and encourages new ideas and solutions.
• Develops new approaches or programs that prove to be effective. Leadership (Advanced Level): Understands formal and informal power and influence structure within the organization and successfully achieves positive, desired outcomes.
• Seeks consensus among assorted viewpoints as a means of building group commitment. Incorporates a long-term perspective and broader organizational implication in planning, decision-making and problem solving. Inspires and energizes others to commit to vision.
• Employs a leadership style based on assessing the needs of individuals and adjusting to meet their needs. Builds wide sphere of influence to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness. Planning & Organization (Advanced Level): Taps into the resources of other work-units and departments, employing methods such as cross-functional teams to achieve results.
• Utilizes all departmental tools and ?best practices? to enhance effectiveness and efficiency. Shows persistence in overcoming obstacles that might impact deadlines or timelines. Develops contingency plans for potential problems.
• Identifies and acts on opportunities to partner with other departments to achieve desired results. Problem Solving (Advanced Level): Strikes a balance between being participative, i.e., involving team members in decisions and being directive, depending on the needs of the team and the situation.
• Seeks involvement from varied perspectives and areas of the department and or college to solve problems. Proactively anticipates and addresses concerns of employees, peers, upper management and customers.
• Project or Program Management (Advanced Level): Organizes and governs project team. Integrates business goals into the scope and deliverables. Mentors project team members.
• Monitors and tracks project plan implementation to ensure timely completion.
• Determines the validity of project progress. Integrates the project with cross-functional objectives. Relationship Building (Advanced Level): Facilitates dialogue to gain agreement using sound rationale to explain value of actions. Uses diplomacy to build partnerships. Promotes and models collegiality.
• Consistently promotes and maintains a harmonious and productive work environment. Is respected and trusted and often viewed as a role model. Tact and Diplomacy (Advanced Level): Understands emotional components and underlying meaning behind complex situations or issues.
• Uses appropriate discretion in every situation.
• Works to build understanding with employees and colleagues.
• Delivers a difficult message with sensitivity to minimize negative impact on others.
• Teamwork (Advanced Level): Maintains or enhances self-esteem of others in all communications with team members.
• Actively works to remove barriers to team effectiveness.
• Is flexible and can work with a wide variety of different people on different tasks.
• Fosters cooperation and collaboration in others through trust-building and relationships. Encourages other team members to participate and facilitates when appropriate.
• Facilitates team activities that promote effective peer and work relationships.
• Fosters team communication and dialogue, identifies opportunities to gain consensus for team options, decision and outcomes. Builds effective teams across organizations and levels, inside and outside own organization.
• Time Management (Advanced Level): Leverages resources by working with available resources (individuals, processes, departments, and tools) to complete work efficiently.
• Stays focused by using time effectively and prevents irrelevant issues or distractions from interfering with work completion.
• Uses delegation to effectively manage deadlines. Vision (Advanced Level): Combines various social trends and developments into an integrated vision of the future.
• Sees chances and opportunities for the organization before others do and acts accordingly. Recognizes national and international trends early on and oversees their consequences for the organization.
• Integrates developments in different disciplines into a new concept.
• Able to imagine possibilities other people think are impossible. Able to think ahead on the basis of limited information.

It is the responsibility of each applicant to have all the following documents on file in the Employee Services office by the deadline date in order to continue in the application process for this position. Application materials will not be returned.
 

1. A complete online employment application form. Please do not state 'see resume' on any part of the application. Blank spaces may be cause for rejection of the application.
2. Cover letter addressing the criteria listed in the job announcement and your qualifications for this position.
3. Resume or curriculum vitae. Optional, but encouraged.
4. Transcripts of all college work. (Unofficial transcripts or photocopies will be accepted to establish the application file. Official transcripts will be required if the candidate is offered the position.)

 
Important Notes:
 

• If any of the above-listed materials are missing or incomplete, the application will not be considered.
• Items 2-4 may either be attached electronically to the application or mailed to the address below (position number must be included on all documents):

Mohave College
 Employee Services
 1971 Jagerson Avenue
 Kingman, AZ 86409

Salary : $61,750 - $80,275