Director, Student Success Center

Description

Rooted in the Bronx, New Settlement stands with community members to break systemic barriers, advance justice, promote leadership and strengthen neighborhoods. By ensuring agency around education, employment, housing, wellness and creative expression, we help cultivate an equitable society where individuals and families have the power to use their voice to create the change they wish to see.

Since New Settlement’s inception in 1989 as a settlement house rooted in the Bronx, our organization has been a responsive community partner. Originally established to revitalize abandoned buildings into affordable housing, New Settlement has since evolved into a multi-generational, forward-looking organization. We support 15,000 members of the community annually by providing organizing in housing and schools, and programs in education, college access, youth development, arts, workforce development, wellness and more. EEO/AA

JOB SUMMARY: The Director of the Student Success Center (SSC) provides strategic, programmatic, and operational leadership for New Settlement’s SSC at the Taft Educational Campus—a dynamic, youth-led college access program. The SSC is built on the belief that students thrive when they are supported by their peers and trusted adults in navigating college, career, and postsecondary pathways.

The Director plays a key role in vision-setting, school and community partnership management, supervision of cross-functional teams, and cultivating a strong culture of youth leadership, equity, data-informed practice, and restorative values. This is an exciting opportunity for a mission-aligned leader to strengthen a long-standing college access model while driving innovation and impact for Bronx youth. The Program Director is a full-time position that reports directly to the College, Career and Community Pathways Division Director. This position requires occasional evening and weekend programming.

Job Duties include but are not limited to:

Strategic Leadership & Program Vision

• Set and implement a clear vision for the SSC that aligns with New Settlement’s mission and student success outcomes.
• Lead program development across early college awareness, access, and persistence services.
• Stay current on trends in college access/success and proactively integrate best practices.
• Represent SSC in citywide coalitions, funder meetings, and internal leadership spaces.

Staff Leadership & Culture Building

• Supervise and support a diverse team of college counselors, youth leaders, interns, and volunteers.
• Foster an inclusive, affirming team culture that values transparency, shared leadership, and continuous learning.
• Provide coaching, supervision, and performance evaluation with a focus on staff growth and retention.
• Ensure all staff receive ongoing professional development and support.

School & Community Partnerships

• Maintain strong relationships with all Taft campus schools; align SSC services with each school’s goals.
• Collaborate with principals, school staff, and families to identify student needs and co-create solutions.
• Represent SSC in all relevant school-based meetings and planning processes.
• Cultivate partnerships with community-based organizations, colleges, and postsecondary programs (CUNY/SUNY/private institutions, CBOs, and workforce providers).

Youth Leadership & Student Engagement

• Integrate youth voice and leadership into all aspects of SSC planning and delivery.
• Oversee the recruitment, training, and supervision of high school Youth Leaders and College Coaches.
• Support events, workshops, and student-led campaigns that promote college-going culture.

Operations, Budget & Data

• Manage a sizable SSC budget, contracts, and MOUs; ensure compliance with funder requirements.
• Lead data collection, analysis, and reporting to measure impact and inform strategy.
• Track and report on key performance indicators, student outcomes, and funding deliverables.
• Ensure accurate and timely data entry in Salesforce and other systems.

Cross-Team & Organizational Leadership

• Coordinate closely with the College Access Center and Community Schools teams to strengthen alignment across programs.
• Actively contribute to New Settlement’s culture of collaboration, racial equity, and community accountability.
• Participate in organization-wide events, director meetings, and strategic planning efforts.
• Perform other duties as reasonably requested.

Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in education, youth development, or related field preferred.
• Minimum 3–5 years of supervisory or program management experience.
• Strong understanding of the college admissions and financial aid process.
• Proven commitment to educational equity, youth development, and community-centered work.
• Skilled in staff supervision, program design, and partnership-building.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Highly organized, systems-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities.
• Experience working in school-based settings and/or with DOE partnerships a plus.
• Bilingual (Spanish/English) a plus.
• Must pass DOE fingerprinting and background checks.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

• The ability to sit, stand, walk and use hands and fingers to operate a computer keyboard, mouse, and telephone to talk and hear.
• The ability to frequently sit and reach with hands and arms.
• The ability to occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.

Working Conditions: The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job.

• Must be able to utilize office equipment such as desktop/notebook computers, copiers, printers, scanners, telephones, and calculators.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Employment is at will and employees will undergo 45- and 90-day check-ins during their 90-day probationary period.

NOTICE: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of the environment and level of work being performed by this job. This job description in no way states or implies that the duties and responsibilities listed are the only tasks to be performed by the employee in this job. The employee will be required to follow other instructions and to perform other job-related duties requested by their supervisor. This job description supersedes prior job descriptions. When duties and responsibilities change and develop, the job description will be reviewed and subject to changes of business necessity.

New Settlement is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer, and considers qualified applicants without regard to race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status or any other protected factor under federal, state or local law.

This job description indicates in general the nature and levels of work, knowledge, skills, abilities and other essential functions expected of an employee. It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of you as an employee. You may be asked to perform other duties as required.

Salary : $72,000 - $75,000