Director of College Counseling

Description

About Noble

Noble is Chicago’s highest-performing and largest network of public charter schools. Our 17 campuses and 1,600 employees currently serve 12,000 students, 98% of whom identify as persons of color, 90% as low-income, and 81% as first-generation college attendees. Noble’s mission is to ensure that all students have equitable and positive school experiences that equip them to complete college and lead choice-filled lives. We are proud to be recognized nationally for college access and persistence. Noble supports more than 31,000 alumni, with 98% of students accepted into college and nearly 94% choosing to enroll.

The Role

The Director of College Counseling (DoCC) reports directly to the Chief College Officer and serves as the strategic leader for college access across Noble Schools. Through visionary leadership and strategic execution, the Director ensures all Noble students receive exceptional college counseling that leads to college matriculation and positions alumni to earn bachelor's degrees, supporting all graduates to engage in choice-filled lives. The Director of College Counseling builds and leads a multi-layer team, directly coaching 17 Deans of College who, in turn, manage over 60 counselors across Noble. This leader makes strategic decisions about college counseling programming, resource allocation, and partnerships, ensuring alignment with Noble's long-term strategic goals. This leader remains current on the broader college landscape and represents Noble as a national leader in college access for underserved students.

Key Responsibilities

College Strategy

• Design and refine Noble's yearlong college counseling strategy to drive matriculation outcomes, establishing tracking systems and accountability structures that enable campus teams to monitor leading indicators and strengthen progress toward network-wide college goals
• Partner with College Analytics staff to oversee and continuously improve Noble's college access data systems and tools, including but not limited to Overgrad, the College Bot, Weekly Odds and Decision Reports, Application Dashboards, Senior Survey, and Handoff Tracker, ensuring systems are aligned to network priorities and campus team needs
• Lead design, strategy development, and implementation of the Early College to Career (EC2C) Strategy, creating scalable tools, structures, and implementation models that increase students' college readiness through postsecondary exploration, career awareness, and purpose-finding experiences
• Set strategic direction for Noble's signature college exploration experiences, including the Annual Junior College Fair and specialized programming (HBCU, Undocu, Military Career), ensuring alignment with Noble's college access vision and maximum student impact
• Own Noble's FAFSA completion strategy in alignment with Illinois mandates, establishing systems, resources, and coaching protocols that ensure state compliance and empower campus teams to drive daily execution
• Oversee and refine Noble’s scholarship application and partnership processes, streamlining review processes and strengthening cross-team coordination to distribute approximately $400,000 in annual scholarships to graduating seniors
• Develop clear processes for supporting students who complete Noble's comprehensive college counseling process and make informed decisions to pursue non-college pathways, ensuring all students achieve choice-filled lives while preserving Noble's central commitment to 4-year college access
• Lead major projects and initiatives from planning through execution, proactively engaging various stakeholders to gather input, synthesize feedback, and drive initiatives that move the needle on college access
  
  

Dean of College & Counselor Development

• Lead Noble's college counseling team, directly coaching 17 Deans of College who manage over 60 counselors network-wide. Strengthen Dean execution through Progress to Goals monitoring, collaborative problem-solving, and targeted coaching on team leadership and stakeholder communication.
• In collaboration with the Chief College Officer and NST College Directors, lead strategic design of professional development, ensuring comprehensive programming strengthens cross-campus alignment and shared practice across Noble
• Develop talent pipeline and succession planning, identifying and preparing high-potential counselors for leadership advancement.
  
  

College & External Partnerships

• Establish and maintain strategic partnerships with post-secondary institutions, college access and persistence organizations, and community-based organizations to ensure equitable opportunities for Noble students. Evaluate partnership impact and return on investment to inform resource allocation decisions.
• Remain current on the college access landscape, engage in relevant professional networks, and represent Noble as a national leader on college access for underserved students through speaking engagements, thought leadership, and strategic advocacy
  
  

Key Metrics

• NST Service Survey Score
• 360 Core Values Score
• Noble’s College-related 6 Commitments Goals
  
  

Ideal Candidate Qualifications

• A passion for Noble’s work and commitment to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism
• Excellent communication, customer service, and interpersonal skills
• A positive attitude, solutions-oriented mindset, and desire to learn new things
• Excellent time management skills and attention to detail, with a proven ability to meet deadlines
• Strong data analysis skills, including fluency in Google Drive, Sheets/Excel, and experience deriving insights to inform strategic decisions
  
  

Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree required (degree and/or certification in related field preferred)
• 10-15 years of professional experience with demonstrated people and functional leadership
  
  

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

• This is a permanent full-time, exempt position
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis
  
  

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Compensation

Compensation will be commensurate with experience and qualifications. Compensation for this position falls between $110,000 and $125,000, which represents the average starting salary for staff in this role. Factors such as years of experience and skill sets may impact placement within, or outside of this range. Additionally, Noble has a top-of-market medical, dental, and vision benefits package among a multitude of other perks that make Noble one of the highest-rated places to work in K-12 education in the country.

Application Timeline & Process

Interested candidates should apply using this link or by visiting nobleschools.org/careers. Applicants are encouraged to complete the short application, which includes two short-answer questions. Initial application reviews will take place on a rolling basis.

Select candidates will be notified of initial interviews and moved through various stages of our selection process, including virtual and in-person interviews with a variety of Noble stakeholders, reference checks, and opportunities for both the candidate and Noble to assess fit. Expected start date is July 1, 2026.

Statement of Non-Discrimination

Noble is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, making all employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other characteristic or classification protected by law.