Organization Vision
uAspire* imagines a day when all young people have the opportunity to reach their full potential by graduating from college, regardless of their families’ financial resources or college experiences.
*Formerly known as ACCESS, uAspire changed its name in September 2012 to better align the organization’s name with its dual focus on helping students gain access to and succeed in college.
Organization Summary
uAspire is committed to ensuring that all young people have the financial information and resources necessary to achieve their dreams of higher education. uAspire provides free college affordability advice and advocacy to students and families in Massachusetts and Miami, helping them to overcome the financial barriers to a postsecondary education. Since 1985, uAspire has provided financial aid advising more than 60,000 students and families since 1985, and leveraged $220 million in financial Aid over the last five years. Through strategic partnerships with high schools, community organizations and local universities, uAspire helps academically prepared students find an affordable path to – and through – a postsecondary education.
uAspire is in the early stages of implementing a multi-faceted Strategic Plan for Growth with Quality that will enable the organization to positively impact the lives of 1,000,000 students by 2017. This plan includes three models for impact:
- Impact in High-Need Cities – prove our model and build credibility by providing direct services to students and families in 3-5 markets across the country. Currently, uAspire is operating in Massachusetts (3 locations – Boston, Springfield, and Lawrence) and Miami, FL, and is in the process of launching a site in the Bay Area of California.
- Training & Technical Assistance – provide best-in-class training & ongoing support on issues of college affordability to frontline college access & success providers, community based-organizations, school districts and higher education institutions. Following a successful pilot and business case summary procured by Deloitte Consulting, uAspire recently received a generous investment from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation to enable the full national launch of this model.
- Policy – use impact data, scalable best practices, and a network of knowledgeable practitioners to influence policies and practices within city, state, federal and higher education circles. uAspire is currently engaging in policy efforts at federal and state levels when appropriate while working out the details of our multi-year policy impact strategy.
Position Summary
The challenges of college affordability have never been more pronounced, and uAspire’s expertise – built over 25+ years of practice – has never been more needed across our sites and communities nationwide. The Special Projects Manager (SPM) will play a critical role in ensuring that uAspire achieves our ambitious and multi-faceted plans for growth with quality, thereby enabling the postsecondary dreams of thousands of students to be realized each year. S/He will provide leadership and support on multiple projects of organizational importance in addition to providing high-level administrative support and thought partnership to the Chief Program and Strategy Officer (CPSO, Erin Cox). The projects will be diverse in terms of content and collaborators, and they will generally be focused on creating/improving systems that enable 1) effective internal collaboration across a growing national uAspire team, and 2) new/improved impact across our site and Training & Technical Assistance impact models. The SPM will also be entrusted as the primary point of contact and connection – the “glue” – for the CPSO and her internal and external stakeholders.
This position requires a highly organized and driven individual who is an effective coordinator of processes, projects, and groups. S/He will possess the strong interpersonal and communication skills required to interact effectively with a broad range of stakeholders, including uAspire colleagues, funders, and key programmatic partners. S/He will have a proven ability to deliver high-quality work and ensure the timely completion of tasks and deliverables in a collaborative environment. This is a demanding and exciting position, and the successful applicant will understand and receive great satisfaction from the importance of capacity-building work that enables people, programs, and organizations to achieve new heights.
Key Responsibilities
Special Projects Management
- Manage multiple projects across the organization at one time, including effective communication, calendar and task management, and leveraging of internal and external resources as necessary
- Work closely with the Program & Strategy Team and the organizational Leadership Team to strategize on and carry forward initiatives of key importance to the organization
- Assess the effectiveness of select current internal operating systems and develop and implement recommendations for improvement
- Envision and implement new centralized systems to enhance and streamline programs and operations
Assistant/Thought Partner to the CPSO
- Build the capacity of the Chief Program and Strategy Officer by supporting the management of her calendar, travel bookings and communications
- Provide thought partnership on issues of organizational and systems development
- Attend internal and external meetings with or on behalf of the CPSO as necessary
- Provide administrative support to other initiatives and staff members as requested
Training & Technical Assistance
- Aid in thought partnership and content development for the T&TA model
- In close partnership with the Manager of Strategic Operations, research intellectual property (IP) to help define uAspire’s approach to IP protections for the T&TA model
- Ensuring uAspire’s effective representation through marketing and logistical support for local and national conferences of relevance
- Support the Training and Technical Assistance team through the management of travel logistics
- Support the Chief Program and Strategy Officer in team management, including planning of team meetings and retreats, staff appreciations and recognition, and cross team collaboration
Organizational Leadership
- Serve on and/or facilitate multiple internal teams of relevance to your work and organizational goals.
- Support coordination of, prepare for and attend all staff meetings and retreats
Qualifications
- Bachelors degree required
- At least one year minimum of relevant professional experience required
- High level of flexibility and adaptability required
- Belief in and adherence to uAspire’s Organizational Values – Student-Centered, Excellent, Dedicated, Collaborative, and Systems-Focused – required
- High proficiency in Google Mail/Docs, and Microsoft Office Suite – Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint – required; Knowledge of and proficiency in Salesforce preferred
- Positive experience working in an entrepreneurial, non-profit setting highly desired
- Experience providing administrative/logistical support to non-profit executive highly desired
- Proven project management skills
- Proven ability to multi-task in an efficient and effective manner
- Strong oral and written communications skills
- Ability to organize and facilitate internal and external meetings with diverse audiences
- Advanced organizational skills and ability to plan and implement projects in a demanding, fast-paced environment
- Energetic, enthusiastic, and interested in learning within a growing, entrepreneurial organization
- Ability to work flexible hours that will include evenings and some weekends
Compensation
Salary commensurate with experience.
Applications
Applicants should submit a cover letter and resume to jobs@uaspire.org, Subject line: Special Projects Manager Attention: Chris Loney
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