Associate Director/Director

FLSA status: Full-time; Salaried; Exempt
Minimum Salary/Maximum Salary: $125,000/$180,000
Location: Fully remote (US-based)
Preferred start date: September 2026

WHO WE ARE

All4Ed is a national nonprofit committed to expanding equitable educational opportunities for all students, especially those furthest from opportunity. We advance transformation from the classroom to Congress by working at the federal, state, and local levels to reimagine education-to-career systems and ensure that every young person thrives in learning, work, and life. For twenty-five years, All4Ed has provided a voice for the nation’s most vulnerable youth to ensure that all of them receive a high-quality education.

Our team has a demonstrated track record of success in supporting state and regional leaders in efforts to drive systems change. We provide technical assistance, advocate for enabling policies, and develop thought leadership to strengthen the pathways field. Our work draws on our team’s field-recognized subject matter expertise and deep relationships with pathways leaders across the country.

THE OPPORTUNITY

You’ll join a dynamic team at All4Ed committed to transforming systems to build strong, equity-centered pathways with no dead ends or wrong doors. You’ll work alongside All4Ed staff and external partners to lead and support projects that provide strategic support, advising, and evidence-based technical assistance for state, regional, and local leaders. This work spans K-12 and postsecondary education, workforce development, state and local government, business and industry, intermediaries, and community-based organizations to design, strengthen, and scale innovative solutions in the pathways field (learn more here).

Level is flexible: we’ll calibrate seniority (Associate Director or Director) based on the depth of your experience.

WHY THIS ROLE

In this role, you’ll drive transformation in education-to-career systems, shape new pathways strategies, and support pathways leaders across the country in implementing them. You will lead a portfolio of pathways projects and support matrixed project teams in designing and executing effective technical assistance strategies that are responsive to the varied state and local contexts we work in. Examples of the kinds of pathways projects our team has engaged in include building the capacity of state-and regional-level intermediary organizations, providing strategic advising to state agencies on topics such as work-based learning and career navigation, and facilitating strategic planning processes for cross-sector teams of regional pathways leaders. In addition to project leadership, your day-to-day work will include activities like leading coaching conversations with state and local leaders, developing tools and resources to support the field, and planning and facilitating national convenings and state- and regional-level strategic planning sessions.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

• Design and provide direct technical assistance (TA) and strategic advising to cross-sector pathways leaders in alignment with All4Ed’s pathways services and key strategies
• Develop and lead complex projects from concept through implementation, managing timelines, budgets, work plans, program staff, and partners
• Manage relationships with existing and potential partners and funders, collaborating with All4Ed colleagues to build out and advance our work in new places and content areas
• Understand the challenges that pathways leaders and systems face, and respond by conceptualizing tools, resources, and technical assistance strategies that remove barriers to progress
• Represent All4Ed with institutional and system leaders, partner organizations, and other external stakeholders
• Facilitate and lead meetings, events, trainings, and presentations for diverse audiences
• Manage and support project teams to meet goals, modeling inclusive leadership
• Research, write, and publish high-quality blogs, briefs, and analytic papers that influence policy and practice in the field
• Contribute to the writing, reviewing, and editing proposals and external reports

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

These are qualifications we consider essential for success in this role because it spans strategy, external relationships, and execution. If most of this sounds like your background, even if you don’t check every box, we’d still encourage you to apply.

• 8+ years of progressive leadership experience in the pathways field and a track record of successfully providing TA to cross-sector, state- and local-level stakeholders, including supporting collaboration across K-12 and postsecondary education, intermediaries, workforce and economic development, and community-based organizations
• Demonstrated subject matter expertise in pathways strategies and their core elements, including CTE, dual enrollment, work-based learning, industry/employer engagement, and education and career navigation
• A track record of planning and implementing multiple concurrent, funded projects, each with its own timeline and matrixed team, while working both autonomously and collaboratively
• Demonstrated success advising external senior leaders and decision makers (e.g., district superintendents, college presidents) and skill navigating the complexities of cross-sector coalition-building at the local, regional, and state levels
• Comfort with ambiguity, leading without formal authority, and adapting priorities as new strategic opportunities emerge
• Strong strategic and critical thinking skills, with genuine interest in systems-level design and integration
• Experience managing teams (either direct reports or matrixed project teams), with a commitment to providing direct, actionable feedback
• Experience developing technical assistance approaches, tools, and resources that meet partners’ needs
• Strong oral and written communication skills, especially the ability to make complex topics accessible, and public speaking ability
• Excellent research and writing skills, with experience producing high-quality, externally facing reports, briefs, proposals, tools, and resources
• A growth mindset and a genuine desire to keep improving in your work

NICE TO HAVE

• Expertise in how intermediary organizations or postsecondary institutions and systems operate, including their role within broader pathways systems
• Experience developing new service lines
• Experience with funder cultivation, business development, or grant writing

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Salary range: $125,000-$180,000, based on experience and level.

All4Ed provides medical, dental, vision, and prescription for individual and family coverage with an employee contribution of 15 percent, a 403(b) plan with a 10 percent employer contribution with no matching requirement, and annual paid time off that includes vacation, sick time, and personal days, as well as organization-wide closure days.

LOCATION AND TRAVEL

All4Ed is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is a fully remote, U.S.-based organization. We trust and value our team to collaboratively produce excellent work and contribute to a positive, supportive work culture from wherever they are. This role will require travel up to 30% for organizational and team meetings, conferences, and targeted project-related work in the field.

HOW TO APPLY

All4Ed embraces the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, cultures, and experiences.

Please submit a cover letter and resume that speak to your experience and qualifications for the role no later than Tuesday, July 21, 2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Submit all materials via our online application portal: apply here.

NOTE: We will not use AI to screen, review, or evaluate your application materials, and we ask that you not use AI to generate them. Written communication is central to this role, and we’re interested in how you think, communicate, and use your experience to connect to the position.