Director of Workforce Pathways

About the organization

Richmond Ed Fund takes private capital, backs early-stage interventions in Richmond's education-to-workforce system, tests them rigorously, and, when the evidence is strong enough, makes the case for public adoption. The standard we hold every investment to: is this a path to students earning more?

The model has a precedent. The Ford Foundation funded early childhood education experiments that became Head Start once the federal government saw the data. That's the arc we're running in Richmond: private capital proves what works, public dollars make it permanent.

Richmond ranks among the bottom five metropolitan areas in the country for economic mobility. Most RPS graduates leave high school without a confirmed path to a living wage, and the largest employers of our recent graduates are fast-food chains. RVA Builds is our bet that we can change that by connecting students directly to registered apprenticeships and skilled trades careers before they ever receive a diploma.

About the role

We are hiring a Director, reporting to the EVP of Workforce Pathways, to make RVA Builds work-based learning experiences work on the ground, every day, for every student in it.

The EVP has built the architecture: the partnerships with employers and labor, the design of the pathway, the case for public investment. Your job is to make that architecture real in practice. You are the person a student calls when a placement falls through, the person an employer calls when a work site issue comes up, and the person The Link calls when a student needs to move from interested to placed. That coordination, done well and done consistently, is what turns a well-designed initiative into 500 students actually completing paid work-based learning by the end of the 2028-29 school year.

This is an execution role at the center of a lot of moving parts, roughly 70% work-based learning delivery and partner relationship management, with the remainder split across student and family engagement, data and reporting, and broader team contribution. Schools, employers, students, and families all need something from you at once, often in the same week. You will conduct site visits, manage partner relationships day to day, and work directly with the EVP to keep commitments on track and problems caught early. Success is not measured by how many relationships you are juggling. It is measured by whether placements happen, partners stay engaged, and students move through the pathway without falling through the cracks.

Responsibilities

• Work-Based Learning Delivery
  • Coordinating placement, onboarding, and supervision logistics for student work-based learning experiences.
  • Conducting site visits to observe experiences, support supervisors, and troubleshoot in real time.
  • Managing the matching process that connects students to available apprenticeship and work-based learning placements.
  • Administering the placement platform, keeping records current and accurate.
  • Ensuring experiences meet high-quality work-based learning standards and applicable compliance requirements.
  • Supporting the program calendar, including career exposure activities, placement cycles, and key milestone events.
• Partner Relationship Management
  • Serving as the day-to-day point of contact for employer partners hosting work-based learning experiences.
  • Maintaining regular communication with school-based staff, including The Link leads across the five comprehensive high schools.
  • Tracking partner commitments and placement capacity, and following up to ensure agreements are honored.
  • Flagging emerging partner issues to the EVP before they become escalations.
  • Building trusted, working-level relationships with employer site supervisors and school staff.
• Student and Family Engagement
  • Supporting schools and students through the arc of a placement, from interest to application to completion.
  • Communicating with families about expectations, logistics, and pathway options.
  • Serving as a consistent point of contact for students navigating a placement, particularly when issues arise.
• Data, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement
  • Maintaining accurate participation, placement, and outcome data.
  • Contributing to stakeholder reporting and internal performance reviews.
  • Surfacing patterns from the field that should inform program design.
• Team and Organizational Contribution
  • Working directly with the EVP of Workforce Pathways on strategy, priorities, and escalations.
  • Participating in cross-team planning as needed.

Requirements

• Bring relevant, real-world execution experience
  • Have at least five years of experience in workforce development, education, career services, or a related field, with direct experience managing partnerships or programs on the ground.
  • Have worked directly with high school students, ideally in a career readiness setting.
  • Understand what it takes to keep a work-based learning experience running well, from the first conversation with an employer to a student's last day on site.
• Know how to operate and get things done
  • Manage many active relationships at once without letting any of them drop.
  • Are comfortable stepping into a program whose core infrastructure is still being finalized in its early months, even once a clear work plan is in place.
  • Follow through on details reliably, even when no one is checking.
  • Notice a placement or partner issue early and act on it before it becomes a bigger problem.
• Navigate people and partnerships with intention
  • Build trust and credibility quickly with employers, school-based staff, students, and families, each of whom needs something different from you.
  • Are especially strong communicating with employer and HR contacts, and can carry that same clarity and professionalism into conversations with schools, students, and families.
  • Hold partners to their commitments without damaging the relationship.
  • Bring an asset-oriented mindset: you look for how to move work forward rather than cataloguing why something is hard.
  • Communicate clearly and adjust your approach for the audience, whether that's a 16-year-old student or an employer site supervisor.
• Bring a builder's mindset
  • Prefer solving a problem directly over waiting for guidance.
  • Move comfortably between big-picture pathway goals and the small logistics that make a single placement work.
  • Treat data and field observations as things to act on, not just report.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience with registered apprenticeships, building trades, or youth workforce programs.
• A background in workforce development, career readiness, or post-secondary planning specifically, even though it isn't required.
• Experience working directly with high school students or in youth programming, direct service or program-side.
• Familiarity with Virginia work-based learning standards or DOLI (Department of Labor and Industry) apprenticeship requirements.
• Experience with Richmond Public Schools or the Richmond region.

Benefits

• 80% employer-covered health, dental, and vision.
• Generous PTO policy.
• Annual professional development budget.
• 403(b) with up to 3% employer match.
• As a 501(c)3 employer, REF qualifies for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
• This is a three-year, grant-funded role with opportunity for growth.

Schedule

This role is based in Richmond, Virginia with significant in-person engagement in and around Richmond, including regular site visits.

This is a three-year, grant-funded role, guaranteed for three years. Continued employment is contingent upon the availability of funds.