Job Title: Chief Program Officer

Employment Type: Full-time in Nashville.

To Apply: Submit a resume and cover letter to info@persistcoaching.org

Hiring Timeline: Applications will be accepted until Monday, January 27 at 5:00PM CST.  First round interviews will be held on February 4, 2025 and February 5, 2025.  

Salary: $95,000-$110,000

Meet our Team: https://www.persistcoaching.org/our-team

About Persist

Persist is dedicated to addressing the challenges of college enrollment and completion, particularly for students from marginalized communities. As such, Persist provides professional coaching to MNPS graduates for the first two years of their college journey–regardless of the type of institution they attend–to ensure that they are able to persist and complete their college degree. Utilizing text-enabled technology, coaches support students’ social-emotional needs, prompt them around campus-specific deadlines, and connect them to campus resources when barriers are encountered.

Since 2019, Persist has served more than 4,700 students along their postsecondary journey and its students have achieved an 86% college persistence rate with more than 250 Persist students having earned a degree or certificate.

The Role

Persist is seeking an experienced and visionary Chief Program Officer (CPO) to lead and enhance our programs aimed at empowering Nashville students to enroll in and complete college. As a key member of the leadership team, the CPO will design and oversee innovative strategies to expand the impact of our initiatives, ensure program excellence, and drive measurable results.

Primary Responsibilities Include:

•  Develop and execute bold, innovative plans for all Persist Nashville programs, ensuring alignment with our mission to help students navigate and succeed in their college journeys.
• Lead the creation of new, student-centered initiatives that address emerging needs and maximize impact within our community.
• Oversee program operations, ensuring they are effective, efficient, and consistently deliver high-quality outcomes for students.
• Build and inspire a high-performing team of coaches, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability centered around student success.
• Establish clear metrics and KPIs, monitor progress, and use insights from data to continuously improve programs and outcomes.
• Proactively identify challenges and develop strategies to keep programs on track and within budget.
• Identify opportunities for innovation and improvement within programs, and lead initiatives to enhance program impact and efficiency;
• Cultivate meaningful partnerships with schools, colleges, and community organizations, amplifying our impact and expanding access to our services.
• Identify and nurture strategic consulting opportunities aligned with our expertise and services.

Experiences, Skills, and Traits:

• Advanced degree in K-12 Education, Higher Education Administration or equivalent required.
• At least 8 years of experience in college success roles within K-12 or Higher Education.
• Proven track record of driving measurable student outcomes through a team, with a minimum of 3 years of leadership experience.
• At least 3 years of experience managing programmatic budgets and ensuring financial alignment with organizational goals.
• Strong leadership abilities, capable of inspiring and mobilizing both internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to connect with diverse audiences and build lasting relationships.
• Proficiency in CRM databases; experience with Salesforce is a strong advantage.
• Deep commitment to Persist Nashville’s mission and values, with a focus on fostering equitable outcomes in education.

Persist’s Commitment to Community, Equity and Diversity

• At Persist, our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is woven into everything we do. We design programs with our community, not for our community, ensuring that the voices of those we serve shape our work. This includes creating meaningful paid leadership opportunities for students within our organization and collaborating closely with schools and community partners to meet their unique needs.
• We are deeply aware of the power and privilege we hold, and we intentionally engage in open, honest conversations—both within our team and with the communities we serve—to ensure we approach our work in a culturally responsive and respectful way.
• We also recognize that the journey to becoming an anti-racist organization requires ongoing reflection, learning, and action. Persist is fully committed to growing in this journey, knowing that our progress strengthens the impact we can have on the students and families we support.

Whole Person Benefits Philosophy:

Persist believes in creating a high performing and sustainable workplace and is committed to attracting and retaining diverse team members who believe in empowering Nashville’s graduates and uphold our core values. Persist provides a job that encompasses comprehensive and competitive benefits, compensation, career development, and cares about you as a person. We believe in compensating team members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization and we take internal equity seriously. Persist provides health, dental and vision insurance, competitive salaries, generous PTO, matching 401(k), and individual professional development budget. Persist reserves the right to change benefits at any time.