Manager, Virtual Programming

About Chicago Scholars

Chicago Scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first-generation college students from under-resourced communities. Through college counseling, mentoring, and by providing a supportive community to our Scholars through each phase of our program: College Access, College Success, and Career and Leadership Development, we ensure that they realize their full potential as students and leaders.

76% of Chicago Scholars graduate college within 6 years. Per the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, only 49% of their peers earn a degree within 6 years. Upon graduation, our Scholars move into leadership positions across Chicago, helping to drive the economic future of their communities and our thriving city.

READI Commitment 

At Chicago Scholars we strive to prepare our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars. Our dual focus on Scholars and the world are essential to our strategy. To achieve these goals, we center racial justice, equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion (READI) in all that we do. 

Chicago Scholars’ commitment to READI encompasses all of our stakeholders—from our staff to our board, from our volunteers to our partnering organizations, and most importantly our Scholars. This holistic approach is necessary for the sustained, long-term, positive impact that we seek for our Scholars, our neighborhoods, our city, and our world.

At Chicago Scholars, we believe that education is social justice. That's why we're empowering Chicago's best and brightest first-generation college students and students from low-income communities with the mentors, resources, and opportunities to go to our nation's best colleges and universities, graduate on time, and become Chicago's next generation of leaders. Since 1996, we've impacted the lives of more than 5,000 young leaders in Chicago.

Our Values

These are a set of guiding principles that apply to all stakeholders within the Chicago Scholars ecosystem. We select and retain stakeholders based on these stated expectations for how we achieve our mission and vision. Each are supported with core competencies and narrative for the sake of clarity.

We Dream Big. We speak up, innovate, push the boundaries and keep the creativity flowing. We don’t accept the status quo because the stakes are too high. We have an incredible belief that growth and change is possible. While we dream big, we are laser focused on our intended goals and outcomes for our Scholars, our city and the world.

We Show Up. We show up every day; not just physically, but with a positive attitude and willingness to work, connect, challenge, engage, solve problems and have fun. We don’t wait for someone to tell us what to do. We take action and get the job done. If we don’t know how, we figure it out through our knowledge, exploration or our network.

We Embrace Our Differences. We represent a multicultural nation and our collective backgrounds, experiences, styles, values, perspectives and beliefs are an asset to the world. We recognize that together we achieve better outcomes more quickly. Justice and equity starts with us using our collective voice.

We Model the Way. We exhibit the behavior that we want to see in others and in the world. Titles are granted, but our behavior is what earns us respect. In order to model the way, we must be clear about our guiding principles, celebrate our accomplishments and learn from our challenges and failures.

We Care For Each Other. We adapt to the needs of the person in front of us. We pause, reflect and listen. We do our best work when we are in good relationship together. We care personally and challenge directly.

We Keep Our Word. When we commit, we are all in. Whether for events, a Scholar, a peer or ourselves. Our words are as powerful as our actions and are the building block of trust, respect, self-worth and integrity.

Position Summary:

The Manager of Virtual Programming leads the design and continuous improvement of Chicago Scholars’ (CS) Virtual program in REACH Pathways (our online learning platform). This role builds and maintains an outcomes-driven high school curriculum—quests, tasks, and virtual learning experiences—that advance college readiness, college counseling, and career and leadership development for CS Virtual Scholars. The Manager coordinates cross-functional working groups to align CS Virtual with CS Classic programming and uses engagement data and Scholar feedback to strengthen content and delivery. The role also supports recruitment and onboarding to advance long-term strategic plan priorities.

Key Responsibilities:

Program Development (45%) 

• Coordinate [DF1] [AF2] the planning and development of high school Scholar curriculum for CS Virtual Scholars in REACH Pathways including college readiness, college counseling, Scholar supports, and career and leadership advancement 
• Coordinate cross-functional working groups to ensure REACH quests and tasks are cohesive and aligned across CS Virtual and CS Classic programs
• Collaborate frequently with the REACH team to ensure timely development of quests and tasks in alignment with Chicago Scholars curriculum
• Build quests and tasks directly in REACH with support from content leads across sub-teams
• Develop and implement REACH activities that are highly engaging and support virtual community building among CS Virtual Scholars
• Stay abreast of best practices within virtual, asynchronous student programs and implement best practices within CS Virtual
• Collaborate frequently with colleagues across teams to ensure seamless transitions and engagement as CS Virtual Scholars move through the Chicago Scholars program
• Continuously improve programming to incorporate innovative ideas that help grow the CS Virtual program year over year in alignment with long-term strategic plan goals

Scholar Engagement and Data Tracking (35%) 

• Establish and uphold CS Virtual Scholar engagement and participation requirements; regularly monitor and analyze Scholar engagement data to ensure they are on track to complete program requirements
• Serve as the main contact for CS Virtual Scholars who need additional support to stay on track; provide guidance and resources, and support the CS Virtual Scholar disengagement and disenrollment processes if/when needed
• Collaborate with the Data & Evaluation team to create surveys and opportunities to gather CS Virtual Scholar feedback; utilize data and feedback to recommend programmatic changes if/when needed
• Identify metrics to ensure the success of the CS Virtual program and track progress against goals; address risks to remain on track toward long-term strategic plan goals
• Manage communications to CS Virtual Scholars in collaboration with Marketing and Communications staff, including newsletters, announcements, reminders, and texts

 Recruitment and Enrollment (15%) 

• Support the application and recruitment processes to advance ambitious Scholar enrollment goals
• Create and support the development of CS Virtual recruitment materials aimed at informing prospective Scholars, families, high school counselors and community members about the program
• Facilitate webinars and info sessions about CS Virtual throughout the recruitment process 
• Support CS Virtual Scholar acceptance and enrollment processes including updating enrollment forms, enrollment verification process, and onboarding of the new class

Additional Responsibilities (5%)

This role will occasionally work on nights and weekends for Scholar and Development events and programming. This role is also required to: 

• Support new Scholar recruitment via high school visits and open house experiences
• Support Chicago Scholars internal scholarship application review 
• Attend weekly, in-person, all-staff meetings (Tuesdays), bi-annual retreats, and weekly/monthly team and sub-team meetings
• Attend and support required all-staff and Program Team events
• Other duties, as assigned

Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required
• Experience: 3-5 years of relevant experience
• Must live in the Chicagoland area. 

Technical Knowledge:

• Excellent communication, presentation, and writing skills  
• Proficiency with Microsoft Teams, Salesforce and Asana project management software preferred
• Experience with online, asynchronous programming, and/or UI/UX design preferred

Core Competencies: 

Project Management & Accountability: Effectively manages own work and work of teams, ensuring delivery of high-quality work; plans and organizes tasks and work responsibilities to achieve objectives 

Communication: Communicates in a manner that consistently demonstrates respect, concern, and responsiveness; ability to speak in public and engage with a variety of stakeholders (Scholars, partners, families, etc.) 

Teamwork & Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to cultivate and sustain relationships with diverse audiences; able to work collaboratively with a team to accomplish goals and tasks

Problem Solving/Critical Thinking: Able to break down tasks into manageable sections in order to make informed decisions and solve problems. Able to perceive and resolve a gap and overcome obstacles between a present situation and a desired goal.