Title: Director of Employer & Industry Strategy

Position Type: Professional Tech Full time

College: System Office

Division: Workforce Innovation

Department: CCCS Workforce Solutions

Campus: Lowry Campus

Location: Denver

Salary Range: $115,500 - $121,275

Who We Are:

The Colorado Community College System is the state’s largest provider of higher education and workforce training, consisting of 13 colleges and over 35 locations across the state, educating approximately 130,000 postsecondary students annually. In addition, we train more than 4,000 Coloradans each year through customized employer training programs and coordinate delivery of career and technical education (CTE) programs to over 165,000 K-12 learners annually. Our mission is to provide accessible, responsive learning environments where students can achieve their educational, professional and personal goals in an atmosphere that embraces academic excellence, diversity and innovation. We are an organization that encourages individuals to bring their whole selves to work.

Job Summary:

In this role you will be responsible for helping to redefine how employers, industries, and educators collaborate to shape Colorado's future workforce. You will ensure that employer demand consistently informs how CCCS designs learning, recognizes talent, and prepares learners for meaningful careers. Housed within the Workforce Solutions and Innovation Division, the Director provides system-level leadership to coordinate, strengthen, and scale CCCS’s relationships with employers, industry sectors, workforce boards, chambers of commerce, and regional economic partners. This role serves as the primary statewide convener for employer and sector partnerships, ensuring that employer demand consistently informs program design, credentials of value, work-based learning opportunities, and regional workforce strategies. This leader designs and advances the enterprise partnerships, operating models, and engagement strategies that enable Colorado's employers to shape the future of learning while enabling CCCS colleges to respond more effectively to workforce demand.

Note: Three days per week in our Lowry office is required for meetings with other System Office staff.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Lead the development and execution of a coordinated, systemwide employer and sector partnership strategy aligned with Colorado’s Talent Pipeline priorities and economic development priorities.
• Prospect, cultivate, and manage relationships with employers, industry associations, and sector leaders to identify partnership opportunities aligned with CCCS priorities and assess workforce needs, hiring challenges, talent priorities, and opportunities for collaboration with CCCS colleges and System Office teams.
• Develop and advance employer partnerships that may include industry roundtables, advisory committee participation, curriculum and pathway input, support for new or revised programs, work-based learning and internship opportunities, graduate hiring pipelines, and engagement in learner record or credential ecosystems.
• Serve as the primary CCCS convener for industry sectors, sector partnerships, chambers, workforce boards, and regional summits.
• Establish processes to translate employer input into actionable guidance for colleges, including curriculum alignment, program updates, credentials, and work-based learning opportunities.
• Provide consultation and strategic support to CCCS colleges on employer engagement, sector partnership development, and the interpretation and application of labor-market information to workforce initiatives.
• Build and maintain strategic alignment with state and regional partners, regional economic development organizations, and local workforce areas.

Competencies/KSAs:

• Deep understanding of employer engagement models, sector partnerships, and regional workforce ecosystems.
• Demonstrated ability to prospect, cultivate, and advance strategic employer relationships that lead to actionable partnership opportunities across multiple regions, sectors, or colleges.
• Ability to translate employer needs and interests into differentiated partnership pathways, including advisory engagement, program input, work-based learning opportunities, talent pipelines, and credential ecosystem participation.
• Ability to interpret labor-market information, economic trends, and employer demand signals to inform sector prioritization, pathway planning, and system-level decision-making.
• Strong relationship management, facilitation, and consensus-building skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, including executive-level communication.
• Ability to prepare senior leaders for external engagement and to manage executive-level employer relationships with sound judgment, discretion, and strong follow-through.
• Ability to lead through influence in a matrixed, multi-institutional environment, aligning colleges, system office teams, and external partners around shared employer and sector priorities.
• Ability to translate employer and labor-market insight into programmatic, credential, pathway, and work-based learning recommendations that inform institutional planning and system-level action.
• Ability to lead the strategic adoption and use of CRM tools and related data systems to strengthen employer engagement, improve coordination, and support continuous improvement across a multi-college system.
• Ability to provide strategic supervision, direction, and escalation support to experienced staff and portfolio leaders who operate with a high degree of day-to-day independence.
• Commitment to equity, transparency, and learner-centered workforce outcomes.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, workforce development, public administration, education, higher education, sociology, psychology, or a related field.
• Five progressively responsible years of experience in leading employer engagement, sector partnerships, workforce development, or economic development in a system-level role.
• Experience convening employers and partners for the purpose of translating input into organizational action in more than one industry sector or region.

Additional Information/Benefits:

Work Location/Travel Expectations:

• CCCS offices at 9101 E Lowry Blvd., Denver, CO 80230.
• Significant in-state travel is expected to support regional engagement, employer convenings, and sector partnerships, with occasional out-of-state travel for national workforce or industry forums.
• When not traveling, this position is expected to work in the office at least three days per week and may work remote two days per week.
• Alternative work arrangements, including flexible schedules and hybrid-remote work may be available. All work must be completed in the state of Colorado.

Note: per the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, an applicant may redact information from their resume, cover letter, and/or transcripts that identifies their age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution. If your position requires us to review an official transcript, without redacting, we will request one as part of our conditional offer process. In order to evaluate work experience against established requirements for positions, we are still requesting dates of service (month and year) for positions in the applicant’s work history.

Department contact: Nikki Cimino: jobs@cccs.edu

Hiring Pay Rate
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to internal equity and directly applicable experience, education, and training.