Title: Senior Academic Advisor - Career Success Focus

Position Type: Professional Tech Full time

College: Community College of Denver

Division: Student Affairs

Department: CCD Advising

Campus: Auraria Campus

Location: Denver

Salary Range: $67,000.00 - $73,000.00

Applications received by November 16, 2026, will receive priority consideration. However, we encourage all interested candidates to apply, as the position will remain open until filled

Who We Are:

The Community College of Denver (CCD) seeks candidates who demonstrate a strong commitment to fostering an inclusive learning and work environment and who can effectively work with students, families, faculty, instructors, and staff from diverse backgrounds. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, CCD is dedicated to expanding access and opportunity for nontraditional students, supporting workforce development, and strengthening community partnerships that promote educational attainment and career success. Serving a diverse student population, CCD values individuals who contribute to its mission of advancing social, civic, and economic vitality.

Job Summary:

The primary purpose of the Academic Advising and Student Success Center (AASSC) is to support student belonging, retention, and success. Members of the AASSC assist students identify career and academic goals, create academic plans, and prepare students to transfer or enter the workforce. AASSC team members develop transformational relationships with students utilizing proactive advising and case management best practices. Along with relationship building, members of the AASSC provide students with accurate and current information about academic programs and campus policies, make referrals to support services and offices on campus to keep students engaged in their educational goals, and guide students to the completion of the appropriate degree or certificate program.

The Senior Advisors support and collaborate with the Associate Dean of Student Success in strategic planning for the AASSC; day-to-day operations of the AASSC; implementation, innovation, and assessment of the academic advising model. Utilizing a coaching approach, the Senior Advisor provides support and guidance to their advising direct reports to ensure students have the best opportunity to complete their educational goals, transfer, and/or successfully start or upskill their career. Senior Advisors lead strategy to promote effective student engagement, develop and execute training and professional development of advisors, and play a pivotal role in promoting student success to ensure they reach key benchmarks throughout their academic program. This position engages in data-informed innovation to support CCD’s strategic plan and leverages emotional intelligence to support all students. As a valued member of the CCD community, the Senior Advisor demonstrates a strong commitment to the mission and values of the institution and fosters a culture of student success and belonging. The Senior Advisor reports directly to the Associate Dean of Student Success.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Leadership, Supervision & Innovation

• Partner with and support the Associate Dean of Student Success to cultivate a culture where collaboration, collegiality, and trust supports a sense of belonging and the success of students, staff, and colleagues.
• Create, implement, and evaluate innovative initiatives focused on student engagement, retention, and success, as well as staff development and retention.
• Supervise and lead a team of advisors; provide transformative training for new advisors through a meaningful onboarding program; coach and support advisors by creating and encouraging ongoing professional development opportunities centered on advising best practices, inclusive and equitable student engagement, student success strategies, and leadership development.
• Learn, stay current with, and utilize student information/case management software platforms, data and assessment strategies, and other technologies to promote student success; ensure the staff in the AASSC is also well trained in these resources and approaches.
• With a coaching approach, facilitate weekly team meetings and 1:1’s that center transparency and build trust. Train staff to help maintain the knowledge base for areas as designated, such as programs of study, college policies, and resources available to assist with student success.
• Prepare and present monthly team performance updates to the Associate Dean of Student Success, including progress, barriers, risks, and recommended actions.
• Implement and monitor educational case-management and coordinated-care practices within the assigned advising team. Monitor early alerts, assigned student cases, outreach campaigns, and unresolved referrals to ensure timely and consistent follow-up.
• Ensure transfer planning is incorporated into advising practices for students whose career and academic goals include transfer.
• Embed diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) principles into team culture and decision-making by modeling inclusive leadership, supporting diverse perspectives, and advocating for equitable access to resources and development.
• Leverage Emotional Intelligence by using empathy, active listening, and effective interpersonal communication to understand needs of student and direct reports, de-escalate challenging situations, and support positive experiences for students, direct reports, and colleagues. Fill in for the Associate Dean of Student Success in their absence where appropriate.
• Represent the AASSC and CCD with integrity, authenticity, and professionalism..
• Serve as a backup and support for the other Senior Advisor; assist the other Senior Advisor and the Associate Dean of Student Success with advancing transfer strategies.

Student Success & Career Advising and Exploration Strategies

• Promote the use of guided pathway practices in the AASSC; support college goals and priorities; contribute to retention, completion, erasure of equity gaps; and successful transitions including transfer to a university or entering the workforce.
• Develop, support, and innovate student retention and completion efforts, early alert systems tools and strategies, and identify factors that enhance or prevent academic progress, retention, and completion.
• Maintain a case load of students by engaging in proactive advising and case management.
• Manage escalated student issues within your teams
• Build and maintain relationships with career development partners such as TRIO EOC and the Center for Workforce Initiatives (CWI), and pathway chairs/faculty.
• Integrate career exploration, labor-market information, career readiness, and connections to experiential-learning resources into the AASSC advising model; coordinate with the Center for Workforce Initiatives, TRIO EOC, faculty, and other partners to complement existing programming.
• Plan and execute career exploration and connection workshops and/or events for CCD students.[AR1.1][RA1.2][HM1.3]
• Serve as a go-to expert on career advising and exploration practices for the AASSC and CCD. Research career advising and exploration tools, high-wage/high-demand, NACE standards and best practices, and emerging strategies to help CCD students correctly declare and connect their academic program to their career goals.
• Create, organize, and/or facilitate trainings on career advising and exploration tools, best practices, and emerging strategies for the AASSC and the CCD community.
• Collect, analyze, and present relevant and actionable data related to career advising, career exploration, and career readiness to inform institutional strategies, strengthen student support services, and improve career-related outcomes for students.
• Serve as a point of contact for career development partners such as TRIO EOC and the CWI. Coordinate effective connections, programming, and campus engagement opportunities that help CCD students explore careers, develop professional skills, and connect with workforce and experiential learning opportunities to support post-completion success.
• In collaboration with the Associate Dean of Student Success, develop and maintain a career advising and exploration website with information and resources for students and the CCD community.

Maintain Relationships with Partners, Customer Service Operations & Enhance the Campus Community

• Develop and maintain relationships with stakeholders, partners, and other campus departments to foster an environment of belonging, collaboration, and commitment to student success and positive employee engagement
• Serve as front line staff when encountering issues needing escalation
• Lead and collaborate with staff to ensure the AASSC team communicates effectively with students and stakeholders, including maintaining updated and properly functioning phone and voicemail systems and practices
• Strategize and look to continuously improve check-in processes and the overall customer experience for students visiting the Academic Advising & Student Success Center
• When needed, provide leadership and assistance with front desk duties to ensure proper coverage and to maintain a welcoming environment for students and partners
• Ensure general office operations are effective, efficient, and student-friendly
• Participate in the planning, marketing, logistics, and implementation of events such as transfer fairs, group advising, career exploration and advisement and other events to engage with students
• Participate in campus committees and interdepartmental efforts to reach college objectives

Professional Development

• Maintain currency about advising best practices, career exploration and advisement (NACE), high-wage/high-demand, college programs of study, academic pathways, direct-to-work programs, transfer schools and transfer best practices, participate in professional development events and trainings, review of professional literature, and professional association websites/resources
• Seek out, participate in, and provide the AASSC team with professional development opportunities for best practices in advising and their role in career advisement in the student experience
• Crosstrain with different student services offices
• Create and support efforts to build a student-centered, positive, collegial, productive culture where everyone can learn, grow, and innovate
• Engage in a commitment for personal leadership development, innovation, and continuous improvement
  
  Other duties as assigned.

Competencies/KSAs:

Supervision and Leadership

• Experience leading a team of professionals towards a common goal
• Ability to create transformational relationships with direct reports, inspiring vision and success
• Provide coaching, mentorship, and ongoing training to enhance the skills and capabilities of team members.
• Identify areas for improvement and implement strategies to enhance operational efficiency and effectiveness.

Working with diverse populations

• Demonstrated experience and success working with underrepresented student populations including Students of Color, first generation and low-income students OR in an urban community college setting.
• Ability to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills to interact with diverse constituents and provide high-quality support and elevated levels of customer service to students and all stakeholders.
• Ability to work well in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural environment with students, faculty, and staff.

Technology Adept

• Adept with use of MS Office Suite and other related/similar software.
• Ability to leverage technology to seek, prepare, and analyze data that will help guide decision making and refine best practices that serve the needs of students and to effectively lead your team in supporting student success.
• Experience and ability to leverage use of student information systems and tools such as Banner, Degree Works, Navigate360, internal and external web-based information sources, the student portal etc. Including the training of staff on these continually updating platforms.
• Knowledge of academic advising and career development practices and principles.
• Advising experience
• Knowledge of programs of study, including general education requirements and pre-requisites for academic pathways.
• Ability to effectively facilitate advising / group advising programs, and present information one-on-one or in small groups.
• Expertise in advising students and strong organizational skills to prioritize supervision and provide second-level advisement to students in a timely manner.

Excellent written and verbal skills.

• Ability to communicate professionally, write reports, proposals, and business correspondence, and effectively use multiple communication tools.
• Ability to work infrequent evenings and rare weekend assignments.
• Demonstrated ability to work as an engaged member of the team

Minimum Qualifications:

Any equivalent combination of education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Education:

Bachelor's Degree

Experience:

3 years of experience in an academic advising setting

Preferred Qualifications:

Education:

Master's Degree in Education, Psychology, Counseling, Sociology, higher education or leadership related fields.

Experience:

Three (3) years' experience in supporting students in navigating academic, financial, institutional, and personal barriers to persistence, completion, transfer, and career goals

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Direct supervision of employees
• Bilingual
• Knowledge of Career Clusters, meta majors and/or educational pathways.
• Knowledge of workforce education trends, occupations and career options.
• Effectively manage and allocate resources, budgets, and workload to optimize productivity and achieve objectives.
• Establish performance metrics and goals for the team or department, ensuring they align with the overall organizational objectives.
• Ability to identify relevant community resources and external support services and connect students as appropriate.
• Navigate360: running reports, analysis, setting up campaigns and automations

Selection Process:

Preliminary screening will be made on the basis of completed application packet submitted by candidate. Completed application packet includes: a letter of interest of no more than five pages, addressing in general the items under "Primary Duties" and specifically each item under “Minimum Qualifications”; an online application; resume; and transcripts.

All candidates, including current Community College of Denver employees must submit a complete application packet which includes all materials listed above.

Only completed application packets will move forward for screening. Please review the job duties and minimum requirements carefully. Meeting the minimum qualifications for a particular position does not assure the applicant an interview. Selected applicants will be invited by the screening committee for interviews. All application materials become the property of Community College of Denver and cannot be copied.

Application Instructions: 

Interested applicants must submit a complete application packet which includes:

1. Resume
2. Cover Letter
3. References - Names, phone numbers, addresses, & email addresses of three professional references
4. Copies of transcripts, official preferred
5. Copies of appropriate credentials, if applicable

**All included attachments should be saved with the following nomenclature: Last name, First name Document; for example Doe, John Resume; Doe, Jane Transcripts

***Your resume should clearly indicate how you meet the minimum qualifications. Those applicants that do not meet the minimum qualifications will not be considered. Part-time experience is ½ the equivalent of full-time experience. Example: Four (4) years applicable part-time experience equals 2 years full-time equivalency.

For information regarding Community College of Denver Security, including crime statistics for the campus and surrounding area, please see the CCD Campus Security website under “student’s right to know”: CCD.edu/Safety. For a hard copy report please contact 303-352-3042.

Additional Information/Benefits:

Our campus is located in downtown Denver, adjacent to two light rail stations, and just minutes away from shopping, restaurants, and event venues. When you visit our campus, it will be immediately evident that our faculty, staff, and instructors are passionate about serving our diverse student population. At CCD our passion is to help others, and we offer career pathways that will make a difference in the lives of our students.

If you are interested in sharing our passion for student success, CCD offers generous medical, dental, vision, life, and retirement options. We also offer the opportunity to expand your education, and those of your dependents, through our tuition reimbursement program.

CCD is a Learning College where policies, programs and practices support learning as the major priority. The Community College of Denver is an Equal Employment Opportunity Educational Employer.

Background checks will be conducted on all finalists for employment consideration.

CCD recognizes that administration, faculty, instructors, and staff reflect the diversity of its students and community and prohibits employment and student discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.