Director, Executive Support

Job Title: Director, Executive Support

Team: Office of the CEO

Location: Hybrid in Chicago (IL)

Employment Type: Full-time

Start Date: ASAP

Hiring Manager: Chief of Staff to the CEO

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising college students to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program. We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life‑changing experience that begins with a semester‑long course for college students, followed by support that lasts through graduation. Together, our ambition is to help rebuild the middle class and revitalize the American Dream.

To learn more, take a look at Braven's Jobs Report.

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000‑100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is hiring a Director, Executive Support, who will oversee our team of Executive Support & Operations Coordinators. As the leader of the Executive Support Team, you will provide direct coaching, training, and feedback to 3‑4 direct reports. As a core member of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), this role will work closely with the Executive Assistant to the CEO to build and maintain systems of efficiency across multiple teams.

This role sits within the Office of the CEO and reports directly to the Chief of Staff to the CEO.

• Lead the centralized executive support team, setting team goals and providing direct management, training, and coaching to support staff.
• Plan and execute team calls to share progress on deliverables, discuss challenges and possible solutions, share best practices, and create a positive team culture.
• Identify training needs and opportunities for the executive support team.
• Connect monthly with executive leaders to share updates on what the executive support team is prioritizing, to gather feedback, and to share updates.
• Work collaboratively with Executive Directors and Central Team leads (e.g., Finance, External Affairs, Operations) to ensure that appropriate needs are met and troubleshoots issues or concerns as they arise.
• Conduct annual performance reviews, collaborating with executive leaders closely, for each executive support coordinator.
• Onboard, coach, and manage a CEO Operations Intern.

• Assist 1‑2 Senior Leaders with administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic planning.
• Provide administrative support, including scheduling internal and external meetings, managing calendars, and arranging travel.
• Coordinate logistics for meetings, including managing the invitations and RSVPs, preparing materials, and securing space.
• Enter stakeholder data and project details into Salesforce.
• Ensure timely, professional correspondence to internal and external stakeholders and project‑manage correspondence.
• Execute and/or assist with ad‑hoc projects and tasks.
• Serve as back‑up support to the CEO or executive leaders in the absence of the Executive Assistant to the CEO or executive support senior coordinators.

• Collaborate with the Chief of Staff, Executive Assistant to the CEO, and other teams including the External Affairs team to create shared systems of support and accountability to be used across multiple teams.
• Create a library of resources and best practices for the Executive Support team.
• Develop toolkits to help organize pertinent information and ensure opportunities for shared knowledge are captured.
• Other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor's Degree.
• 5 years of experience supporting senior leaders with a high volume of correspondence, meetings, and travel.
• 3 years of experience managing others, ideally in executive support roles.
• Proficiency in Zoom, Expensify, and booking online travel.

• 8 years of experience supporting senior leaders with a high volume of correspondence, meetings, and travel.
• Ability to set strategy for an operations team and manage goals, benchmarks, and outcomes to ensure efficient service and support to executive leaders.
• Exceptional written and…