The posting
Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) — a world-renowned education and poverty-fighting organization based in New York — seeks an enthusiastic, dedicated, and mission-aligned Assistant Director of Career Readiness (K-12) to join our Wealth Builds team.
The Assistant Director will bring a passion for Harlem Children's Zone's mission: breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty through comprehensive, on-the-ground programming that builds opportunities for children and families to thrive in school, work, and life.
Wealth Builds is an innovative effort to eliminate the wealth gap through nine evidence-based pillars beginning in Harlem and ultimately expanding to up to 10 cities nationwide. Our theory of action is that cradle-to-career services plus capital lead to social and economic mobility. Through Wealth Builds, we are providing financial education and capital infusions to increase social, financial, and human capital, ultimately generating wealth for our youth.
We are seeking a highly collaborative, strategic, and detail-oriented Assistant Director of Career Readiness to lead the early stages of our career readiness and exposure pipeline. This role is essential to sparking early professional curiosity, building career awareness, and preparing K-12 students for their future transitions.
The Assistant Director will oversee and manage the K-12 Career Exposures Coordinator, drive the strategic vision for youth career exploration, and collaborate with internal counselors, school leaders, and external programming vendors to open new doors for our youth.
The ideal candidate will be an exceptional leader, curriculum strategist, and relationship-builder who can manage staff, analyze early exposure outcome data, and design structured pathways that prepare K-12 students to write their own stories of professional success.
For more information, check out Want to Work at Harlem Children’s Zone? Here’s 7 Things You Need to Know.
Requirements
- Master’s Degree preferred (Bachelor’s Degree required, preferably in Education, Counseling, Business Administration, or a related field)
- 2+ years of experience leading K-12 student programming, career awareness initiatives, or youth development pipelines
- Proven experience in staff supervision, team leadership, or program management
- Proven track record of building and managing partnerships with external vendors, organizations, or employers
Who you are
- An empathetic and strategic leader with a proven track record of supervising, coaching, and developing staff
- Exceptionally organized planner with strong attention to detail and a proven ability to manage project trackers, monitor complex timelines, and make data-driven decisions
- Creative and resourceful program builder who can design engaging, age-appropriate career experiences and identify unique student opportunities
- Clear, professional communicator who is comfortable building and nurturing relationships with internal teams and external vendors
- Resourceful and analytical problem-solver who can leverage data to assess career program effectiveness, track milestones, and scale operations
- A collaborative team player who takes initiative, manages multiple strategic priorities simultaneously, and maintains a proactive approach to student economic mobility
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, PowerPoint); experience managing student databases or project management tools is highly preferred
- A deep commitment to the mission and programs of the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ)
What you'll do
- Provide strategic vision and oversee the daily operations of the K-12 Career Readiness pipeline in close partnership with the Director
- Provide direct supervision, coaching, and professional development to the K-12 Career Exposures Coordinator
- Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy designed to promote early-stage career awareness, financial literacy, and soft skill development for K-12 students
- Oversee the design, implementation, and maintenance of a dynamic, year-round calendar of K-12 career exposures (including entrepreneurship programs, career workshops, and Career Days)
- Direct the high school internship process in partnership with staff, ensuring robust placements, readiness workshops, and seamless student matching
- Build, maintain, and leverage relationships with internal HCZ teams, K-12 school partners, and external educational vendors to secure high-quality exposure opportunities
- Utilize robust data analysis to track programmatic timelines, assess early career program effectiveness, and make data-driven decisions for scalability
- Compile and provide high-level executive summary updates on metrics, milestones, and outcomes for HCZ leadership and staff
- Perform other duties and projects as assigned
Schedule
- Maintain a full-time schedule (Monday–Friday, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM), including occasional evenings
- Work primarily on-site in our Harlem office, with flexibility based on program and team needs
- Demonstrate flexibility to support scholars and program needs
Benefits
As a member of the Harlem Children's Zone team, you will join a supportive and inclusive community dedicated to helping children, families — and our staff — thrive. We offer highly competitive salaries, a comprehensive benefits package, and opportunities for growth.
Our exceptional full-time benefits include:
- Highly competitive base salaries
- Paid time off
- Employee referral bonus
- Career Advancement
- No-cost health insurance
- Life Insurance
- Short-and long-term disability
- Additional voluntary benefits
- Wellness discounts
- Commuter benefits
- Financial wellness perks
- Additional Benefits (Discounts on flights, hotels, theme parks, concert tickets, and more.)
We offer competitive salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. The salary range is $85,000 - $100,000. To be considered, interested applicants should submit their applications directly through the posting. No telephone inquiries or recruiters, please. Replies will only be sent to qualified applicants. HCZ is an EOE.
