Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Title: Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Agency: Germanna Community College

Location: Spotsylvania - 177

FLSA: Exempt

Hiring Range: $111,086-$138,858; Plus Full State Benefits

Full Time or Part Time: Full Time

Additional Detail

Job Description:

Germanna Community College is a public, open access institution of higher education in the Virginia Community College System. The College is a dynamic learning organization that serves as a Germanna regional leader and preferred partner where quality learning experiences enable students to participate effectively in the social, economic, political, intellectual, and cultural life of their communities. Germanna Community College is centrally located in Fredericksburg, VA between Washington D.C. and Richmond and between the Blue Ridge mountains and the Chesapeake Bay. Full of history, the area offers a community rich with diversity, the arts, technology, vineyards, hiking, canoeing/kayaking, and many other activities.

Germanna Community College is currently searching for an Associate Vice President of Strategic Initiatives (AVPSI) serves as a senior strategist and operational leader, bridging the gap between high-level institutional goals and execution. This role provides college-wide support and leadership over business development, program expansion, and strategic partnerships to ensure long-term financial sustainability and growth. Acting proactively as a trusted partner to senior leadership, the AVP supports the formulation and implementation of cutting-edge strategies that drive overall institutional success.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

• Lead the planning, implementation, and evaluation of senior-level institutional and academic initiatives in direct partnership with the Vice President of Academic Affairs.
• Translate institutional priorities and the college's strategic plan into actionable roadmaps, tracking outcomes from initial scoping through final performance reviews.
• Identify opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and expanded service lines through proactive strategic research into emerging trends and workforce development.
• Develop resource allocation frameworks that prioritize operational investments toward the highest-impact divisional opportunities.
• Provide direct leadership, management, and strategic oversight for the Dean of OPLS (Online/Professional Learning Studies) and the Director of Institutional Effectiveness.

Project and Change Management

• Lead high-stakes, cross-functional projects requiring senior judgment, decisive action, and close alignment with institutional goals.
• Facilitate organizational change initiatives and continuous improvement efforts, establishing clear timelines, performance measures, and accountability structures.
• Monitor project outcomes, identify implementation barriers, and provide regular progress reports or corrective actions to executive leadership.

Data, Assessment, and Institutional Effectiveness

• Facilitate and oversee the collection, synthesis, and reporting of institutional data across all college divisions to support evidence-based planning and decision-making frameworks.
• Develop performance metrics and data dashboards to evaluate operational effectiveness, strategic outcomes, and overall institutional health.
• Serve as the key operational lead for scheduling, enrollment, and student success platforms, specifically Ad Astra and Navigate.

Compliance and Risk Management

• Lead institutional and program-specific compliance efforts, ensuring strict alignment with SACSCOC principles, accreditation standards, and established metrics.
• Direct the institutional review processes, documentation, and continuous viability of academic offerings through Program Reviews and the Curriculum Committee.
• Identify operational risks, maintain appropriate records for divisional activities, and recommend mitigation strategies to support audits and reporting requirements.

Communication and Executive Support

• Support the development of high-level strategy documents, executive reports, briefings, and presentations for senior leaders, the President, and governing boards.
• Coordinate internal communication regarding strategic initiatives and facilitate meetings, committees, or task forces related to divisional priorities.
• Serve as the central liaison between academic affairs, workforce development, student services, finance, information technology, and external partners.

Institutional Collaboration

• Collaborate with instructional leadership to ensure operational support closely aligns with academic priorities.
• Work alongside enrollment management, finance, facilities, human resources, institutional research, and technology departments to execute cross-functional strategic initiatives.
• Participate actively on executive leadership committees and institutional planning groups to support college-wide quality improvement efforts.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master's degree (such as an MBA, MPA, or M.Ed.) in a relevant field.
• Minimum of 7 years of progressive leadership experience in operations, strategy, or enterprise-level project management.
• Experience within higher education, workforce development, or public sector environments.
• Expertise in the Microsoft Productivity suite, combined with experience utilizing modern AI tools to synthesize complex information, build efficiencies, and automate workflows. Experience with Ad Astra, EAB Navigate, SIS Peoplesoft, and WES.
• Superb ability to distill highly complex, technical, or sensitive topics into clear, compelling narratives for diverse audiences.

Additional Considerations:

• Commonwealth of Virginia experience
• Experience in higher education setting
• Experience with or willingness to learn artificial intelligence tools.