Director of Talent Recognition & Mobility

CCCS is hiring a new Director of Talent Recognition & Mobility to join the Workforce Solutions & Innovation team at System Office. We are looking for a relationship builder who has experience with enterprise-wide change management projects. If you’re looking for an opportunity to play a critical role in the implementation of digital talent infrastructure in Colorado, this position may be for you!

In this role you will be responsible for helping to redefine how learning is recognized, communicated, and connected to opportunities across Colorado. Working at the intersection of education, workforce, technology, and public policy, you will design and advance the enterprise standards, operating models, systems, and partnerships that enable learning - wherever it occurs - to become visible, portable, and valuable throughout a learner's lifetime. Serving as the business owner and as the enterprise champion for talent recognition and learner mobility through CCCS's digital talent infrastructure - including Comprehensive Learner Records (CLR), Learning and Employment Records (LER), the Digital Talent Marketplace, digital credentials, and related technologies - the Director works across the 13 CCCS colleges’ and System Office’s functions of academic affairs, student affairs, workforce development, information technology, institutional research, Career and Technical Education, and employer partners to create a transparent and interoperable credential ecosystem. You will find success in this role by building enterprise capabilities that enable CCCS's 13 community colleges to recognize learning more consistently, connect learners more effectively to opportunities, and accomplish together what no single institution could accomplish alone. This position will also supervise two employees.

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

• Define and steward the Digital Talent Marketplace strategy as CCCS’s learner- and employer-facing CLR/LER ecosystem within the Division of Workforce Solutions & Innovation.
• Establish systemwide quality standards for how degrees, certificates, digital badges, microcredentials, competencies, skills, Credit for Prior Learning, and other learning achievements are represented within CLR/LER frameworks.
• Lead the design, implementation, and scaling of the enterprise talent recognition ecosystem — currently centered on CLR/LER — ensuring the system is future-proofed to adapt as technologies and standards evolve over the next decade. 
• Guide the integration of Credit for Prior Learning, digital badging, microcredentials, skills taxonomies, and employer signaling into the broader CLR/LER strategy, by working with the Program Manager for Talent Recognition and Mobility, Academic and Student Affairs, and CCCS Vice Presidents of Instruction.
• Manage vendor relationships, product roadmaps, implementation timelines, user requirements, adoption planning, and ongoing enhancement of the CLR/LER digital ecosystem.
• Partner with vendors, CCCS IT, college IT teams, and other technology partners to ensure the ecosystem supports appropriate data architecture, system integration, privacy, accessibility, usability, interoperability, and long-term scalability.
• Lead the systemwide implementation of CLR/LER across CCCS colleges through pilots, phased rollouts, training, technical assistance, adoption support, and ongoing refinement.
• Provide leadership and coordination for communities of practice, working groups, implementation teams, and cross-functional groups supporting talent recognition, digital credentialing, and CLR/LER adoption.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, business administration, management, workforce development, public administration, organizational leadership, higher education administration, information systems, or a related field.
• Five years of progressively responsible leadership experience leading enterprise transformation involving education, workforce, digital products, public policy, organizational change, or talent systems. 
• Experience managing or guiding product roadmaps, vendor relationships, implementation timelines, or cross-functional technology-enabled initiatives.

Competencies/KSAs

• Strong strategic systems thinking and ability to design solutions across complex education, workforce, technology, employer, and policy environments.
• Knowledge of Comprehensive Learner Records, Learning and Employment Records, digital credentials, credential transparency, credentials of value, skills taxonomies, competency-based education, microcredentials, Credit for Prior Learning, and learner mobility strategies.
• Understanding of workforce data systems, data interoperability, data governance, learner data privacy, accessibility, and ethical use of learner data.
• Ability to serve as the business owner for a digital product or ecosystem without being the technical system architect, including the ability to guide product direction, vendor coordination, roadmap development, requirements gathering, and continuous improvement.
• Strong product management and implementation skills, including project planning, phased rollout, user adoption, risk identification, implementation tool development, and scalable process design.
• Ability to lead complex, cross-organizational initiatives involving technology, policy, implementation, change management, and stakeholder alignment.
• Demonstrated change leadership in a matrixed and evolving organizational environment, including the ability to influence without direct authority, build consensus, guide adoption, and establish consistent practices across decentralized institutions.
• Demonstrated ability to inspire organizational change by translating complex ideas into a compelling vision that builds trust, engagement, and sustained commitment among diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to translate workforce, employer, learner, college, and organizational needs into operational strategies, product requirements, standards, implementation plans, and credential signaling strategies.
• Ability to establish standards, processes, playbooks, guidance documents, and implementation tools that support consistency, quality, scalability, and systemwide adoption.
• Strong stakeholder facilitation and partnership-building skills, including the ability to work productively with colleges, employers, vendors, state agencies, national organizations, technology teams, and workforce partners.
• Ability to communicate technical, data, credentialing, and systems concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Data literacy and ability to use dashboards, analytics, reporting tools, outcomes data, and labor-market information to guide strategy, implementation, continuous improvement, and decision-making.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Familiarity with national credentialing organizations, digital credential standards, skills-based hiring initiatives, talent marketplace infrastructure, and emerging national trends in CLR/LER and talent recognition.
• Commitment to equity, transparency, learner-centered design, economic mobility, and improving learner, employer, workforce, and institutional outcomes.
• Ability to operate effectively in a growing, evolving, and matrixed organizational structure.

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.

Work Location/Travel Expectations: 

• CCCS offices at 9101 E Lowry Blvd., Denver, CO 80230. 
• The position is expected to work three days per week in the Denver office, with additional remote work permitted in accordance with CCCS policies and divisional needs.
• Periodic in-state travel is required for statewide coordination, college engagement, employer engagement, implementation support, and partner meetings.
• 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.