Director of Propel Academy - Apprenticeship and Training

Overview

The Director, Apprenticeship & Training leads and directs all activities of Propel Career Academy, FSG's licensed career school and U.S. Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program in San Antonio.

The Director carries full accountability for the school's operating and financial performance, enrollment, instructional quality, regulatory standing, facility, staff, and, critically, the working relationship between Propel and FSG's leadership across the country.

Propel's near-term focus is deliberately narrow: indentured electrical apprenticeships and commercial welding. The Director is expected to run those two programs exceptionally well, connect them to the branches that hire the graduates, and rebuild Propel's standing as an asset to the operating business rather than a separate institution. This is a turnaround and integration assignment as much as a schoolleadership one.

This position is the school's Director of record with the Texas Workforce Commission under 40 TAC §807.61, and the designated official with authority to receive and dispose of apprentice complaints under 29 CFR §29.5(22). Those are personal, named designations that carry regulatory consequence.

The ideal candidate has run a trade or technical school, an apprenticeship training center, or an IEC, ABC or JATC chapter training operation, and brings a genuine trades background alongside real administrative and financial discipline. Equal weight is placed on instructional credibility with journeymen and the operational rigor to manage a licensed institution's compliance calendar.

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Responsibilities

Leadership & Accountability● Own the working relationship between Propel and FSG's regional Vice Presidents, Construction Managers and branch leadership, understanding what each market needs and shaping the school's offering around it.● Absorb the business-development function previously held separately, identifying partnership, contract-training and revenue opportunities that serve FSG first.● Represent Propel with contractors, employers, workforce boards, trade associations, secondary and post-secondary partners, and the military transition community.● Integrate Propel with FSG's shared functions – Human Resources, Recruiting, Learning & Development, Marketing and Finance – rather than duplicating them on campus.● Promote the school's under-used institutional assets to FSG — the BICSI lab (one of thirteen in Texas), VA and SkillBridge approval, and the assessment capability — as company-wide capabilities rather than San Antonio only facilities.

 

Regulatory & Accreditation● Serve as the school's designated school director of record with the Texas Workforce Commission, maintaining continuous compliance with 40 TAC Chapter 807 and remaining physically present at the campus for the majority of scheduled operating hours.● Serve as the designated official with authority to receive, process and dispose of apprentice complaints under the school's DOL registration.● Designate the school's liaison for TWC compliance visits and hold that person accountable for the school's readiness.● Own Program Advisory Committee governance: formation, membership composition, meeting cadence, minutes and the annual program-review record.

 

Financial & Business Performance● Own the division's operating budget, revenue plan and monthly financial performance, and produce a forward-looking spend plan identifying what FSG will and will not fund.● Define and report the school's operating metrics to FSG leadership: cohort fill, conversion, attrition, on-time completion, credential attainment, placement, instructor coverage and cost per student.● Lead the evaluation of the campus's long-term facility needs, including the decision on whether Propel remains in the current building.● Approve the school's systems footprint and eliminate duplication, establishing a single authoritative system for each class of record.● Maximize year-round utilization of the campus and the programs. Establish what runs outside the September–April apprenticeship calendar, how many students each serve, and what the facility could carry.

People & Instructor Management● Lead, develop and hold accountable a management team of: Training, Enrollment & Admissions, Compliance & Accreditation, and Operations.● Establish and communicate a clear annual cycle for performance reviews, goals and compensation decisions, and complete it. Make and defend compensation, levelling and structure recommendations with Human Resources.

 

Expectations & Work Conditions● Primary Work Location: Propel Career Academy, 10231 Kotzebue St., San Antonio, TX 78217.● On-site presence for the majority of operating hours is a regulatory requirement (40 TAC §807.61(c)).● Working Hours: Must support instruction and student activity scheduled between 7:00 AM and 10:00 PM, including regular evening presence – the apprenticeship cohorts meet at night.● Travel: Regional and periodic national travel to FSG branches, industry events, workforce partners and military installations.

Qualifications

Required● Regulatory eligibility under 40 TAC §807.62: either a minimum of five (5) years of administration or management experience, or at least two (2) years as a career school director. Higher-education administration substitutes year for year.● TWC approval of the school director is required prior to employment. Candidacy is contingent on Agency approval, and that step sits inside the offer timeline.● Minimum seven (7) years of progressive experience in the skilled trades, construction, industrial or technical training sectors, with demonstrated progression into leadership.● Direct trades experience and practical credibility with journeymen and contractors.● Demonstrated experience operating within a regulated instructional environment – accreditation, state licensure, apprenticeship registration or federal program compliance.● Proven ownership of a budget and a revenue or enrollment plan, with documented results.● Demonstrated ability to build systems and accountability measures where none exist.● Strong communication and presentation skills, with the credibility to hold their own with operating executives and with instructors in the same week.

Preferred● Experience leading an IEC, ABC, NECA/IBEW JATC or comparable apprenticeship training operation.● Direct experience as a registered apprenticeship sponsor or training director of record with the DOL Office of Apprenticeship.● Experience with NCCER accredited training sponsorship, NC3, or TDLR apprenticeship and CE provider requirements.● Master electrician licensure or an equivalent journey-level credential in a construction trade.● Bilingual English / Spanish.

As an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer, all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.