Red Rocks Community College exemplifies extraordinary. We are dedicated to our Vision and Mission, which promote student achievement, staff empowerment, and community engagement. We live our values: Integrity, Collaboration, Learning, Inclusiveness, and Communication.
RRCC seeks applicants who understand and have first-hand experience working with diverse populations, which may include but are not limited to, historically marginalized populations such as people of color, LGBTQ+ community members, veterans, first generation graduates, and people with disabilities.
Summary of Position
The Vice President of Academic Affairs and Workforce Innovation serves as a key member of the college's executive team, dedicated to driving continuous improvement, collaboration, innovation, and operational excellence through strategic leadership while fostering a culture of equity and inclusion. This role involves balancing creative problem-solving with long-term strategic vision to enhance teaching and learning excellence, workforce innovations, and instructional services, with a strong focus on equitable outcomes, economic mobility, and student success.
The VP collaborates closely with faculty, staff, college leadership, and strategic community partners to advance educational programs, workforce programs, and economic growth and development. Responsibilities also include ensuring accreditation compliance, managing curriculum standards, leveraging external funding initiatives, overseeing strategic divisional budgeting processes, supervision, and representing academic interests in broader college and community initiatives and engagements.
A successful candidate is a strategic thinker who builds community and strong relationships, and who is highly effective at change management.
Qualifications
Required Knowledge, Skills & Abilities
- Communication – Expresses information to individuals or groups effectively considering the audience and nature of the information, makes clear and convincing oral presentations, listens to others, attends to nonverbal cues, and responds appropriately. Understands and interprets written material including technical material, rules, regulations, instructions, reports, charts, graphs, and tables, and applies what is learned to specific situations. Uses effective oral communication skills and communicates information in an understandable and organized manner. Produces effective written information which may include technical material that is appropriate for the intended audience.
- Self-Management – Sets well-defined and realistic personal goals, displays a high level of initiative, effort, and commitment towards completing work in a timely manner. Works with minimal supervision, is motivated to achieve, and demonstrates responsible behavior.
- Interpersonal Skills – Exceptional interpersonal and communications skills with the ability to interact effectively with diverse colleagues. EQ must match IQ and recognize that soft skills are as critical as hard skills in leading a dynamic team and working across the organization. Positive, humble, and an inviting demeanor that puts others at ease.
- Problem Solving and Reasoning – Identifies problems, determines accuracy and relevance of information, relies on data, and uses sound judgment to generate and evaluate alternatives and to make recommendations. Identifies rules, principles, or relationships that explain facts, data, or other information, analyzes information, and makes correct inferences or draws accurate conclusions.
- Planning and Evaluating – Organizes work, sets priorities, determines resource requirements, determines short and long-term goals and strategies to achieve them, coordinates with other organizations or departments, monitors progress, and evaluates outcomes.
- Teamwork – Encourages and facilitates cooperation, pride, trust, and group identity, fosters commitment and team spirit, and works with others to achieve goals.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Has awareness of, embraces, promotes, and implements diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. A trusted leader whose empathy is demonstrated through inclusivity and service to others.
- Conflict Management – Manages and resolves conflicts, grievances, disagreements in a constructive manner to minimize negative impact.
- Integrity/Honesty – High degree of personal integrity, loyalty, courage, transparency, sound judgement in decision making, discretion with confidential and highly sensitive information and a record of putting the interests of the organization, its mission and vision, and its human resources first.
- Urgency – Self-motivated and professionally driven with strong organizational skills combined with a sense of urgency.
- Positivity – Demonstrated ability to work positively, partner collaboratively, manage change, resolve conflicts, and build consensus.
- Evidence of a collegial and participatory style of approach to shared governance. Listens and acts appropriately to concerns, suggestions, and innovations communicated by faculty and staff.
- Evidence of ability to establish strong teams, achieve consensus and establish strong relationships with both internal and external constituencies.
Required Qualifications
- Master’s degree in education, administration, or a related field from an accredited institution.
- Five years of increasingly responsible administrative and supervisory experience in higher education or a related area, including experience leading teams toward successful collaboration in the development of workforce training resulting in the improved economic mobility of participants.
- Two years teaching or training experience.
- Demonstrated experience identifying and engaging key strategic external partners for the purpose of building collaborative initiatives to deliver programs, services, curriculum, industry partnerships, etc.
Preferred Qualifications
- Doctorate or terminal degree in field from an accredited institution.
- Understanding of and experience working to achieve a community college mission.
Physical & Cognitive Demands
The following are some of the physical and cognitive demands commonly associated with this position.
- Occasionally moves, positions, and transports files and office materials weighing up to 10 lbs.
- This is largely a sedentary role. This position operates in an office environment and constantly uses a computer, and routinely uses standard office equipment including phones, copiers, etc.
- The person in this position constantly communicates with internal and external constituents and students. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations.
- Cognitive demands include comparing, copying, computing, compiling, analyzing, coordinating, synthesizing, negotiating, communicating, instructing, and interpersonal skills.
- May be required to work out of any RRCC campus location. Regular after-hours or weekend work required. Some occasional local, regional, and/or national travel may be required.
Reasonable Accommodation Statement
Red Rocks Community College provides reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities on a case-by-case basis. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process and/or during the course of employment, please contact Jennifer Matthews, Executive Director of Human Resources, at (303) 914-6298 or Jennifer.Matthews@rrcc.edu.
Starting Salary
Starting salary range for this position is $160,000 - $168,000 annually, commensurate with education and experience. This is a full-time, FLSA-exempt position. This position has been exempted from the State Classified System.
To Apply
All applicants must submit:
- Resume
- Detailed letter of interest (cover letter) addressing the job announcement.
Candidates will be evaluated based on their qualifications as related to the duties and responsibilities of the position. Candidates may redact any personally identifiable information on their materials including but are not limited to age, date of birth, and dates of attendance and date of graduation for educational institutions. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
If you have questions regarding this position, please contact us at HR@rrcc.edu.