Title: Director, Youth Programs and Apprenticeships
Employee Classification: Professional 52 Wks Non-Unit
Department: Workforce Solutions
Salary Range: Commensurate with Experience
Who we are:
We are not-for-profit: St. Louis Community college (STLCC) is a non-profit institution dedicated to empowering students, expanding minds, and changing lives. Employees are committed to strengthening the St. Louis community with inclusive and transformative education.
We are a respected employer: For 60 years, STLCC has served the St. Louis community, expanding to 4 main campuses, 2 education centers, 2 workforce training centers, and 5 centers of excellence. More than one-half of the households in St. Louis have at least one member who has taken classes at STLCC.
We make an impact in the community: Through credit courses, continuing education, and workforce development programs, STLCC annually serves nearly 69,000 students. More than 80% of career and technical graduates employed in their fields or continue their education at four-year institutions within six months of graduation. STLCC sends more transfer students to Missouri’s four-year colleges/universities than anyone else.
What you get:
Benefits package [for full-time employees]: STLCC offers one of the best benefit packages in the St. Louis area. As a STLCC employee you will have access to a 100% match on your contribution to retirement, two health insurance plans options - including an HSA option, low-cost life insurance with a 3x salary benefit, and other low-cost benefits including dental, vision, AD&D, Short-term & Long-term disability insurance.
Opportunity to grow: Over half of our employees have served the college for more than 12 years, exploring different career paths and advancing to higher level positions.
Education & training opportunities: STLCC offers tuition waivers for employees [full-time and part-time] + their dependents. Full-time employees can take advantage of tuition reimbursement for other institutions after just 6 months of service, and an annual professional development allotment.
Work/life balance: Full-time STLCC employees have access to a generous time off package, including holidays, vacation, personal days, medical leave, and other leave options. Our holiday schedule even includes a paid winter holiday at the end of the calendar year.
Commitment to wellness: STLCC HR boasts a dedicated health and wellness specialist who is enthusiastic about creating a culture of wellness throughout the College. With access to college wellness vendors, employees are educated, motivated, and rewarded for healthy behaviors. STLCC employees and anyone living in their household also have access to an employee assistance program (EAP) that can help them with virtually any life need.
The basics of this position:
The Director, Youth Programs and Apprenticeships, leads the College’s Workforce Learning Connection (WLC) initiative to expand real-world learning opportunities for high school students, particularly those in grades 9–12. The Director is responsible for developing, coordinating, and sustaining youth career awareness, career exploration, and work-based learning experiences that align with the College’s dual-enrollment and career and technical education pathways.
This position manages two primary groups:
1. The Employer Engagement Team, responsible for cultivating partnerships with business and industry to create opportunities such as classroom speakers, job shadowing, internships, and apprenticeships.
2. The Youth Program Development Team, responsible for designing and delivering career awareness and workplace learning content for 9th- and 10th-grade students, building pathways that lead into the College’s dual-enrollment and apprenticeship programs.
The Director works collaboratively with K–12 districts, employers, and internal College stakeholders—including Academic Affairs, Dual Enrollment/Early College programs, Workforce, and Student Affairs—to ensure alignment between regional workforce needs and student learning experiences.
What you'll do:
- Leads the Workforce Learning Connection (WLC) initiative and supervises the Employer Engagement and Youth Program Development teams.
- Builds and sustains partnerships with area employers, school districts, chambers, and workforce boards to expand real-world learning opportunities for high school students.
- Develops programming for grades 9–10 focused on career awareness and exploration, including site visits, job shadowing, career speakers, industry-recognized credential experiences, and campus-based career exposure events.
- Aligns work-based learning experiences for 11th–12th grade students with STLCC’s dual-enrollment, dual-credit, and career and technical education (CTE) programs.
- Coordinates with Academic Affairs and the Dual Enrollment/Early College teams to align youth programming with career pathway goals and postsecondary transitions.
- Collaborates with employers to identify and develop structured internships and apprenticeships in high-need sectors such as advanced manufacturing, information technology, healthcare, and biotechnology.
- Works with Marketing and Communications to promote youth and apprenticeship programming to employers, educators, students, and families.
- Provides outreach and engagement sessions for K–12 administrators, counselors, and teachers to increase awareness of career-connected learning opportunities.
- Assists students, counselors, and teachers with the processes related to applying for and participating in job shadowing, internship, or apprenticeship programs.
- Collaborates with internal partners and external agencies, including the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Missouri Department of Labor, to ensure compliance and expand apprenticeship opportunities, specifically ensuring industry-recognized credentials, apprenticeships, and other experiences provided are official market value assets.
- Coordinates with the College’s Grants and Foundation offices; identifies and develops funding opportunities to advance youth and apprenticeship programming.
- Performs supervisory functions: trains, instructs, and assigns work to WLC personnel; manages and makes recommendations regarding the WLC budget and all associated budgets; recommends transfers, promotions, wage increases, and terminations; arranges for additional work or need for overtime; explains and enforces College policies, safety rules, and regulations; evaluates performance.
- Performs other job-related duties as assigned.
Education, experience, and other requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- Minimum of three (3) years of experience developing or managing employer or K–12 partnerships required.
- Minimum of three (3) years of supervisory experience required.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s degree in education, business, or related field strongly preferred.
- Experience in higher education, workforce development, or the public sector preferred.