Senior Director, AP Instructional Services

About the Team

The AP Access team's goal is to extend the growth and reach of the AP Program to serve the middle third of high school students by growing participation, serving more underrepresented students, and supporting teachers and schools to help students succeed. The Instructional Services team within this department is dedicated to bringing innovative approaches to AP teaching and learning to scale that are inspired by and build on the needs, experiences, and insights of our educator and student communities.

We work closely with our colleagues across AP and Instruction and in Communications and Marketing to ensure that we are aligned in all efforts to promote the work of AP Courses and Programs to a wide range of audiences including students, parents, educators, policymakers, the media, member organizations and staff.

The Advanced Placement Program (AP) enables willing and academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies while still in high school. The program consists of college-level courses developed by the AP Program that high schools can choose to offer, and corresponding exams administered once a year.

About the Opportunity

AP is committed to deepening teacher instruction and elevating students' learning potential by providing instructional resources and professional learning programs, both in person and online. As Senior Director of AP Instructional Services, oversee and grow the business operations of AP professional learning and instructional portfolio at scale, ensuring high-quality delivery, financial sustainability, and innovation in support of AP's mission to deepen teacher instruction and elevate student learning potential.

In this role, you will:

AP Instructional Services Business Management (40%)

Financial management and oversight

• Steer, evaluate and optimize the AP Instructional Services budget to ensure financial health and responsible allocation of resources for all offerings to drive towards organizational goals.

• Drive data-informed decisions about resource allocation, investments, and cost-saving opportunities to align with the Program Access department and organization's strategic goals.

• Lead high-impact strategic initiatives such as market research and cost analysis to set PL pricing structure and consultant pay scales.

Operational management

• Oversee the lifecycle of development of instructional service offerings such as videos, lab manuals, and project guides and ensure process effectiveness and alignment with organizational goals.

• Define process to work closely with the Instructional Design team to ensure alignment with new course goals and curriculum updates.

Business development and growth

• Craft and curate collateral and resources to accurately reflect the operational work of the team to share publicly or with senior leadership.

• Design and implement processes to effectively communicate new offerings as needed for identified courses with other parts of the organization including the AP Access team.

• Engineer and execute strategies to increase teacher participation in AP Instructional Services offerings through select outreach efforts and external partnerships.

AP Instructional Services Partnership Management (40 %)

Innovation and Impact

• Expand and deepen adoption of forward thinking instructional and professional learning activities including the AP PBL Series and PL Center by leveraging educator feedback, performance data, and research insights to enhance teaching practice and student outcomes.

• Partner with curriculum, marketing, customer experience, and digital product teams to ensure cohesive program execution, strong educator engagement, and sustained program growth.

Partner Management

• Collaborate with Instructional Design, Access, and Government Relations teams to identify and evaluate potential partners in the co-curricular, instructional resources and/or professional learning space (Endorsed Providers, Curriculum Partners, Work-based Learning partners, Corporate Partners) to complement AP offerings for new and existing courses.

• Design and operationalize a framework to evaluate and recruit new partners based on organizational goals and course specific needs.

• Establish and manage a framework to monitor and evaluate existing partnership progress, analyzing data and reporting on the impact of programs to identify opportunities for improvement.

• In collaboration with legal, sourcing and Government Relations, negotiate partnership terms, drafting agreements, and ensuring legal compliance and alignment with program goals.

• Coordinate cross-functionally with internal teams including Instructional Design, Curriculum and Assessment and Government Relations teams to ensure partnership efforts align with mission goals.

Lead and Manage the AP Instructional Services Business Management Team (20%)

• Lead a team of four that is responsible for business and partnership management for the AP Professional Learning and Instructional Services portfolio.

• Set vision and priorities for the team, track and mange progress to goals, and provide coaching and support to ensure team members meet and exceed goals, remain engaged, and contribute meaningfully to our mission

• Cultivate an inclusive and high achieving culture that enables all team members to live out College Board's Operating Principles.

• Bring proven leadership experience and consistently embody College Board's Manager Expectations in your work.

About You

To qualify for this role, you must have:

• A strategic and inclusive leadership style, with the ability to set clear priorities, plan for future needs, and foster a culture of belonging and high performance.

• Proven experience in financial and operational management, including budget oversight, resource allocation, and aligning financial decisions with organizational goals.

• Strong data analysis and decision-making skills, with the ability to use evidence, market research, and cost analysis to inform pricing models and investment strategies.

• Expertise in business development and communications, including developing collateral, designing scalable processes, and leading outreach initiatives to grow participation and impact.

• A track record of driving innovation and program improvement, leveraging educator feedback, performance data, and research insights to enhance offerings and outcomes.

• Demonstrated success in partnership management, from identifying and evaluating potential partners to negotiating agreements and monitoring program effectiveness.

• Experience working cross-functionally with internal teams such as curriculum, access, government relations, marketing, and product to ensure cohesive program execution.

• A history of effective team leadership, including setting vision, coaching for growth, and managing toward ambitious goals with a focus on engagement and impact.

• A commitment to fostering inclusion and continuous improvement, aligned with College Board's Operating Principles and Manager Expectations.

• Ability to travel up to 10 times a year.

All roles at College Board require:

A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work

• Authorization to work in the United States for any employer

• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
• Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal.

• A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.

• A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.

• A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success.

About Our Process

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.

• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.

What We Offer

At College Board, we offer more than just a paycheck-we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We're a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation, grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation The hiring range for this role is $96,000- $155,000 .

• Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.

• We aim to make our best offer upfront-rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data. We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.

You'll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it's like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.

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