What you will be working on:

Administrative Leadership

• Prioritize the success and positive learning experience of students in all programs of Seattle Central College.
• Provide strategic and operational leadership that advances and strengthens institutional excellence, operational systems, accountability, and student success.
• Implement the Seattle Colleges Strategic Plan to make steady gains on college community-generated and board-adopted goals and measures in equitable student retention, completion, transfer, and graduation.
• Affirm and advance College and District Equity, Diversity and Inclusion efforts.
• Work closely with the Chancellor and members of the Chancellor's Executive Cabinet to support a high-quality, unified student experience and organizational excellence through district-wide system improvements, while representing and accounting for the College's unique strengths, programs and successful practices.
• Establish and maintain among leaders, faculty, and staff a healthy sense of urgency to improve student access and success.
• Work closely with faculty and staff implementing the Guided Pathways model, both on campus and across the District, that leads to improved student retention and student experience.
• Lead implementation efforts that produce measurable improvements in student and organizational outcomes.
• Strong strategic ability to plan for change in ways that ensure broad buy-in and action that, in turn, significantly improve student access and success.

External and College Community Development

• Strengthen and expand the College's reputation as a high-quality, responsive provider of transfer education and workforce development by cultivating strategic partnerships with educational institutions, industry leaders, and community organizations.
• Provide leadership in partnership with district human resources and labor unions to attract, retain, and support faculty, staff, and administrators committed to student success and institutional excellence.
• Foster a positive workplace culture that values collaboration, development and belonging.
• Be visible locally and statewide to forge meaningful and effective partnerships with government, business, education, labor, and civic groups.
• Build a cohesive and unified team of administrators, faculty, and staff and foster a positive workplace culture that values collaboration, development, and belonging.
• Staying current on national trends and best practices and applying them locally.

Compliance and Accountability

• Dedication to supporting faculty and staff in their professional development through innovation and learning.
• Lead and support innovation and integration of best practices in instruction, student support services, and administrative services that lead to improvement in organizational excellence.
• Maintain fiscal stability and sustainability through disciplined and expert management of financial resources, engaged and transparent resource allocation practices, and innovative generation of new revenue.
• Develop and implement strategic enrollment strategies that lead to enrollment growth and retention gains.
• Develop a culture of inquiry and evidence to support a result-oriented approach across the College.

What you bring as a candidate:

• At minimum, earned master's degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
• Significant senior leadership experience in higher education.
• Demonstrated experience working as part of a senior executive team toward organizational fulfilment of strategic plan and goals.
• Demonstrated knowledge and direct experience leading in the context of diverse communities and equitable education practices.
• Proven ability to bring major initiatives and complex projects to completion.
• Proven results in improving student success and achieving more equitable outcomes for historically excluded student populations.
• Proven ability to build partnerships and trust across internal and external constituencies.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with elected officials at all levels, as well as with business, labor, and civic leaders
• Demonstrated understanding of community college or public education funding mechanisms and enrollment trends.
• Experience with successful fiscal management and budget planning
• Strong record of working effectively with faculty, staff, and students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
• Strong commitment to making the college a premier institution, renowned nationally and internationally for equitable teaching, learning and academic innovation.
• Commitment to data-informed and evidence-based decision-making.
• Demonstrated success leading through shared governance and collaborative decision-making environments.
• Experience in nurturing transparency, accountability, and building trusting relationships as a leader.
• Record of effective campus or division operational leadership and organizational effectiveness.
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills.

Why This Role Matters 

Seattle Central is at an inflection point.

The next president will inherit an institution with a proud history, a deeply committed workforce, and a mission that remains as relevant today as it was at the college's founding. The college also faces significant opportunities to strengthen its financial sustainability, operational effectiveness, and long-term strategic positioning.

For the right leader, this is not simply an opportunity to maintain an institution. It is an opportunity to shape one.

Key Opportunities

Equity Is the Foundation of Our Work. We define equity as the presence of justice and fairness within policies, practices, and distribution of resources by institutions and systems. We commit to equity as a core value to advance our charge to adopt and implement the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) Vision Statement: Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.

Lead Institutional Transformation

The three-college Seattle Colleges district is actively examining how it allocates resources, supports students, delivers programs, and measures success. The next president of Central will have the opportunity to help define the college's future direction and build alignment around a clear institutional direction within this systemwide transformation.

Build a Stronger Operating Model

Within the district, the college is engaged in important work to strengthen financial governance, operational accountability, decision-making processes, and cross-functional coordination. Leaders who enjoy improving systems, clarifying ownership, and building organizational effectiveness will find meaningful opportunities to make a lasting impact.

Create Stability and Rebuild Trust

Following several years of financial pressure, organizational change, and leadership transition, the college community is seeking a leader who can provide clarity, consistency, and predictability. The opportunity is not merely to manage change, but to create an environment where employees, students, and community partners can confidently move forward together.

Shape the Future of Urban Higher Education

Located in the heart of Seattle, Seattle Central serves one of the most diverse and dynamic communities in the Pacific Northwest. The college is uniquely positioned to strengthen transfer pathways, expand workforce-aligned programs, and create innovative opportunities that respond to the evolving needs of students, employers, and the region.

Philanthropic Possibilities: The Seattle Colleges Foundation is poised to hire a new leader to identify, cultivate, solicit, and steward donors, alumni, employers, and community allies, actively helping secure philanthropic investments that advance student success and Central's strategic priorities.

Strategic Plan 2024-2034: The strategic plan for 2024-2034 serves to set the strategic direction and goals for Seattle Colleges. Rooted in our commitment to becoming an anti-bias, anti-racist institution, the plan reflects a collective common purpose, beliefs, commitments, major goals and priorities. It recognizes the unique characteristics of each college and includes a range of high-level strategies that will be operationalized in a manner appropriate for each college. Central's new president will come in time to have a real and lasting impact on the execution of this plan for the college and set the direction for the future.

Lead Through Complexity

This role is well suited for a leader who enjoys solving complex problems alongside a team of executive leaders. The district's and the college's challenges are real, but they are visible, understandable, and solvable. The next president will have the opportunity to work alongside Central's talented faculty, staff, students, and community partners to address root causes, improve institutional performance, and build a stronger foundation for the future.

Leave a Lasting Legacy

Seattle Central is large enough for its impact to matter and small enough for leadership decisions to be felt. A successful president will have the opportunity to leave a lasting mark on the institution's culture, systems, student outcomes, and long-term trajectory.

Challenges and Opportunities Ahead

The next president will assume leadership during a period of significant districtwide and institutional transition. Seattle Central's challenges are substantial, but they are also accompanied by a rare opportunity to shape the future of the institution.

Strengthening Long-Term Financial Sustainability

Like many community and technical colleges nationwide, the Seattle Colleges district and Seattle Central continue to navigate financial pressures driven by enrollment shifts, changing funding environments, rising costs, and evolving student needs.

The next president will be responsible for leading the institution toward long-term financial sustainability while preserving the college's commitment to access, student success, and educational excellence.

Advancing Institutional Effectiveness

Seattle Central has begun important work to better understand and strengthen its systems, processes, and organizational practices. Ongoing accreditation activities, operational planning efforts, and institutional assessments provide an opportunity to examine how the college operates and identify areas for improvement.

The next president will play a critical role in translating those insights into meaningful organizational change and measurable results.

Building Organizational Alignment

The college has experienced leadership transitions, organizational restructuring, and workforce reductions in recent years. At the same time, there has been rapid evolution in the same areas across Seattle Colleges. As a result, there is a significant opportunity to strengthen communication, clarify decision-making processes, improve cross-functional collaboration, and build greater organizational alignment.

Success will require a leader who can bring people together around shared priorities while creating a culture of accountability, trust, and transparency.

Supporting Enrollment Growth and Student Success

While recent enrollment trends are encouraging, enrollment recovery remains an important institutional priority. The next president will be responsible for helping the college strengthen enrollment pathways, improve student retention and completion, and ensure academic programs remain responsive to student and workforce needs.

Achieving these goals will require close collaboration across academic affairs, student services, enrollment management, and community partners. Collaboration and alignment across districtwide strategies will also be necessary. To that end, the ability to translate broader goals and strategies and localize them to be meaningful for the college will be key.

Balancing Stability and Transformation

Seattle Central requires both operational stability and institutional evolution. The next president must be able to manage immediate operational realities while also helping the college position itself for long-term success.

This work will require thoughtful decision-making, disciplined execution, and the ability to lead complex change in a dynamic and highly collaborative environment.

Leading a Mission-Driven Institution Through Change

Perhaps the most significant challenge is also the most compelling opportunity: guiding a deeply mission-driven institution through a period of transformation while preserving the values that define it.

The next president will inherit a community that cares deeply about students, equity, access, and educational opportunity. Harnessing that commitment while building a stronger, more sustainable institution will be among the defining responsibilities of the role.

Questions?

Applicants who have specific questions not addressed on the Search Process and Timeline​ webpage or within the individual job descriptions can send those questions to Darlene Mendoza, Darlene.Mendoza@seattlecolleges.edu 

For more information:

• For a districtwide perspective, view our Seattle Colleges profile.