Description

Smithbucklin, a 650-person, employee-owned professional services company with more than 70 years of success serving the association market, is looking for a Director of Accreditation Services for our Washington DC office.
 
This role will be working with Institute for Credentialing Excellence (I.C.E.), a Smithbucklin client, and will provide the strategic and operational leadership and management expertise necessary to help I.C.E. grow and improve its accreditation programs for assessment-based certificate, certification, and other credentialing programs. The Director of Accreditation is responsible for representing I.C.E. in the standards community and in regulatory situations.
 
At Smithbucklin, we embody a culture driven by optimism, ambition, expertise, and thoughtfulness, where every team member is empowered to exceed expectations and deliver exceptional results for our clients. Join us in shaping the future of association management, where our values serve as the cornerstone of our success.
 
What You Will Do…
This person will report to I.C.E.’s Executive Director and work closely with I.C.E.’s accreditation programs and volunteer  leaders  to manage their strategic initiatives, policies, programs and services. The successful candidate will lead strategy, financial management and operations to drive growth of accreditation services and build a competitive advantage. Candidates must have experience with certification and accreditation programs.
 
Accreditation Services Management- Advise, guide and support the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) and Assessment-Based Certificate Accreditation Council (ACAC) in defining their long-term strategy and goals and allocating resources including capital and people. Provide expertise and develop, present and recommend operational plans and improvements to accreditation components that enhance the delivery of services. Oversee standards revisions as necessary and recommend opportunities for additional standards development.  Includes allocating resources, setting budgets, determining operational program activities, and establishing targets. Will require balancing between expansive strategic level thought and detail orientation of the application system and application processing (high priority for at least the first eighteen months in role).

Financial Management- Work with the I.C.E. Executive Director to develop accreditation services budget, analyze, interpret and forecast financials.

Volunteer Management- Work with high level volunteer leaders on the commission and council for processing accreditation decisions, monitoring accreditation trends, raising important risk management elements, conducting accreditation training for volunteers, and identifying future leaders.

Manage Accreditation Program Growth - Lead effort to grow accreditation programs. Support the I.C.E. Accreditation Services Council (ASC) in its efforts to oversee the development, implementation, marketing and evaluation of programs designed to grow I.C.E.’s accreditation services. Drive operational strategy to align growth with overall organization strategy and work with the internal marketing team to evaluate current marketing efforts and develop new ones. Represent the organization externally to other organizations such as conducting presentations and outreach on accreditation.
Develop Strategic Alliances- Identify and manage strategic partnerships and coordinate association efforts on accreditation issues.  Build relationships with state and federal agencies and make presentations to government organizations and credentialing and accreditation organizations. Lead accreditation bodies in policy discussions.

Team Management- This position includes performance management and development of two team members who support accreditation services through application processing, technology troubleshooting, and customer service. A collaborative team approach is a requirement. The role will also assess the current team structure to identify opportunities to align staffing, capabilities, and workflows with potential future growth.
 

Requirements

Qualifications include:

• Professional Credentialing and Accreditation Experience
  • Involvement and or oversight of a professional credentialing program.
  • Familiarity with standards related to professional credentialing and accreditation.
  • Working in an accreditation and/or regulatory environment and with accreditation and/or regulatory processes and procedures a plus.
  • Previous experience with standards development, evaluation, and compliance
• Strategic Leadership and Business Development Experience
  • Experience supporting boards or similar leadership committees, effectively translating strategy to operations.
  • Experience evaluating processes and systems and implementing improvements
  • Business development  and negotiation skills.
  • Experience evaluating and translating data into program development and improvement.
  • Marketing experience, including promotion of the value of accreditation .
  • Exceptional focus on customer services.
  • Comfort with using and learning technology platforms and experience integrating new technologies.
  • Experience spotting and identifying important trends or dynamics that need to be addressed by the organization (such as
  • AI or other technological changes).
• Management experience
  • Hands-on general management experience, managing  operations, programs and projects.
  • Coaching of internal teams.
  • Strong financial management & budgeting experience.
  • Knowing when to elevate issues including seeking legal counsel
• Personal Skills
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate up, down and sideways.
  • A relationship builder and re-builder, with collaboration and influencing skills as well as confident decision-making skills that move the programs forward.
  • A team player both within the company and the client.
  • High emotional intelligence (approachability, composure, informing, integrity and trust, listening, politically savvy.)
  • Strong proficiency in time management and organizational skills.
  • Willing to travel. Approximately three to five meetings per year will require travel.