Associate State Director - MI-SBDC
Grand Valley State University
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
USD 93,440-93,440 / year
Posted on May 21, 2026
As a strategic partner to the State Director, the Associate State Director (ASD) serves as the operational architect of the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC). This role serves as a bridge between high-level vision and organizational execution, working closely with the Executive Team to ensure operational excellence, mission alignment, and cultural health.
Title: Associate State Director – MI-SBDC
Position Summary: As a strategic partner to the State Director, the Associate State Director (ASD) serves as the operational architect of the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC). This role serves as a bridge between high-level vision and organizational execution, working closely with the Executive Team to ensure operational excellence, mission alignment, and cultural health.
Minimum Starting Salary: $93,440; commensurate with experience
Comprehensive benefits package including medical, vision, dental, life insurance, generous employer retirement contributions, wellness resources, and tuition waiver effective on date of hire.
Primary Duties:
Operational excellence of the Michigan SBDC
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Authors operating guidelines with the State Director to ensure the SBDC’s policies, procedures, and infrastructure scale with its strategic vision.
Operationalizes new requirements for programs.
Maintains the operations manual, procedures, and policies.
Stewards SBDC employee understanding and execution of grant terms and conditions through proactive training, education, and communication.
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Manages grant terms and conditions, compliance with requirements, and annual renewals.
Promotes organizational impact, communicating the SBDC’s value to federal and state stakeholders. Leads semi-annual and annual report generation.
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Negotiates and manages stakeholder contracts. (State, Federal & Host)
Synthesizes changes to contractual agreements, creates operational procedures, goals, and communication, and then monitors progress.
Point person for SBA/MEDC programming or events.
Responsible for confidentiality matters affiliated with grant requirements.
Supports annual and 3-year strategic planning processes and develops implementation progress reports.
Operations Administration
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Empowers and mentors two direct reports.
Assistant State Director, overseeing Technology Strategy and Operations.
Assistant State Director overseeing Human Resources, Talent Development, and Marketing.
Collaborates with the Executive Team to enable new programming and communication.
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Leads and oversees processes to develop, document, communicate, and administer policy, procedures, and operations of the SBDC.
Ensures products and services are responsibly managed for compliance through guidance and validation of program impact.
Special attention to the guidance, verification & validation of reported program impact; develops policies & performance accountability/evaluation.
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Facilitates strategy implementation by leading weekly operations and monthly leadership team meetings.
Translates stakeholder (OSBDC / ASBDC / MEDC) updates into collaborative action items for the executive leadership team.
Supports the development of grant applications and efforts to acquire additional funding aligned with organizational strategies.
Compliance, the foundation for Operational Excellence and Administration
Co-Leads, with the State Director, the network preparation for accreditation (Next accreditation is in 2028).
Supports the Director of Finance and Grants on matters affiliated with vendors, clients, hosts, and employees.
Responsible for tracking grant program progress and preparing action steps to remediate any areas that are not meeting project pace or legal compliance.
Supports audit requirements.
Other Duties
Manages the Michigan SBDC Advisory Board.
Partners with Client Services and Finance on grants aligned with small business technical assistance. Primary grant writer.
Serves as Interim State Director as needed.
Required Qualifications and Education
Bachelor’s Degree.
8+ years of leadership experience.
Demonstrated independent problem-solving skills.
High-level executive presence and the ability to serve as a surrogate for the State Director.
Experience in developing and tracking strategic plans.
Experience negotiating, synthesizing, and implementing changes within a contractual agreement.
Change management skills.
Ability and willingness to travel both within Michigan and nationally.
Experience with compliance and enforcement of stakeholder policies.
Preferred Qualifications and Education
Master of Public Administration or Master of Business Administration or related field.
Proven track record of cross-functional team building and consensus-building within a complex, multi-stakeholder environment. (e.g., University and Government Partnerships)
Project/change management certification.
Experience with Federal Grants, reporting, and management
Experience with CRM platforms.
Working Conditions
Normal office environment with a combination of in-office and state-wide travel.
Physical Demands: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to satisfactorily perform each essential duty. Must have the physical stamina to work long hours and/or more than 5 days per week. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
The listed requirements are representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required.
The information contained in this job description is for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) and is not an exhaustive list of the duties performed for this position. Additional duties can be performed by the individual currently holding this position, and additional duties may be assigned.
How to Apply
Apply online at GVSU Careers to be considered; applicants must upload the following (in PDF format) to the online application:
Cover letter
Curriculum vitae
Application Deadline: Applications will be accepted until June 8th, 2026. The position may be closed at any time at the university's discretion.
Sponsorship Disclosure: Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States and must not require sponsorship now or in the future.
About the Department/Division
For details about Seidman College of Business, visit www.gvsu.edu/seidman.
For details about the Unit, visit https://michigansbdc.org/
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Must have the physical stamina to work long hours and/or more than 5 days per week. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The information contained in this job description is for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act as amended by the ADA Amendment Act (2008), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and other applicable federal and state laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability. GVSU will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. See www.gvsu.edu/equalopportunity/. TDD Callers: Call Michigan Relay Center at 711 (in State) or 1-800-833-7833 (out of State).
Grand Valley State University is an Antidiscrimination/Equal Opportunity Employer, which includes providing equal opportunity for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. University policy extends protections to additional identities.
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