TFA Chicago-Northwest Indiana is seeking a Director of School Leadership to lead the crucial work of building the bench of talent among our 1000 alumni working in schools. We currently have 300 alumni leading schools and we are looking for someone to help us maintain and build that group further.
As the Director, Alumni School Leadership, you will play three distinct roles in the realm of school leadership. First you will support school leaders in Chicago and Northwest Indiana in accessing development offered by partners (Chicago Education Fund, Chicago Public Schools, etc) and recruiting them for internally managed and executed programming. The second element of this role is ensuring that we are keeping a clear picture of the landscape requirements related to licensure and principal endorsement and creating plans in partnership with local and national university partners to increase the number of our alumni who are certified to take on school leadership roles. The third and last element of this role is placement support. You will liaise with district and network leaders to stay abreast of projected school leadership openings while also providing support to Teach For America alumni currently in supporting school leadership roles (e.g. assistant principal, dean, department chair, etc) who are interested in pursuing pathways to school leadership.
This is an excellent opportunity for you if you are passionate about ensuring that the students in Chicago-Northwest Indiana have the talented, diverse and culturally competent school leaders they deserve. To be competitive for this role, you will need the ability to develop strong relationships, be skilled in networking, find energy in meeting with many individuals, have an ability to support others in identifying their development needs, and be oriented towards talent recruitment. You will sit on the Alumni Leadership Team and will report to the Senior Managing Director of Alumni Leadership.
Principal Endorsement Recruitment & Support (20%)
- Recruit and inspire TFA alumni to pursue principal endorsement via group info events and individual conversations
- Manage partnerships with local and national principal endorsement programs (Harvard, UIC, DePaul) so that TFA alumni have pathways to a variety of programs and be an expert on the right profile of alumni for each program
- Manage our relationship with Harvard and the annual application, interview, and selection process
- Stay connected with current principal endorsement participants in order to help ensure quality of experience and retention in their programs
- Track and monitor the efficacy of each principal endorsement program (participant experience, post-program job placement, etc.)
Lead the Infrastructure for School Leader Development (20%)
- In partnership with Coordinator, Alumni Leadership, manage a portfolio of up-to-date program offerings internally and externally for supporting school leadership roles (e.g. assistant principal, dean, department chair, etc) as well as new and experienced principals
- Develop a point of view on the value add of internally offered programming given gaps in school leadership support across the city
- Connect alumni with internal and external programs and experiences that put them on a pathway to school leadership
- Build and maintain relationships with partners who support and offer school leaders programming (Chicago Education Fund, Chicago Public Schools, Accelerate Institute, etc.)
- Develop personal connections with aspiring school leaders in order to know enough about their leadership preferences and abilities to support them in growing as leaders and on their job hunt (advice, targeted resources, connections, professional development, and connection to TFA)
- Manage internal support offerings and coaching for aspiring alumni school leaders (aspiring principal fellowship, 1x1 eligibility coaching, etc.)
‘School Leader Placement (30%)
- Help set the vision for our strategy for placing school leaders across Chicago-Northwest Indiana
- Alongside the SMD, Alumni Leadership and the Director, Alumni Teacher Leadership, build and manage relationships with gatekeepers for school based leadership placement including charter school network leaders, The Fund, and district level leaders at Chicago Public Schools
- Connect and provide our aspiring school leaders with high quality opportunities for resume support, interview preparation, and career pathwaying
- In partnership with Coordinator of Alumni Leadership, design and maintain a detailed and up-to-date system for tracking school leader openings and all application processes for Teach For America alumni who apply for those positions
- Liaise all relationships with school leadership hiring partners and manage constant stream of communication re. job openings and projected position opportunities for alumni
School Leader Connectivity & Culture (10%)
- In partnership with the Alumni Network Strategy team, set vision and project plan for an annual “School Leader Award” and support the execution of that selection process
- Build and manage relationships with school leader/executive coaches, with the aim of facilitating professional connections between them and aspiring school leaders
- Recruit and refer alumni school leaders to broader network strategy programming and events (CONNECT series, Breakdown series, etc.)
- Curate and organize school leadership-specific gatherings when and where they align to overall goals and priorities (ex. Annual principal party, etc.).
Team Responsibilities (10%)
- Prepare for and lead check-ins with your manager around progress toward your goals and your ongoing development
- Prepare for and engage in bi-weekly alumni leadership meetings
- Coordinate/collaborate with members of the Alumni Leadership and 2nd Year Corps member teams to ensure clarity of vision and alignment with alumni experience milestones and intended outcomes
- Consistently track and maintain updated data in our TFACT database to ensure accuracy of information about alumni instructional leaders and reporting on programmatic outcomes
- Partner with the national Teach For America CLE team to leverage career resources and programming facilitated by the national organization
Regional & National Collective Responsibilities (10%)
- Fulfill foundational responsibilities that allow our region to do our work, make decisions, grow as professionals, and strengthen our team culture, including but not limited to attending regional meetings, operating with our Core Values and commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness, completing our performance management cycle, and upholding our data management, office operations, and fiscal responsibilities
- Make a direct impact on the organizational mission of enlisting, developing and mobilizing leaders to strengthen the movement for educational equity by participating in (but not limited to) selection of new corps members (6-10 days total plus preparation and close out time), matriculation of new corps member (up to six windows across the year), and the induction of new corps members to our region
- 5-7 years of work experience with a minimum of 4 years working in a school or school district preferred
- Experience coaching other adults in an education setting
- Experience with talent recruitment or management
- Knowledge of Chicago-Northwest Indiana education landscape required
- Operating, Planning, & Executing- This person will have demonstrated an ability to organize, prioritize, track, and manage their week-to-week and month-to-month work flow. Specifically, they have demonstrated the ability to manage several work streams at one time and efficiently track and monitor progress.
- Synthesizing, Integrating, & Developing Strategies- This person will be able to use patterns and trends in data around school leadership development needs and hiring patterns to curate, organize, and create strategies in response. This includes maintaining clarity on where there are gaps in our landscape with school leadership development.
- Building Relationships and Networks: Demonstrated ability to develop and cultivate beneficial relationships to drive the work of school leader development. This includes actively identifying and creating opportunities with partners who can support the hiring of our alumni and building relationships directly with alumni to support their career interests.
- Influencing Others to Achieve Outcomes: Demonstrated ability to navigate and leverage structures, relationships and interface with diverse audiences to gain support for our aspiring and current school leaders
Work Demands
- Occasional evening and weekend work is required
- Ability to travel throughout the Chicago-Northwest Indiana area to attend in person meetings with alumni and system/school leaders
- Limited overnight travel required to attend Teach For America conferences (expenses paid for by Teach For America)