Teach For America is seeking a Director of Partnerships and School Leadership to lead two crucial bodies of work for the region: (a) increasing the number of outstanding alumni serving as high impact school leaders in our context and (b) cultivating, strengthening, and managing the school and district partnerships necessary to support effective corps member and alumni hiring each spring and summer. This individual operates on the one hand as a talent recruiter – networking amongst local and national alumni, inspiring alumni to consider school leadership in our region, helping them enroll in credentialing programs where necessary, and supporting them to secure school leadership positions in our ecosystem where they can make a major difference for children. The individual is also responsible for high stakes external relationships with school partners – cultivating relationships with principals, HR officials, and board members, identifying teaching vacancies, and designing and executing a corps member hiring process each spring and summer.
This position provides an unparalleled opportunity for individuals with strong interpersonal skills, strategic thinking skills, and cultural competence to influence the rate of change in education in our community. By recruiting and supporting truly exceptional Teach For America alumni as building-level leaders – people who understand how to achieve exceptional academic results with children, who are committed to an educational experience that affirms students’ identities while growing cultural competence and critical consciousness, who know how to lead, coach, and inspire adults – this individual will dramatically improve children’s access to an excellent and equitable education in our ecosystem. By stewarding and strengthening our relationships with school partners, this individual will help ensure that 50 corps members each year are reaching over 2,500 high poverty students and leading them to path-broadening outcomes.
School Leader Fellowship with Columbia University: We operate a four-year fellowship in partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools and Columbia University through which alumni with at least four years of teaching experience agree to serve with CPS for four years (starting as a teacher or assistant principal and moving toward a full principal position) in exchange for a free masters degree from the Columbia Summer Principals Academy.
- Recruit a competitive pool of applicants from among our local and national alumni base to apply for the program
- Plan and execute a selection process that produces a set of finalists for the district that have the core skills necessary to be an outstanding principal (including outstanding cultural competence)
- Support fellows to accept their offer, join the program, and complete the program (including helping them find administrator positions within the district and successfully applying for them)
- Monitor and strengthen our relationship with the district with respect to this program so that we can sustain it over time
- Operate as primary point of contact for Columbia University
Recruitment of National Alumni with Ties to Southwest Ohio
- Analyze national alumni base and set a strategy for whom we should engage with hopes of alumni moving back to Southwest Opportunity to take highly visible, highly impactful school leadership positions
- Conduct outreach and cultivation of this group such that a small number of exceptionally talented individuals take on school leadership positions in our context
School Leader Pipeline of Local Alumni
- Set annual goals around the size and strength of our local alumni school leadership pipeline (e.g., number interested in school leadership, number gaining pre-requisite skills, number enrolled in local programs, number matched to local positions)
- Design and execute strategies to strengthen that pipeline over time
- Support credentialed and qualified alumni to secure administrative positions in local high poverty schools
School and District Partnerships
- Set annual goals around the number and strength of our school and district partnerships, including monitoring the status of current professional service agreements (PSAs) and anticipated needs for CM and alum hiring and securing successful passage of new PSAs and renewal of existing PSAs.
- Conduct ongoing cultivation of principals, HR officials, school board members, and superintendents to strengthen our relationships
- Monitor ongoing vacancies for teaching positions and administrative positions
Corps Member and Alum Hiring
- Plan and execute spring hiring fairs with school partners who have active PSAs with Teach For America such that all of our incoming corps members are hired in positions where they can make a significant difference for children in a local, publicly funded, high-poverty school
- Serve as primary point of contact for the Ohio Department of Education for all licensure needs for incoming corps members and alumni
Regional Leadership Team
- Align decisions, actions and priorities to the greater interests of Teach For America – Southwest Ohio
- Ensure strategic alignment and coordinated execution across functional groups to achieve organizational goals.
- Own and support broader regional and organizational priorities (i.e. help recruit, select, and retain new corps members, support regional alumni initiatives, attend major regional events)
- Serve as a leader for regional culture and collaboration, including personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness
- Model a strong commitment to the core values of Teach For America and professional learning and growth, including participation in national training and consulting opportunities.
- Engage in Regional Leadership Team meetings and other related structures
Prior Experience
- Experience as a Teach For America corps member preferred but not required
- Minimum of three years of professional experience (and 5-7 preferred)
Work Demands
- Willingness to work some weekends and evenings.
- Ability to travel efficiently across the region
- Ability to travel to national conferences or trainings 2-5 times per year.
Skills
- Exceptional planning, analysis, and project management skills, with a keen attention to detail
- Poise, confidence, and maturity interacting with key stakeholders, with the ability to build strong relationships and work with school/district leaders
- Outstanding ability to build relationships, inspire, and motivate alumni (e.g., to pursue school leadership positions for which they are ready and a fit, to gain the additional experiences and perspectives they need to become ready)
- Highly efficient with the ability to manage a significant volume of communication (from alumni, from schools, from incoming corps members)
- Strong communication skills, including written communications
- Strong understanding of the profile for outstanding school leaders in our context
- Demonstrates deep commitment to Teach For America’s mission, core values, and our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness while acting as a cultural leader
- Demonstrated ownership over personal learning and growth with evidence of strong receptiveness to and implementation of feedback.
- Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.