We seek a visionary Chief Program Officer to lead Teach For America – Indy’s programmatic impact and ensure that every student is on a successful and fulfilling academic and life trajectory as a result of the leadership of our members. Building on progress and momentum in Indy education, the Chief Program Officer should be comfortable setting a compelling vision, crafting both long-and short-term strategies, and managing and aligning a team toward ambitious results. He/she needs be to be comfortable and confident engaging directly with diverse members of our community.
This position provides an unparalleled opportunity for individuals with vision-setting, culture-building, relationship-building, and strategic thinking skills to maximize Teach For America's impact and future growth in Indy.
The Chief Program Officer will report directly to and work closely with the Executive Director, will serve as a member of the Leadership Team, and will manage three to four direct reports and a total team of fifteen (as the team is currently formulated) as well as external partnerships with school districts and networks, community partners, and licensing partners.
Set, own, and execute our programmatic vision and strategy (40%)
- Own and maximize Teach For America’s long-term positive program impact on the life paths of our kids in Indy
- Support in the development of the TFA-Indy Leadership Development model; and support the development of a coherent, aligned, and comprehensive vision and strategy for the TFA participant experience and impact, spanning: recruitment and matriculation, onboarding, talent matching, student impact and leadership development, and collective network impact
- Define interim and final success goals, and regularly track progress against these metrics, resetting strategy dynamically as needed
- Manage and develop program continuum team leads to develop and refine a portfolio of coherent, aligned, and impactful strategies that are tailored to constituent needs
- Assess and optimize relationships with corps members and alumni, including regularly learning how we can best support them and strategically evolve our approach, connect them to each other and utilize their experience and expertise to better support the network; serve as a key thought leader grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion for systems and school leaders
- Define strategic communications outcomes and coach and manage staff in developing strategies to pursue them
- Develop and evolve relationships in the landscape grounded in a shared vision of excellent education for all and to optimally advance our mission and strategy
- Leverage the latest research and innovations in leadership development nationally at TFA and broadly in the field, and evolve strategies to reflect the research
Manage and develop the program continuum team (30%)
- Develop a strong, outcomes- and core values-focused performance culture and collective results ownership within the Program Continuum Team and the corps; develop and implement data systems across the program continuum to track progress and support an outcomes-focused culture
- Coach and develop team to build their own expertise as system change leaders and drive increasingly strong outcomes
- Manage and develop leaders of each program sub-team – Talent, Corps Member Development, and Network Impact – and the Strategic Communications initiative to align our program to the needs of our members and regional strategy
- Ensure that sub-team and initiative goals align with the TFA-Indy strategy, that they have robust strategies to deliver short- and long-term results, and that they execute strategies efficiently and effectively
Serve as a developing enterprise leader and member of the Leadership Team (20%)
- Inform the strategic direction of TFA-Indy as one of the senior-most leaders of the region and member of Leadership Team
- Establish strong partnerships with the community grounded in a shared vision of excellent education for all and to optimally advance our mission and strategy
- Grow yourself as a leader by holding a clear, personal vision for impact and how it relates to your goals
- Have deep knowledge of your identity and how race, class, and privilege influence your values, mindsets and behaviors and ability to work alongside lines of sameness and difference
- Sustain yourself in this work and model this for our team, corps, and alumni
Fulfill our Mission through Organizational and Regional Priorities (10%)
- Participate in our region’s corps member selection, matriculation, induction, and ongoing engagement initiatives
- Attend regional meetings and retreats held throughout the year, biweekly staff meetings, and occasional conferences and trainings
- 8+ years professional work experience demonstrating progressively increasing responsibility, with demonstrated success in all or most of the relevant functional areas (e.g. vision setting; strategy development; general management and people development; designing and managing recruitment, teacher leadership, and school & system leadership programs; shaping and managing constituent communications etc.)
- Experience working directly with low income communities
- Prior experience as a school, system, or senior program leader preferred, but not required
- Experience working in the Indianapolis education landscape or a similarly / more complex education landscape preferred, but not required
Work Demands
- Ability to work evenings and weekends when necessary
- Minimal Travel required – approx. 2-6 times per year
Skills
- Setting Vision and Direction
- Making Decisions and Demonstrating Judgment
- Organizing, Planning and Executing
- Managing Team Execution
- Building Relationships and Networks; Influencing Others to Achieve Outcomes
- Defining the Opportunity/Problem
- Synthesizing, Integrating and Developing Strategies