At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we believe in the power and possibility of our nation’s public schools and K-12 education system. The vision for our K-12 team is a US education system where all students -- graduate from high school with the knowledge, skills, and agency needed to succeed in a postsecondary experience, obtain gainful employment, and function as citizens in a democratic society. We support this vision by building and investing in partnerships specifically focused on increasing the number of Black, Latino, and low-income students who a) earn a high school diploma, b) enroll in a postsecondary institution, and c) are on track in their first year to attain a credential with labor market value.
The Senior Program Officer, Network Manager role reports to a Place-based Delivery Deputy Director and is responsible for developing and managing a portfolio of complex grants focused on testing and validating the hypothesis that secondary school (grades 6-12) leadership teams who engage in data-driven continuous improvement can improve student outcomes (middle school and high school indicators predictive of post-secondary readiness and success). In this model – which we seek to prove and refine – intermediary organizations (i.e. school districts, non-profits, education regional service centers, CMOs, technical assistance providers, etc.) work with networks of schools to identify root causes of problems faced, develop clear and measurable goals, and use improvement cycles to adopt promising practices that strengthen key school elements and drive student results.
While this role is anchored in investing in and supporting school networks, the portfolio also includes making connections to other components of the K-12 strategy: interventions, tools, and new approaches; and enabling supports for scale and sustainability.
This senior level role is an ideal for someone who enjoys relationship building, problem-solving, work-related travel, teaching, learning and coaching while also bringing along stakeholders across the K-12 team and in the field. It is great for inquisitive, multi-taskers who have worked an idea all the way through to implementation at an organization, institution or system and have the “scars” to prove it.
The work environment is team-oriented, challenging, evolving, fast-paced and fun all at once.
- Contribute to the design, integration and improvement of strategies, collaborations and implementation plans to ensure long-term sustainability and impact of investments.
- Manage external relationships and portfolios to maximize impact of investments, projects, and leveraging learning. This role is responsible for high quality interactions and clear and consistent communications with grantees and partners in the field including strategic relationships with K-12 leaders as well as other funders and shapers of K-12 reform. This may include: site visits, providing strategic thought partnership, joint planning, coordination and convening meetings of key stakeholders.
- Review letters of inquiry & grant proposals; provide clear, concise & insightful written analyses & recommendations for funding including drafting & editing proposal summaries & progress reports for existing grants for review by Foundation leadership.
- Manage internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring appropriate documentation for formative performance management purposes, grant budgeting and reporting. Prepare and codify knowledge from the network intermediary work in conjunction with our internal knowledge management partners to allow for learning across the place-based delivery team as well as k-12 division. Provide written analysis of key topics for Foundation management.
- Support the intermediary development pipeline processes as requested and needed.
Core Knowledge and Skills:
- Demonstrated successful multi-year experience as a senior leader in the public school sector with an emphasis on the secondary school level (grades 6-12), serving low-income, black or latino youth, advancing and equity agenda, and working with multiple schools of school networks.
- Deep knowledge across one or more educational areas such as: middle/high schools, school-level leadership team development, continuous improvement processes, high performing faculty, strong instructional systems, student-centered learning environments & family-community-school relations.
- Exceptional analytical, writing & verbal skills for communicating with a broad & diverse audience, including stakeholders across the practice, policy, community & political sectors.
- Ability to prioritize, focus and achieve results, including strong ability to source and analyze data and ability to rapidly learn, organize, and synthesize information.
- Problem-solving capacity that makes connections across various strands of work.
- Ability to effectively work and lead in a highly dynamic matrixed organization across a range of internal and external colleagues and partners. Ability to lead through influence, as opposed to relying on formal authority.
- Superior judgment and ability to maintain professional, upbeat attitude and sense of humor under tight deadlines. Ability to stay calm and poised under pressure and remain focused in a rapidly changing environment.
Problems are somewhat complex and requires:
- Judgment based on experience, practice and precedence.
- Selection of appropriate alternative sources of information and uses them to evaluate opportunities and situations.
- Analytical thought needed to resolve issues in a variety of complex situations.
- Conceptual and innovative thinking (i.e., identifying solutions) in complex and/or completely new situations.
Experience:
- Senior level experience designing, leading and/or supporting a network of multiple secondary schools/settings is required (i.e., school districts, technical assistance, and curriculum provider).
- Hands-on engagement directly supporting schools and systems that serve low-income, Black and Latino students.
- Demonstrated and sustained student level improvement in any of the following fields: K-12 Education, Higher Education, Non-Profit Education Work Engaged directly.
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.