We are currently hiring a Director of Strategic Clarity to work with the Vice President, Systems Impact and be a part of the Regional Operations team. As an organization, we believe that advancing systemic change towards educational equity requires the development of systems-thinking and systems-leadership capacity across our network. Our team was launched with the charge to Develop Systems-Change Leaders, by working directly with our 50+ regions, their communities, and our national network to build their own strategic clarity, and then to apply this clarity in the development and implementation of contextualized, values-aligned strategies to accelerate their impact.
As a founding member of the team, you will impact the crucial work we are doing as you:
- Build the internal systems and routines to effectively manage against our team’s strategy
- Facilitate our team’s work with regions and other teams, by supporting effective execution of engagements &
- Advance our collective understanding of how to develop systems leadership, by synthesizing and gleaning insights from both our team’s direct work, and from our broader network.
This role is right for you if you are passionate about cultivating a systems-thinking mindset for yourself and others, if you are compelled by the opportunity to advance systemic impact in pursuit of educational equity, and if you are skilled in bridging the space between vision, strategy, and effective execution.
As a founding team member for a new body of work, this position will have the opportunity to directly influence our emerging strategy and approach. These percentages are reflective of the anticipated overall responsibilities of this role, but will fluctuate based on your individual strengths and experiences, and as our work continues to evolve.
50% - Advancing Collective Understanding of Systems-Change and Systems Leadership
- Design and maintain a curated knowledge base, capturing best practices from the field as well as current artifacts from regions as they engage in work related to building strategic clarity
- Share evidence and insights from internal and external sources (e.g., case studies, academic research, best practices) regarding the development of strategic clarity through systems thinking, and its application in the development of contextualized approaches and strategies
- Develop and maintain a set of core materials (templates, presentations, etc) and routines (newsletters, etc) aligned to foundational frameworks and tools, for use by regions and other participants in engaging content
- Collect, curate, and synthesize evidence and artifacts from strategic clarity engagements, in order to track progress, identify trends, and promote knowledge-sharing across participants and regions
20% - Facilitating Our Work With Regions & Teams
- Support effective execution of strategic clarity engagements (regional coaching, quarterly Bootcamps, etc.), by managing communications, and coordinating to ensure smooth logistics and seamless participant experiences
- Travel to engagement locations as needed, in order to provide direct support around logistics, facilitation, and synthesizing insights from participant experiences.
30% - Building Internal Systems and Routines
- Bridge the space between internal strategy development and effective execution, by developing and maintaining project scopes and plans for our identified key areas of work
- Design and maintain a dashboard of key indicators of regional status with respect to strategic clarity engagements; analyze quantitative and qualitative outputs to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities
- Develop and maintain an updated database of core materials/templates (e.g., PowerPoint presentations), both for direct access by regions and other stakeholders, and for use in team engagements
- 4+ years of professional work experience required
- Strong preference for prior experience working at the systems level in public education
Skills
- Strong project management skills, attention to detail and organization
- Ability to turn visions and high-level strategies into concrete, actionable plans with a scope and sequence, and develop aligned collaterals
- Strong learning orientation; ability to quickly take in and act upon new content knowledge as well as make sense of observations in region/team contexts
- Ability to analyze need for and measure the effectiveness of programs, trainings, learning experiences
- Strong communication skills, both in person and across virtual mediums
- Ability to be nimble and flexible to meet evolving needs of teams, both our own and those we’re working with
- Demonstrated ability to successfully build and manage relationships across lines of difference, with cultural competence, and with credibility
Work Demands:
- Ability to travel to in-person meetings and conferences in regions required (approximately 20%)
- Flexibility with regard to work hours, as necessary