As the Manager of Participant Insights, you will cultivate a deeper understanding of our 20,000+ teacher base so that the Teacher Engagement team is able to be sufficiently user-first in the design and execution of its work. You will do this by working closely with the Director of Participant Insights to build relationships and systems that give us proximity to the teacher experience and by working closely with other Teacher Engagement sub-teams so that the insights gained from teachers (and those that work directly with teachers) inform design and strategy. As a result, we expect our products and experiences to be more relevant and useful - and ultimately impactful at scale - and for the teacher’s journey from a pre-corps member to a corps member to an alumni teacher to include not only profound, positive “moments of truth,” but also a coherent overall experience.
This position provides an opportunity for individuals who believe that the strength, community, diversity and effectiveness of our teacher force is essential to achieving our mission of One Day, and who are excited about user-centered design and the process of turning research into strategy. You are a strong critical thinker who operates with superior organization, communication and relationship-building skills. You excel in building out systems because you operate with a high degree of proactivity and you are very detail-oriented and yet also able to synthesize trends across myriad inputs. You are flexible and are constantly seeking feedback on the systems and processes that you design, and you thrive in a highly collaborative, fast-paced and entrepreneurial environment.
All execution and communication of research & insight gathering (60%)
- Establishes systems & structures for collecting teacher insights, contexts & perspectives over time and across myriad projects/objectives
- Determines plan and process for ensuring our understanding of teachers’ needs is evolving as our audience grows and changes
- Consults w/ “client” teams in order to set parameters, timeline, etc for the user insights to be collected for each project - using process/format determined in partnership with the Director of Participant Insights
- Conducts research and synthesizes user insights, using process/format determined in partnership with the Director of Participant Insights
- Communicates research and insights in a way that designers can internalize and ultimately design their work around
Cross-team Collaboration and Collective Leadership (30%)
- Internalize the broad suite of organizational experiences, messages, frameworks etc. that touch our teachers throughout their journey, so that you are thinking not just in terms of individual products and experiences but the overall arc and cumulative effect they have across a teacher’s experience
- Internalize the objectives of our Design and Marketing & Socialization sub-teams, so that you know the ends to which your insights are ultimately going
- Collaborate closely with our Design and Marketing & Socialization sub-teams to ensure the insights you provide are ultimately enabling their work to be more user-centered
- Assume ownership of and contribute to the culture, systems and processes required of a team that is highly collaborative and where the work is touched by each sub-team
Personal Leadership and Responsibilities (10%)
- Engage in your own personal and professional development and planning to continually improve your effectiveness at bringing participant insights and UX best practices to our work
- Engage in organizational responsibilities such as personal administrative duties, corps member selection processes, and organizational and team culture stewardship
- At least 3-5 years of professional experience supporting teachers and/or in user-centered design work
- Experience managing and/or contributing to highly collaborative cross-functional projects preferred
- Teach For America alum and/or regional staff experience strongly preferred
- Experience working with Teach For America’s internal data systems (TFACT, program tracker, etc.) a plus but not required
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Ability to be vision-driven in execution and communication of projects where outcomes are articulated but process is not
- Good judgment and strong problem-solver; excellent critical thinking skills; able to synthesize and identify trends and root causes across myriad inputs
- Strong orientation/skill set in data-based decision making
- Exceptional written/verbal communication skills; can articulate sometimes complex information in a way that is crisp and actionable
- Ability to manage several projects at once and work well in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment; create and maintain organizational systems with strong attention to detail; track tasks, assess progress and follow through on the execution of plans
- Proven ability to develop and leverage relationships, working with individuals both within and outside of the organization and seeing situations from multiple perspectives
- Proactive, independent, and optimistic approach to work and operate with a high level of entrepreneurialism
- Strong adaptability to shifting contexts and ability to deliver high-quality work consistently and on time
- Learning orientation to work; proactively solicits and implements feedback consistently
- Exceptional Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills for creating dashboards and reporting and sharing information with external and internal audiences
- Values-Driven Leader: demonstrates deep commitment to Teach For America’s mission, core values, and our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. Collaborative spirit and desire to partner closely with teammates. Reflective and proactively works to grow and improve.
Work Demands
- Working with colleagues who are based all over the country – using remote technologies and traveling periodically for in-person collaboration (estimated travel is 1-2x/quarter)