We seek to hire a Director of Teacher Leaders to lead in regional efforts to ensure that the students in corps members’ and alumni teachers’ classrooms are academically positioned for a life of choice and equity, and that our corps members and other partners become lifelong advocates for educational equity. Teacher Leaders are corps member and alumni teachers who have developed proficiency on aspects of their instructional practice. To serve kids and families in the DC community, we seek an education leader to accelerate our efforts to promote student leadership and empowerment through culturally responsive teaching and practices by serving as a strong staff culture leader, effective coach and thought partner to other Talent Hub team leaders.
As a Director on our team, you will contribute to and advance our team’s work by developing and coaching a team of Managers of Teacher Leadership Development, designing and leading cross-programmatic efforts to ensure that the region achieves its student achievement, corps member retention and culture, and partnership goals.
This position offers a unique opportunity if you have strong culture leadership, management and relationship-building skills, excel at working with and leading diverse teams, have strong instructional knowledge, and have a record of achieving ambitious results.
You will report directly to the Chief Program Officer.
The Goals and Primary Responsibilities (include but are not limited to):
- Establish and lead team to achieve ambitious goals with a focus on Teacher Leaders and school-based Alumni, directly related to
- student achievement, cultural competence and critical consciousness
- rigorous teaching and learning practices
- corps culture strength
- corps member performance and retention
- team diversity and culture
- team professional development
Develop a Successful Talent Hub Team: Focus on Teacher Leaders and School-Based Alumni (40%)
- Co-design vision around our work supporting our teachers leaders including support, professional development and evaluation in partnership with Talent Hub team leadership and Managers of Teacher Leadership Development
- Leverage strategic partnerships to provide key programmatic support to the Talent Hub team and corps members and alumni teachers
- Co-design and implement a programmatic vision for the development of teacher leaders and alumni teachers integrating the principles of adult learning and leadership of collegial inquiry, communities of practice (teaming and mentoring) and leadership development
- Manage high quality implementation of programmatic vision through performance management, program evaluation and benchmarking
- Manage a portfolio of Managers of Teacher Leaders (MTLDs), empower, cultivate, hire, and coach and develop a strong team.
- Foster an empowered, equitable and inclusive team who model our core values for themselves and our corps members
- Encourage staff and corps members to regularly reflect upon and strive towards maximizing their impact
Accelerate and Advance the Talent Hub Team’s Efforts Toward Transformational Change in our Classrooms (35%)
- Steward a compelling vision focused on maximizing the region’s impact on students’ immediate academic success and long-term opportunities in life
- In partnership with the Director, Certification Programming, to motivate and move your team to internalize the possibility of achieving ambitious goals with students, realize their potential to set students on a dramatically different life trajectory, and claim their role as leaders in the movement for educational equity
- Cultivate good judgment in your team about trends and causes in classrooms through school visits
- Lead your team to plan for and take actions that result in significant changes in classrooms, thereby demonstrating results and putting kids on a path of expanded opportunities in life
- Build partnerships with external stakeholders to support ongoing development of strong culturally responsive teacher leaders committed to student achievement
Fuel the Movement for Educational Equity (15%)
- In collaboration with the Talent Hub team, establish and maintain diverse school district and community partnerships that drive toward a common vision, goals, and values
- Actively work to build authentic relationships with all stakeholders, and to realize our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness
- Cultivate corps members and alumni in order to support a robust talent pipeline for the Talent Hub and staff positions in the region and throughout Teach For America, coaching alumni fellows matched through Venture Philanthropy Partners investment
- Advance the work of the region by serving as a liaison with national partners on TFA’s staff, both leveraging national resources to meet regional teacher support and development goals and priorities and by deepening the awareness and engagement of national teams with the TFA work in DC. This may include, but not be limited to, classroom visits, providing data and information analysis on DC work and outcomes, and other strategic engagement of national partners in DC ‘s teacher support and development work.
Know and Grow Yourself as a Leader (10%)
- Hold 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
- Seek ways to expand your impact, based on reflection and feedback
- Partner with leaders in other regions to continuously learn and grow
- Sustain yourself in this work and model this for your team and corps members
- Have understanding of and desire to continually learn and grow
Regional Team Responsibilities (10%)
- Support, attend and/or participate in regional team activities including but not limited to, corps member selection and matriculation, corps members and alumni professional development including 1 Saturday and regional pre-service (one week in June), functional teams meetings and retreats.
To be successful in this role, you must:
- Believe in our core values and regional vision, mission, and goals, and commit to striving to embody these values and to achieve these outcomes
- Have an understanding and deep belief in fostering culturally responsive educators
- Develop strong peer and managerial relationships such that you can contribute to our team’s ability to hire, engage, develop, and retain a diverse and highly effective staff
- In collaboration with the Talent Hub team leadership, establish ambitious / measurable goals and aligned strategy for the academic achievement of students, effective partnerships with districts and schools, and the instructional leadership development and talent pipeline of corps members and staff members
- Constantly seek to reflect on progress, learn, and improve; quickly act on individual reflections, feedback, and new information
Prior Experience
- Experience as a Teach For America corps member and/or staff member is highly preferred, but not required
- Experience working in the DC and/or Prince George’s County education landscape highly preferred
- A minimum of 5-7 years of work experience leading and managing teams, through layers, to achieve ambitious outcomes
- Teaching in K-12 experience required
- Demonstrated success coaching, developing, and improving adult performance, designing and facilitating adult learning experiences, ideally in an instructional setting
- Adept at compiling and analyzing vast amounts of data to define opportunities and challenges, draw conclusions, and inform team management approach
- Able to build and leverage relationships, especially across lines of difference, to reach ambitious goals
- Strong planning and project management skills, with an eye for the ways details influence culture
Work Demands
- This director will often travel independently to multiple school sites throughout the day that may be significant distances from one another, navigating school facilities that may or may not be ADA-compliant. Additionally, the Director of Teacher Leaders should expect 1-2 weeklong overnight trips for conferences each year.
Salary for this position is competitive and depends on prior experience. In addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.
Teach For America encourages individuals of all ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to this effort. Learn more about our diversity on staff: www.teachforamerica.org/about-us/careers/life-at-tfa/workforce-diversity....
Teach For America is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
This job description reflects Teach For America's assignment of essential functions and qualifications of the role. Nothing in this herein restricts management's right to assign, reassign or eliminate duties and responsibilities to this role at any time.