2 jobs found

Managing Director of New School Development - Charter Type:  Full Time Min. Experience:  Senior to Executive Level   ABOUT GOOD REASON HOUSTON  Good Reason Houston’s vision is that every child, in every neighborhood, excels in a world-class public school and thrives in the Houston of tomorrow. The organization partners with school districts, community leaders, families, and educators to achieve its mission of increasing the number of students learning in a high-performing school. To grow more great schools in every neighborhood in Houston, the organization focuses on four key strategic levers: Driving System Innovation, Developing Game-changing Educators, Advancing Equitable Access, and Engaging the Community.   ABOUT THE ROLE Good Reason Houston is seeking a Managing Director of New School Development - Charter who is a proven leader in the recruitment, selection, development, and scaling of new schools and/or school networks, is results-oriented and passionate about the role high-quality charter schools play in a robust ecosystem, and excited about working in a start-up environment.  The Managing Director will have the unique opportunity to impact Houston’s charter school landscape, and ultimately influence student outcomes at a city-wide level. The role will drive partnerships with existing CMOs, facilitate the expansion, launch, and/or improvement of small charter networks and single site schools, and provide supports and expertise to new (first-year) schools and leaders. This role will build partnerships with National, state, and local leaders and community partners seeking to start new charter schools and liaise with the Texas Education Agency. Finally, this role will lead conversations with school districts to accelerate the creation of charter district/partnerships and increase access to high quality charters that are responsive to parent demand in new communities.  This position reports to the Chief Program Officer and will play a vital role in ensuring that Good Reason Houston realizes its vision that every child, in every neighborhood, excels in a world-class public school and thrives in the Houston of tomorrow.  RESPONSIBILITIES This role will evolve to meet the needs of the Good Reason Strategy and as the education landscape in the state and region shifts. Current responsibilities include:   Strategy Setting and Leadership of the Good Reason Houston charter school seats plan:  Execute against the current Good Reason Houston charter school seats plan, and develop, maintain, and create new strategies to ensure the its success. Build and maintain strategic relationships with CMO, small network and single-site leadership across the city. Build and maintain a strong relationship with the TEA Charter Schools Division, forging a relationship that benefits Houston and encourages high-quality charter school growth.  Provide technical assistance to all partners, and recruit a suite of technical assistance support partners, per our charter school strategy. Define additional opportunities along the development pipeline to support growth of a high-quality sector, including the use and execution of our quality school deserts. Determine and coordinate outreach and parent engagement as necessary, and in partnership with charter advocates, to support policies and practices that benefit the health and growth the sector.  Engaging large CMOs and supporting their growth plans:  Build and maintain strategic relationships with CMO leadership. Support the launch of new mature network campuses. Support the creation and strengthening of bench depth for assistant principals and principals and the development and recruitment of teachers into Houston, ensuring CMO growth strategies are executed. Support the development of parent engagement capacity and advocacy trainings, through professional learning communities.  Actively and strategically support new schools and small charter networks to ensure their growth plans are met, and that they have access to the technical assistance they need to be successful, including: Curate a suite of resources, delivered by proven experts that can provide facilities, growth planning, and admin systems/scaling support while leaders focus on growth. Build a professional learning community focused on the development of community and family engagement at the school and network level. Provide small networks with the central office development support the need to be successful in their growth. Utilize the Good Reason Houston school desert analysis to understand growth opportunities, and support networks in their decision making.  Invest in community engagement and entry strategies for supported operators, ensuring their success in years zero and one. Recruiting new, innovative models to the Urban Core of Houston, based on parent demand, and ensuring authorization approval with the TEA, buy-in local stakeholders.   Recruit and source new school model providers and school leaders for school creation and school turnaround Identify, vet, cultivate new partners that can provide comprehensive leadership training and coaching Fulfilling the required responsibilities of being a senior leader on the Good Reason Houston Team requires: Strong organizational skills – Utilizes logical, systematic and orderly procedures to meet objectives. Demonstrates ability to manage multiple projects and work streams independently.  Flexibility – Agility in adapting to change, thrives in a dynamic and ever-changing environment; creativity and innovative thinking skills to respond to emerging needs. Strategic mindset – competently creates strategies that lead to impact.  Manages multiple short-term and detailed projects, committees, and initiatives seamlessly, while staying focused on the long-term objectives. People orientation – The job demands a positive and constructive view of working with others.  There will be a high percentage of time spent listening to, understanding and successfully working with a wide range of people from diverse backgrounds to achieve “win-win” outcomes. Sense of Humor- someone who is honest, transparent and does not take themselves too seriously. Effective Decision-making – Demonstrates ability to consistently make sound decisions. Empathy in Leadership – Deep care and concern for being a conscientious and effective manager of others QUALIFICATIONS We’re seeking candidates who excel in relationship-building, are results-oriented, and have strong project management skills. You should have: A track record of developing and maintaining strong relationships with and among a diverse group of stakeholders. Excellent organizational skills, with a demonstrated commitment to meeting a high bar and a history of getting things done even in the face of obstacles and ambiguity. As Good Reason Houston is in “start-up mode,” we look for candidates who can be flexible in changing environments. A data and research orientation – including a curiosity and urgency around data collection and analysis, and its ability to inform decision making. Experience managing multiple projects and the ability to manage teammates and stakeholders on short-term projects. Passion about the mission, vision, and goals of Good Reason Houston and how this position contributes to the organization’s success. Knowledge of the charter school development and start-up process, preferably as a practitioner in a prior role; experience working with charter schools is required.

Good Reason Houston is seeking a passionate, strategic and creative Chief Operating Officer to lead Good Reason Houston’s communication, operations and policy work. Good Reason Houston partners with school districts, community leaders, families, and educators to achieve its mission of increasing the number of students learning in high-quality schools.  This person should be obsessed with giving clarity, direction, and strategic focus in the intersection of communications, community engagement, policy, and operations in order to serve as crux of these key functions for Good Reason Houston. This person should be skilled at recognizing and capitalizing on natural connections within key business functions and excellent at mobilizing people and partnerships.  This position reports to the CEO of Good Reason Houston and sits on the leadership team. They will manage a robust team including the Director of Communications, Director of Family & Community Engagement, Director of Policy as well as operations staff members.  ABOUT GOOD REASON HOUSTON Good Reason Houston’s vision is that every child, in every neighborhood, excels in a world-class public school and thrives in the Houston of tomorrow. To grow more great schools in every neighborhood in Houston, the organization focuses on four key strategic levers:  Driving System Innovation Developing Game-changing Educators Advancing Equitable Access Engaging the Community RESPONSIBILITIES Internal and External Communications Set and pursue an elegant and effective communication strategy to position Good Reason Houston as a key leader on school quality in the Houston community while continuing to build brand awareness Determine key communication goals and systems for progress monitoring, both internally and externally Develop and manage the internal communication for Good Reason Houston’s growing team   Serve as one of the external representatives of Good Reason Houston across the greater Houston community  Operations  Steward and strengthen the Good Reason Houston organizational culture through establishing (with input) and striving for key staff culture metrics Organize team-building and planning activities, such as team meetings and team retreats Manage team and key staff to ensure smooth in-office operations Lead and organize Good Reason Houston’s upcoming office relocation Set vision and goals to support the health and management of Good Reason Houston’s human resource function, including talent and recruitment strategy and HR/benefits Design and implement a performance management system that is equipped to support each team member in achieving their best performance while enabling Good Reason Houston to move towards the realization of our vision  Board Stewardship  Manage board meeting process, including meeting content and partnership work Design and execute board retreats Support the board in executing their vital functions in achieving the Good Reason Houston vision Family & Community Engagement Build and invest in systems and organizations that directly engage families with education decision-making Lead creation of community based partnerships and coalitions to accelerate the pace of change aligned to Good Reason Houston core mission Identify and develop family and community leaders to advocate for improved school quality within individual school districts Policy & Advocacy   Support Good Reason Houston’s legislative agenda with key constituencies at the state and local level Coordinate with state changemakers to align on legislative agenda priorities and policy recommendations  Support local advocacy tactics: manage partnership and goals, strategies and communication plan  QUALIFICATIONS Requirements Bachelor’s Degree required, advanced degree highly preferred  8-10 years of professional, relevant experience Demonstrated commitment to mission-driven work  Record of results in communication strategy and externally representing an organization  Past management of a staff/board relationship highly preferred Relevant Skills  Expertise setting vision and direction for a team  Creative problem solving Executing Strong Judgment and Decision Making Developing and Building Teams Guidance, Direction, and Motivation of Teammates Oral and Written Comprehension and Expression Monitoring and Performance Assessment Problem Sensitivity and Solution Focus Data Analysis and Inference Education policy experience preferred, but not required