Senior Director of School Models

Job Description

The Senior Director of School Models will be a member of the Advancement Team and will directly report to the Managing Director of Strategic Expansion. The Senior Director of School Models will be responsible for leading the redesign of the KIPP Texas School Model. A school model at KIPP Texas is the unified framework for our schools that combines together all aspects of our desired schools – financial sustainability, enrollment, academic programming, talent plan, class size, construction and building requirements, support services including transportation, food services, staffing model, et al. – on a standardized model to create consistency, equity, and excellence in student experience.

Successful candidates for this role will be able to demonstrate ability to work in complex situations, experience bringing together stakeholders with differing opinions and finding a way forward. While strong people and project management skills are a necessity in this role, the successful candidate will also be a proven problem solver who can leverage impact and influence to find clarity in complex situations. Additionally, successful candidates will understand the interconnectedness of various central support functions in order to lead a cross-functional working group.

This position may be based out of the Austin, Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio offices. Some travel will be required.

• Communication & Team Champion: Champion and communicate consistently and with convection around the work of the Strategic Scaling Team and the importance of multiyear planning, growth, and strategic projects to allow the organization to scale effectively
• Internal Stakeholder Management: Lead cross-functional team charged with revising current school models. Identify all key stakeholders to expansion and create an engagement plan for school model work that engages stakeholders at the right level and right time. This includes developing agendas and facilitating cross-functional team and executive leadership team meetings, and engaging senior leaders across the network. Intentionally build buy-in and gather feedback on the project when appropriate. Build influence across KIPP Texas to ensure project success. Build trusting relationships with current and former school leaders to guide assessment of current state and development of revised model;
• External Stakeholder Management: Partner with the Director of School Partnerships where needed to build school models given unique physical or staffing situations by collaborating with local ISD leadership. Build and maintain relationships with other charter and traditional school systems to understand trends in school model work;
• Strategic Thinking and Project Design: Own the redesign of the KIPP Texas School Model, incorporating perspective from stakeholders across the organization. Create evaluation tool for current schools and assess distance from ideal state school model. Given significant input from other central teams, create implementation map for current schools to move to a standardized model over time including change management and training processes;
• Project Design, Execution and Progress Monitoring: Monitor progress of model design; Elevate dependencies and risks to Managing Director of Strategic Expansion. Bring solutions to areas of concern; Proactively progress monitor and communicate deadlines with clarity.
• Synthesize Takeaways from Data and Lived Experience: Balance a data-driven, analytical, and rational problem solving skill set with the understanding that people and relationships matter. Utilize both qualitative and quantitative data synthesis to formulate recommended solutions on the right path forward. Demonstrate an adaptive mindset with an ability to concurrently see the big picture while focusing on the details (can see the forest for the trees).
• Team Culture: Contribute to team culture through authentic engagement and participation in meetings and retreats. Participate actively in development opportunities, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) sessions, and lead sessions for the team as asked and/or interested. Volunteer as interested to serve on the Advancement team’s Connection Committee. Give honest, constructive feedback via established feedback mechanisms (e.g., staff surveys) to ensure the continued improvement of the team and the organization. Seek to work by the values of the organization and to act in alignment with the Advancement Team’s agreements. Represent the Advancement Team responsibly to other stakeholders within and outside the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year university.
• Minimum of 5 years of work experience with scaling CMOs or with multi-site operations
• Experience leading cross-functional projects/initiatives; Operations, Talent and/or Finance experience preferred
• Demonstrated ability to have impact and influence across multiple functional areas (e.g., academics, talent, finance, operations, etc.).
• Experience fostering strong working relationships with C-level executive team members.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent listening and verbal communication skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and service-orientation.
• Self-directed and results-oriented, demonstrating initiative and follow-through.
• Experience with charter or charter-like schools, non-profit strategy, non-profit consulting, and/or with students in low-income urban environments is required.
• Ability to model KIPP’s values at all times.

Additional Information

In addition to a competitive salary scale, a part of KIPP Texas’ competitive benefits options, KIPP offers all employees an $0 HMO plan for the employee only. In addition to our $0 plan, KIPP provides a $600 employer contribution towards a Health Savings Account and a variety of other supplemental benefits such as Dental, Vision, Short and Long-Term Disability, Pet Insurance, Life, etc.