Smarter Balanced, Deputy Executive Director

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7d•Remote

About The Position

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a public agency supported by 12 (states and territories). Through the work of thousands of educators, Smarter Balanced created an online assessment system aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), as well as tools for educators to improve teaching and learning. Smarter Balanced is housed at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) Silicon Valley Extension. Our work is guided by the belief that a high-quality assessment system can provide information and tools for teachers and schools to improve instruction and help students succeed, regardless of disability, language, or subgroup. We involve experienced educators, researchers, state and local policymakers, and community groups working together in a transparent and consensus-driven process. UCSC Extension provides professional training that reflects the academic rigor of the University of California and the hands-on, roll-up-your-shirtsleeves practicality of Silicon Valley culture. Developed with guidance from key industry leaders and academic experts, our certificate programs match the economic demand of your industry, from engineering to business, education to bioscience. The University of California reviews and approves UCSC Extension courses and programs for academic content, merit, and instructor qualifications. Many of our courses may be applied toward degree programs or may be eligible for professional certificates and licenses. To learn more about Smarter Balanced, please visit www.smarterbalanced.org. The Deputy Executive Director provides senior executive leadership to advance Smarter Balanced's mission through coordinated decision-making, operational excellence, and strategic supervision across multiple functional areas. Reporting to the Executive Director, the position serves as a central integrator across offices, ensuring timely, transparent, and data-informed decisions that appropriately engage the Executive Committee, advisory bodies, and the Governing Board. The Deputy Executive Director serves as the initial escalation point for office- and organization-wide risks and plays a key role in safeguarding organizational integrity through effective risk management, compliance oversight, and institutional accountability. The position provides executive oversight of core operational systems, including finance, human resources, production planning, and quality assurance, ensuring alignment with University of California and UC Santa Cruz policies and best practices. Through continuous improvement, performance monitoring, and strategic resource stewardship, the Deputy Executive Director strengthens operational effectiveness, drives efficiency, and ensures that Smarter Balanced products and services meet the highest standards of quality and reliability. As a senior leader, the Deputy Executive Director supervises and develops executive officers across External Affairs, Product and Strategy, Content, Psychometrics, Research, and Project Management. The role fosters cross-office collaboration, builds high-performing leadership teams, and supports organizational change and succession planning. When the Executive Director is unavailable, the Deputy Executive Director assumes executive authority to ensure continuity of leadership and operations, providing stability and strategic guidance during both routine operations and high-stakes, time-sensitive situations.

Requirements

Advanced degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.
Proven experience in serving as an executive to support state and national organizations in their development and use of effective assessment systems aimed at improving teaching and learning.
Proven experience in addressing complex political landscapes in a manner that positions the organization for long-term success and prioritizes relationship-building among stakeholders.
Proven experience scaling systems while demonstrating commitment to accuracy, accessibility, fairness, and maintaining public trust.
Highly developed leadership abilities with demonstrated success in developing high-performance teams, managing organizational change, and motivating and influencing others as necessary to achieve organizational goals.
Proven experience leading and developing a team of executives to establish goals aligned with the organization's mission and maximize organizational outcomes.
Experience ensuring that organizational practices, services, and behaviors support and promote collaboration among staff.
Proven experience in establishing and implementing strategic plans to empower the organization to better fulfill its mission.
Thorough knowledge of large-scale educational assessment and experience in working directly with state staff to arrive at technical assessment solutions that meet their needs.
Thorough knowledge of the organizational environment of state departments of education to understand client priorities, issues, motivations, and constraints.
Thorough knowledge of the federal law and general knowledge of states’ laws regarding K-12 assessment and accountability, and procurement.
Highly developed decision-making skills that include consensus-based decision-making and input and guidance from several constituents (e.g., executive board, customers, advocacy groups).
Proven capacity to adapt to unexpected and high-stakes issues with a track record of providing executive oversight in supporting an expedient resolution that addresses the needs of the organization and is consistent with best practices in educational assessment.
Ability to travel 1-2 times per month.

Nice To Haves

Terminal degree in a related field (PhD, JD, MD, etc.).
Excellent communication skills. Demonstrated ability to craft messages that meet the needs of a diversity of audiences and a diversity of media for internal and external purposes.
Proven experience in leading the current market to shape current and future trends.
Proven experience in business development, marketing, communications, and aligning budgets to strategic objectives that support organizational success.
Thorough knowledge of technology necessary to support the development and administration of educational assessments.
Thorough knowledge of public sector practices in performance management.
Proven experience in validating new educational assessments.
Proven experience engaging in collaborative problem-solving with governing or executive boards.

Responsibilities

Ensure timely, transparent decision-making across the organization that appropriately incorporates the Executive Committee, Advisory committees, and the Governing Board.
Lead executive cross-office coordination to align strategies, manage shared resources, and manage operational trade-offs that incorporate data-informed decision-making.
Oversee organizational risk management and compliance frameworks that safeguard operations, strengthen accountability, and support organizational resilience.
Foster consistent communication and documentation practices that promote institutional transparency and trust.
Provide Executive oversight of Smarter Balanced operational processes, including Finance and Human Resource practices, to ensure high quality, appropriate stewardship of public funds and member resources, and alignment with UC/UCSC policies.
Monitor organizational controls to ensure that organizational products and services are of the highest level of quality. Oversee production planning, approval, and post-publication review processes.
Drive operational efficiency through improved workflows and clear documentation.
Establish and maintain mechanisms for continuous improvement, including risk assessment, staff feedback, and performance reporting.
Oversee annual and multi-year budget development and budget revisions, ensuring integration of strategic priorities, resource efficiency, and transparency across offices.
Serves the functions of the Executive Director when the Executive Director is not available.
Provides strategic leadership and organizational alignment across the offices of External Affairs, Strategy and Product, Content, and Psychometrics, Research, and Project Management—ensuring cross-functional initiatives advance Smarter Balanced's mission, long-term vision, and stakeholder support.
Supervises and develops executive officers, setting clear performance expectations, facilitating collaboration, and fostering professional growth through mentoring, accountability, and succession planning to ensure excellence in program execution.
Provides guidance and resolution support when divisional issues or conflicts escalate across executives' teams or impact organizational objectives.
Fosters an inclusive and high-performing organizational culture.