Design and Coaching Specialist, ELA

Leading Educators Careers • New York City, NY

3d • Remote

About The Position

Leading Educators is seeking a Design and Coaching Specialist - ELA to drive measurable improvements in K-8 literacy instruction across New York City schools. In this dual-focused role, you'll combine school-based coaching with instructional design to ensure our programming translates directly into stronger teacher practice and student outcomes. You'll serve as the main point of contact for school leaders, coaches, teacher leaders, and instructional leadership teams—acting as the project's expert in instructional coaching, adult learning, and classroom assessment. You'll provide direct coaching to teachers and leaders while designing professional learning tools and resources tailored to each school's unique context and needs. Rather than treating design and coaching as separate functions, you'll integrate them seamlessly—using classroom observations, student work, and leadership data to inform both your coaching conversations and your professional learning designs. Your work will strengthen Professional Learning Communities, build distributed leadership, and create the conditions for sustainable instructional improvement at the school level. Reporting to the Director of Implementation, Design, and Coaching, you'll work in close partnership to ensure that school-level implementation aligns with district priorities while remaining grounded in the realities of classroom practice. This is a role where your expertise, relationships, and commitment to excellence directly shape how students experience literacy instruction.

Requirements

• 7+ years of professional experience in education, including experience teaching, leading instructional practice, or supporting curriculum implementation
• K-8 literacy content expertise required (comfort with elementary and middle school standards and research-based best practices), including familiarity with core and intervention curricula such as HMH Into Reading, HMH Into Literature, Wit & Wisdom, EL Education, Fishtank, SPIRE, SPIRE Sound Sensible, Phonics for Reading, and REWARDS
• Demonstrated experience providing coaching to teachers, teacher leaders, or school leaders
• Experience designing and facilitating professional learning aligned to curriculum, standards, and observable instructional practice
• Experience analyzing student work, classroom observation data, and instructional artifacts to inform coaching and professional learning decisions
• Ability to manage school-based relationships with professionalism, reliability, and instructional credibility
• Practitioner-level AI fluency: ability to identify appropriate use cases, apply AI to improve efficiency and quality, exercise judgment about responsible use, and integrate AI into existing workflows
• Ability to travel; based in New York City
• Authorization to work for any employer in the United States

Responsibilities

• Providing high-impact coaching to teachers, teacher leaders, and school leaders focused on lesson internalization, student work analysis, goal-setting, and reflective improvement cycles
• Designing and facilitating professional learning aligned to curriculum, standards, and observable instructional practice—adapting resources based on school context and district priorities
• Analyzing student work, classroom observation data, and instructional artifacts to inform both coaching decisions and professional learning design
• Building trusting relationships with school leaders and instructional teams while maintaining instructional credibility and reliability
• Conducting classroom observations and co-observations to assess instruction and provide actionable, growth-oriented feedback grounded in literacy best practices
• Facilitating learning walks, grade team meetings, and Professional Learning Communities that strengthen instructional leadership capacity in ELA
• Integrating design and coaching to create coherent cycles of learning that deepen teacher knowledge and shift literacy practice
• Analyzing ongoing evidence of student learning, teacher practice, and PLC leader development to monitor and refine program impact

Benefits

• 100% paid medical, dental, and vision coverage for individual employees. Additional premium costs are covered 60% by Leading Educators for partners and dependents on medical, dental, and vision plans.
• 4% matching 401k plan, Flexible Spending Accounts for medical, childcare and commuter expenses, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Benefits are valued at or above $9,000 for employees.
• First three years of employment, full time staff accrue 22 days a year. Five additional days are accrued after the third and sixth year of employment. Leading Educators also offer 16 additional paid days off for various holidays, including three floating holidays staff may use at their discretion.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees