Director of Special Projects

ARCHDIOCESE OF SEATTLE PAYROLL SERVICES•Seattle, WA

7h•$105,200 - $128,500•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director of Special Projects serves as the primary Office for Catholic Schools (OCS) field representative for parish families with multiple schools navigating strategic school planning in the context of Partners in the Gospel. The Director functions as an embedded, accountable partner to principals, pastors, and school commissions, working with each school individually, with schools within a family together, and liaising between parish leadership and OCS. The core function of the role is implementation accountability: ensuring that the strategic work schools and parish families are responsible for completing is managed with discipline, moves forward on schedule, and results in concrete outcomes. The Director reports directly to the Superintendent of Schools and collaborates closely with Parish Family Liaisons and the Planning and Mission Effectiveness team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
8 or more years of progressive experience in education leadership, organizational development, change management, or a closely related field required.
Demonstrated experience working with schools in an administrative or leadership capacity required; experience with Catholic schools or parish-based education programs strongly preferred.
Proven track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects to completion—including disciplined management of tasks, timelines, deliverables, and constituent relationships across a large portfolio.
Experience building and maintaining accountability structures in settings where authority is relational rather than formal (i.e., influencing outcomes without direct supervisory authority over the people doing the work).
Demonstrated experience facilitating meetings and difficult conversations with senior leaders, including pastors, principals, and board or commission members.
Demonstrated ability to navigate and resolve conflict in complex, multi-party situations with competing interests.
Exceptional project and caseload management skills; ability to manage multiple active engagements simultaneously with consistent quality and follow-through.
Strong emotional intelligence and interpersonal acuity; skilled at building trust with diverse leaders across lay and ordained roles.
Demonstrated intercultural competency and experience working effectively in multicultural settings.
Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to produce clear, well-organized reports, agendas, decision memos, and correspondence.
Ability to think creatively and offer imaginative, practical ideas in support of school and parish planning.
High degree of organizational self-discipline; manages time, priorities, and competing demands effectively in a field-based role with minimal daily supervision.
Willingness and ability to support the mission of the Church by extending the ministry of the Archbishop
Ability and desire to use God-given gifts and talents in service of the local Church
Active member of a parish/faith community in good standing with the Church
Willingness to participate with other staff members in implementing the OCS mission
Grounded in spiritual practices; familiarity with or openness to learning Catholic parish structures, consultative governance bodies, and the process of communal discernment.
Must possess a personal vehicle, valid Washington State driver’s license, and current auto insurance; significant local travel throughout the Archdiocese is expected.

Nice To Haves

advanced degree in education leadership, organizational management, or a related field preferred, or comparable professional experience.
Background in working with churches, religious organizations, or mission-driven nonprofits preferred.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary OCS point of contact for parish families with multiple schools, maintaining active, working relationships with principals, pastors, and key school staff.
Own overall progress tracking for each assigned parish school, monitoring task completion, milestone achievement, and adherence to planning timelines across individual schools and the family as a whole.
Establish and maintain clear accountability structures for schools within each family, ensuring principals and their teams know what is expected of them, by when, and to what standard.
Identify delays, gaps, or risks in implementation and develop corrective action plans in partnership with school and parish leaders; escalate to the Superintendent as appropriate.
Produce and maintain a monthly status report for each assigned parish school, summarizing progress, decisions made, open issues, and upcoming milestones; review regularly with the Superintendent for Catholic Schools.
Manage a caseload-level work plan that allows the Superintendent to see the status of all assigned families in a single view.
Work directly with each assigned school to support implementation of its assigned strategic planning tasks, including financial analysis, staffing structure review, commission formation, governance clarification, and operational sustainability planning.
Facilitate working sessions with families of schools to advance shared decision making, surface collaboration opportunities, and build alignment across principals and leadership teams within the same parish family.
Provide intercultural and pastorally informed facilitation for meetings involving diverse parish and school stakeholders, ensuring all voices are engaged and decisions are well-grounded.
Support principals and school commissions in understanding and applying Partners in the Gospel resources, tools, and frameworks relevant to school planning.
Identify and communicate training needs for school leaders and commissions, coordinating with OCS personnel resources to address gaps.
Serve as the consistent OCS liaison to pastors overseeing assigned parish families, communicating regularly on school planning progress, key decisions, and emerging concerns.
Serve as a local expert on the Partners in the Gospel strategic pastoral planning initiative taking place in parishes, ensuring school leadership remains up to date on the work happening in parishes.
Support pastors in understanding the scope of strategic planning work underway in their schools and the role expectations placed on principals and school commissions.
Assist pastors and principals in designing effective communication strategies for engaging parishioners, school families, and consultative bodies throughout the planning process.
Accompany pastors and their leadership teams in the discernment of creative approaches to school collaboration, resource sharing, and structural design.
Prepare clear, well-organized agendas, decision memos, and follow-up documentation for key meetings with pastors and parish leadership; ensure timely follow-through on all action items.
Work in close coordination with Parish Family Liaisons, ensuring alignment between parish pastoral planning and school-specific planning within the same family.
Collaborate with the Planning and Mission Effectiveness team to align school implementation work with Archdiocesan planning frameworks and goals.
Participate in regular OCS team coordination meetings and contribute to systemwide learning about effective school planning practices.
Serve as an informed resource to OCS leadership on the status, challenges, and emerging needs of assigned parish families and their schools.