Director or Vice President of Schools

Rocketship Public Schools•Washington, DC

41d•$120,000 - $185,000

About The Position

At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential. We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non-profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential. Position Description Rocketship is seeking to hire an instructionally and school leadership focused Director of Schools (DoS). Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as a strategic leader, the DoS will help to refine, innovate upon, and scale the Rocketship instructional and operational model to achieve the organization's collective mission to eliminate the achievement gap in historically under-served communities. Based in Washington DC, the DoS will be a key strategic leader of the DC Regional Leadership team. This role will directly manage a team of three principals, the Director of Achievement, and the Director of Culture providing coaching and development to direct reports. The DoS will manage Rocketship's schools and Achievement team; customizing Rocketship’s model for personalized learning and student achievement. The DoS will own the academic outcomes/ student achievement for the entire region. The DoS will provide direct supervision to our Principals in the DC region. The DoS, will ensure that all our (~1500 Rocketeers across 3 campuses) students meet ambitious academic outcomes. Additionally, the DoS will also be responsible for setting the scope and sequence for Schools Talent Development for the region. In collaboration with both the Program Team and Talent Team, the DoS will be a key decision maker in succession planning and development tracks for all schools facing roles. The ideal candidate will have direct school leadership experience and will have developed and/or led an instructional model that realized high levels of student achievement in an organization similar in scope and scale to Rocketship. The DoS will have experience leading and expanding a multi-site enterprise and interacting effectively with senior leadership, school-level administrators, teachers and school based staff, donors, and members of a board of directors. The DoS will ensure that Rocketship maintains a culture that puts Rocketeers first and provides outstanding support to its schools while also creating a culture of excellence amongst Rocketship staff that encourages and creates strong tenure. She/he/they will combine a capacity for systems-level and strategic thinking, deep pedagogical and instructional experience, an eye towards school leadership, careful attention to detail, and strong interpersonal skills in building relationships with critical internal and external stakeholders. The DoS will be a mission-driven leader with a tangible passion for ensuring Rocketship continues to provide life-changing opportunities for its students. The ideal DoS candidate will have experience working in a dynamic, growing organization during a transformational phase. S/he is entrepreneurial by nature and positively impacts both strategic and tactical initiatives by managing multiple projects at a time. The ideal DoS candidate identifies with, and appreciates the work of, every contributor across all levels of Rocketship's organization.

Requirements

A deep belief in the mission and educational model of Rocketship Public Schools with the ability to work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, flexible and autonomous environment
A minimum of 5 years of broad school system and instructional experience with a track-record of successful instructional expertise in realizing high levels of student achievement in a complex, multi-site, multi-regional environment
Previous experience as a principal in a high performing school strongly preferred
Strong understanding and oversight of the achievement and school leadership functions, with the ability to strategically advise the Executive Director and the Board on the academic and instructional pipeline strength of the organization
Strong people manager with the ability to drive outcomes through collaboration
Strong pedagogical, culturally responsive, and personalized learning skills to effectively innovate upon the school model and systems to achieve greater student achievement outcomes and opportunities, whilst constantly thinking about, innovating upon and implementing new strategies and approaches to our personalized learning approach in order to always ensure that the Rocketship model offers our Rocketeers and families the most robust learning experience competitive with our more affluent public school peers
Experience in designing and facilitating professional development growth strategies
Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills to interact effectively with all levels of the organization, the school network, and any external stakeholders
A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree required
Master’s degree and or Administrative Services Credential preferred

Responsibilities

School Achievement Lead a high-performing team, including senior-level leaders of schools and achievement; model and sustain a culture of high performance and service orientation among team members through professional development, observation, feedback and data analysis
Recruit, retain, and develop a high performing staff in partnership with Talent and Program
Align regional strategy with national priorities, manage through layers (regional and national) ensure a close, collaborative working relationship with other members of the Network Support Team (NeST—Rocketship’s centralized office that operates in support of its schools and regions), school directors, and all school staff (teachers, school leaders, support staff, etc.) to ensure established best practices are being realized, innovated upon, and optimized.
Leadership Development Cultivate an outstanding team of school leaders and regional leaders through effective coaching and supervision, designing and facilitating meaningful professional development, collaboration and mutual support among school leaders, and otherwise creating a robust support structure for Rocketship school leaders
Supervise and progress monitor the performance management cycle for school leaders
Partner with Talent Development and Professional Learning to create systems to ensure the development of leadership within every member of our school communities so that Rocketship always has a robust leadership pipeline.
Plan and lead meetings and retreats for the regional program team
Develop ongoing training, coaching, and professional development programs for schools team members at all levels (hourly, instructional, school leaders, Director of Achievement, Achievement Managers, etc.) to ensure each school and region are staffed with high quality instructional staff and highly effective leaders; provide leadership and in partnership with the Executive Directors missions, core values, academic standards, and strategic goals
School Operations Partner with the Regional Director of Operations (RDO) to lead the strategy, planning, and execution for the operational requirements for schools in the region
Partner with the RDO to provide consistent, high-quality behavior coaching and support to all regional operations, focusing on school systems, operations team management, and school leadership collaboration
Partner with school Principals and network Operations Team to ensure that schools function at a high level
Design and implement tools to drive operational excellence
Strategic Leadership Build a strong organizational culture in the region and in each school that is aligned with the Rocketship organization and ensures school success and impact
Engage internal and external stakeholders for input, alignment, and support
Drive strong collaboration with the network teams to ensure that schools are receiving necessary instructional and other supports and that priorities and initiatives are being fully executed across the region
Lead cross functional meetings and stepbacks between all regional Program (ISE, Ops, and Achievement) teams to align on support for School Leaders
Lead with a macro perspective of achievement, operations, special education, and compliance
Set vision for collaboration and decision making between regional program team leaders
Define and refine how to use formative and interim data to drive progress monitoring and continuous improvement; change management; budget and resource allocation; setting and monitoring academic priorities and goals; balancing consistency across Rocketship DC