Innovation Manager

Summit Public Schools•Redwood City, CA

About The Position

The Innovation Manager leads the end-to-end coordination of Summit 3.0 pilots across schools. Reporting to the Senior Director of Innovation (and working day-to-day with Directors of School Design / RISE Teams), this role manages the operational backbone of the pilot portfolio: planning timelines, supporting site teams, tracking progress, and ensuring that every pilot generates actionable evidence. Beyond the pilots, the role supports redesign work at multiple focal schools and provides project-management support across other innovation priorities. This is a hands-on, cross-functional role for an educator-operator who can translate vision into workable school-level pilots, keep complex initiatives on track, and drive a learn-fast culture without burning out schools.

Requirements

5+ years experience in teaching, school leadership, instructional coaching, program design, and/or innovation/piloting work.
Demonstrated success leading cross-site initiatives or complex school-based projects.
Experience designing and/or implementing pilots, continuous improvement cycles, and new learning models.
Proficiency with Google Workspace; strong comfort with tools for project management and data tracking.
Clear background check.

Nice To Haves

Experience coordinating or supporting embedded, site-based change work is a plus.

Responsibilities

Manage multi-year pilot roadmap aligned to Summit 3.0 priorities and the Future Ready School Model.
Coordinate pilot selection, scoping, sequencing, and readiness across sites.
Develop clear pilot charters, timelines, milestones, and resourcing plans.
Maintain a shared calendar of pilot events, deliverables, and decision points.
Partner with Senior Director of Innovation, Directors of School Design, and school leaders to co-design pilots that are coherent, feasible, and tied to clear hypotheses.
Ensure pilots include strong implementation plans, measurement strategies, and feedback loops.
Vet pilot designs for alignment to student outcomes, Summit 3.0 vision, and operational reality.
Serve as the day-to-day project manager for pilots running across multiple schools.
Provide �air-traffic control� during launches: troubleshooting barriers, ensuring materials and training are ready, and keeping stakeholders aligned.
Monitor implementation fidelity through site check-ins, observation data, educator feedback, and usage signals.
Escalate risks early and propose course corrections quickly.
Partner with the Innovation team to define metrics, data-collection methods, and reporting routines for each pilot.
Maintain the Innovation Data Infrastructure for pilots�tracking status, outcomes, and scaling indicators.
Produce mid-cycle and end-of-cycle learning memos that summarize results, user experience, and recommended decisions.
Work with Research & Operations to codify promising practices into tools, frameworks, and training assets.
Build strong working relationships with Executive Directors, site leadership teams, and pilot educators.
Support adult learning and change management at the site level so pilots are understood and owned.
Ensure pilot work respects school constraints and integrates into existing priorities.
Improve the Studio�s pilot playbook and standard operating procedures over time.
Share patterns across pilots to improve design quality and reduce friction for schools.
Contribute to a culture of disciplined experimentation and honest reflection.
Support coordination and project-management support to the Directors of School Design leading redesign at the focal schools.
Pitch in on other innovation project management as priorities shift, such as materials preparation, working-session logistics, and cross-functional follow-through.
Focus on coordination and operations; design and implementation decisions at the focal schools sit with the Directors of School Design.