Partner, Portfolio Director - Rural

Transcend

10d•$94,500 - $135,000•Remote

About The Position

The Rural Portfolio partners with rural communities across the U.S. to redesign schools in ways that reflect the local community context and advance 21st-century learning for all. We’re looking for a Partner, Portfolio Director to help drive our Rural Schools Portfolio’s impact. This role is at the heart of the Rural Portfolio’s operations, culture, and strategy—responsible for keeping our team aligned, organized, and leveraging data to drive impact, all with a thriving team culture. In this role, you’ll build relationships and lead key cross-functional workstreams that may span state-based strategies, Career Connected Learning, and other Rural-adjacent initiatives, ensuring that cross-cutting efforts stay connected and move forward. You'll also utilize strategic thinking and project management skills to lead internal communications, coordinate team meetings and retreats, track budgets, and create strong systems for progress monitoring, knowledge-sharing, and decision-making. You’ll partner closely with Taina Torres, Managing Partner, and teammates across the portfolio to ensure seamless coordination and execution, all while staying grounded in both our portfolio strategy and broader organizational priorities. You’ll problem-solve and learn alongside the team; while this is an individual contributor role, it is highly collaborative, requiring skills in project management, data, strategy and a deep commitment to people and culture. In your role as Partner, Portfolio Director on the Rural team, you’ll focus on the following workstreams. The time spent on each may shift over time. Create and manage cohesive systems to organize and track internal portfolio and cross-functional work by providing guidance, structure, collaboration mechanisms, and processes. Lead cross-functional workstreams ensuring that key priorities and goals are met by bringing together teams & driving the work forward. Steward project execution by and support Project Leads through project set up, clear timelines, project plans, aligned goals, accountability and tracking systems and deliverables ensuring every project results in meaningful, goal-aligned experiences. At times, this may include working with internal operations teammates and/or operations contractors, and external vendors. Support the development, stewarding, and shared ownership of the portfolio’s culture by ensuring the team’s norms, visions, and operations are aligned to our core values and problem-solving when any needs emerge. Synthesize portfolio-wide learnings and progress-to-goals to lead the annual collaborative planning process toward defining and advancing the portfolio’s strategic direction. Drive smooth logistics for internal and external meetings by supporting the facilitation of meetings, preparing agendas/slide decks, taking meeting notes, and sending follow-ups. Own the planning and facilitation of portfolio events and portfolio operations for all project needs, including in-person workshops with school teams, team retreats and community-building activities, school visits, and day-to-day logistics and coordination. More specifically, your work will be divided across these core buckets: Portfolio Management - 40-50% Working closely with the Managing Partner, oversee the day-to-day coordination, systems, and internal communications that keep the Rural Portfolio running smoothly and aligned. This includes building and managing processes across the following: Develop and lead the cohesive process standing up new projects as they come in with Project Leads across the portfolio Coordinate and manage both portfolio-wide and project-specific team meetings, including logistics and follow-ups Design, refine, and maintain teamwide systems, structures, and calendars for key projects, activities, goals, deliverables, decision-making, and knowledge-sharing across the portfolio ensuring these are codified and clear for the team Lead internal communications, including the Rural Rundown (weekly team newsletter), Slack updates, and post-meeting summaries Monitor the Portfolio’s budgets in partnership with Project Leads and the Managing Partner; track individual project budgets and align resourcing with team capacity, project goals and the portfolio’s strategic priorities Synthesize and integrate portfolio learnings to collaboratively reflect, adapt, and build around the portfolio’s strategic direction on an annual basis Portfolio Operating & Systems - 20% Lead the implementation of the Portfolio’s operating mechanisms and processes for collecting and synthesizing learnings. This includes: Design and refine data systems that support project teams in consistently collecting, organizing and learning from data Provide training and support to Project Leads to implement learning and data systems effectively Plan and facilitate team learning spaces, including data stepbacks and knowledge-sharing sessions Regularly synthesize key insights and elevate them to the Managing Partner through clear narratives, presentations, and artifacts for both internal and external audiences (e.g., funders, Transcend community) Work with the Managing Partner to reflect, plan, and drive accountability to the portfolio strategy to ensure goal alignment, resource allocation, and consistent progress monitoring Portfolio Culture - 10% Cultivate a thriving team culture by designing intentional systems, routines, and events that foster connection, alignment, and shared ownership of the portfolio’s values, agreements, and ways of working. For example: Design and lead team-wide efforts to support a thriving team culture, including planning and executing internal team retreats and stepbacks that strengthen team connection and alignment Maintain and evolve team agreements and routines, including planning celebrations, birthday shoutouts, and intentional moments of community-building Engage teammates in shaping the portfolio’s systems, structures, and strategies through community-based design processes Ensure the portfolio’s ways of collaborating are aligned with Transcend’s values and solve emerging needs as they arise Strategic Projects & External Engagement - 20% Provide flexible support across a variety of strategic projects, such as: Set-up and drive cross-functional projects, as needed, especially for high-priority work, such as aligning on new, collaborative projects or frameworks Join conversations with external Transcend partners and synthesize key takeaways to inform portfolio-wide project scoping and decision-making At times, lead external event planning with partners from vision to execution (either directly executing or coordinating with other teammates or contractors to do so) Manage the portfolio’s presence and logistics for external conferences and engagements

Requirements

Top-notch project management skills.
Incredible communication skills.
Strong organizational skills.
Ability to set up human-centered systems.
Ability to support people to be aligned.
Ability to keep the work moving forward.
Ability to proactively notice trends/gaps—even across a range of personalities, working styles, and functions.
Strategic knack: ability to see patterns others miss, ask the right questions at the right time, and help teams move with both purpose and precision.
Wholehearted dedication and passion for Transcend's unique mission.
Deep eagerness to embrace and live into Transcend’s core values in your daily work.
Flexibility, enthusiasm, and trust—enabling you to build positive relationships and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, readily stretching high and low, doing whatever it takes to get the job done.
Calm and grounded presence that allows you to lead and support teams through influence by creating clarity where there is ambiguity.
Strategic instinct that complements operational strengths.
Exceptional project management and organizational skills, with the ability to juggle multiple priorities and lead complex workstreams across a dynamic portfolio team.
Strong ability to design and maintain clear, user-friendly systems that support a portfolio team.
Ability to anticipate needs, plan ahead, and follow through with consistency and care.
Comfort with data, spreadsheets, and basic analytics.
Exceptional written communication skills, with the ability to translate complexity into clear, compelling narratives.
Genuine love of the details.
Strong ability to thrive in a remote work environment and have strong personal organizational systems.
Deep care about people.
Ability to shape and steward a portfolio culture that is grounded in relationships, reflection, and shared purpose.

Nice To Haves

Willingness to travel approximately once a month, ~20% travel.

Responsibilities

Create and manage cohesive systems to organize and track internal portfolio and cross-functional work by providing guidance, structure, collaboration mechanisms, and processes.
Lead cross-functional workstreams ensuring that key priorities and goals are met by bringing together teams & driving the work forward.
Steward project execution by and support Project Leads through project set up, clear timelines, project plans, aligned goals, accountability and tracking systems and deliverables ensuring every project results in meaningful, goal-aligned experiences.
Support the development, stewarding, and shared ownership of the portfolio’s culture by ensuring the team’s norms, visions, and operations are aligned to our core values and problem-solving when any needs emerge.
Synthesize portfolio-wide learnings and progress-to-goals to lead the annual collaborative planning process toward defining and advancing the portfolio’s strategic direction.
Drive smooth logistics for internal and external meetings by supporting the facilitation of meetings, preparing agendas/slide decks, taking meeting notes, and sending follow-ups.
Own the planning and facilitation of portfolio events and portfolio operations for all project needs, including in-person workshops with school teams, team retreats and community-building activities, school visits, and day-to-day logistics and coordination.
Develop and lead the cohesive process standing up new projects as they come in with Project Leads across the portfolio.
Coordinate and manage both portfolio-wide and project-specific team meetings, including logistics and follow-ups.
Design, refine, and maintain teamwide systems, structures, and calendars for key projects, activities, goals, deliverables, decision-making, and knowledge-sharing across the portfolio ensuring these are codified and clear for the team.
Lead internal communications, including the Rural Rundown (weekly team newsletter), Slack updates, and post-meeting summaries.
Monitor the Portfolio’s budgets in partnership with Project Leads and the Managing Partner; track individual project budgets and align resourcing with team capacity, project goals and the portfolio’s strategic priorities.
Synthesize and integrate portfolio learnings to collaboratively reflect, adapt, and build around the portfolio’s strategic direction on an annual basis.
Lead the implementation of the Portfolio’s operating mechanisms and processes for collecting and synthesizing learnings.
Design and refine data systems that support project teams in consistently collecting, organizing and learning from data.
Provide training and support to Project Leads to implement learning and data systems effectively.
Plan and facilitate team learning spaces, including data stepbacks and knowledge-sharing sessions.
Regularly synthesize key insights and elevate them to the Managing Partner through clear narratives, presentations, and artifacts for both internal and external audiences (e.g., funders, Transcend community).
Work with the Managing Partner to reflect, plan, and drive accountability to the portfolio strategy to ensure goal alignment, resource allocation, and consistent progress monitoring.
Cultivate a thriving team culture by designing intentional systems, routines, and events that foster connection, alignment, and shared ownership of the portfolio’s values, agreements, and ways of working.
Design and lead team-wide efforts to support a thriving team culture, including planning and executing internal team retreats and stepbacks that strengthen team connection and alignment.
Maintain and evolve team agreements and routines, including planning celebrations, birthday shoutouts, and intentional moments of community-building.
Engage teammates in shaping the portfolio’s systems, structures, and strategies through community-based design processes.
Ensure the portfolio’s ways of collaborating are aligned with Transcend’s values and solve emerging needs as they arise.
Set-up and drive cross-functional projects, as needed, especially for high-priority work, such as aligning on new, collaborative projects or frameworks.
Join conversations with external Transcend partners and synthesize key takeaways to inform portfolio-wide project scoping and decision-making.
Lead external event planning with partners from vision to execution (either directly executing or coordinating with other teammates or contractors to do so).
Manage the portfolio’s presence and logistics for external conferences and engagements.