Chief of Staff to the Chief Schools Officer, K-8

Company Description

Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing, public charter schools providing an outstanding K-12 education in historically under-resourced communities. We have proudly built schools that reflect our student population, with more than 60% of our teachers and staff across our network identifying as a person of color. Uncommon currently manages 53 schools serving 20,000 students in five cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark, and Rochester. We are proud that Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at five times the rate of their peers nationally. We achieve this by offering strong academic, co-curricular, and social-emotional learning that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

Job Description

The Chief of Staff to the Chief Schools Officer, K-8 (CSO K-8) is a crucial member of the Uncommon Schools’ Kindergarten through 8th Grade team and will focus on leading, operationalizing, and systemizing the management of our schools. The role will specifically support our instructional team supervising K-8 schools (45 schools) and report to the Chief Schools Officer, K-8 (CSO). Key responsibilities of the role include:

• Provide strategic support to the CSO by conducting research, gathering input, preparing materials for meetings and presentations, and advising on key decisions and initiatives.
• Lead strategic planning including the development and implementation of K-8 CSO and regional strategic plans.
• Work closely with various Chiefs of Staff and Directors from HO functions to execute the K-8 CSO’s charge by navigating the organization effectively, and building strong coalitions to achieve goals.
• Build systems and structures needed to implement K-8 instructional vision across the organization.
• Develop and lead projects within the team and cross-functional; activities include facilitation, project management, materials development, and results to support initiative/project rollout, execution, and monitoring (e.g., dashboard, critical metrics, templates, etc.)
• Act as a liaison between the CSO and key regional, Home Office and school-based collaborators; Developing and maintaining positive relationships to improve teamwork and ensure seamless communication.
• Supervise key performance indicators and provide regular updates to the CSO on progress toward the instructional goals and priorities.
• Manage Special Assistant to the K-8 CSO and 3-5 Regional Schools Coordinators to maximize CSO and Regional Superintendent of Instruction time and priorities.
• Oversee K-8 CSO team operations including budget management, onboarding, talent and ad hoc Home Office requests.
• Handle special projects as needed, ensuring timely completion and alignment with strategic objectives.

Qualifications

Required

• 7-9 years of equivalent experience
• Minimum five years of working experience leading sophisticated and/or cross-functional projects
• Experience in project management and/or management consulting or other relevant field
• Education background preferred but not required
• A Bachelor’s degree required
• Advanced Degree preferred (MPA, MBA, or other)

Preferred 

• Ability to encourage and lead a team to produce the highest quality work
• Outstanding and creative problem-solving, critical thinking, and strategic planning skills
• Facility to move comfortably between high-level critical thinking and intricate details
• Ability to translate and structure complicated or a lot of information for effective decision-making and progress toward goals
• Strong project management as well as time and task leadership skills, enabling multiple and large-scale projects to be completed on time
• Ability to learn quickly, to pivot when needed, and to be effective in a fast-paced, multifaceted, entrepreneurial environment
• Ability to think and move quickly but also discern when to move more thoughtfully
• Able to work autonomously and thoroughly with independent self-reflection, as well as take direction as needed
• Outstanding ability to lead and drive change, including influencing and encouraging others through relationship building
• Alignment to and vitality around Uncommon’s mission

Additional Information

Our people are what make us uncommon. It’s important to us that our compensation practices align with our values and enhance our ability to attract and retain talent.  Our compensation philosophy is focused on equity and fairness, retaining our talented staff and valuing their expertise, and transparency and clarity.

Compensation for this position: The starting compensation for this role based in New York, NY and is between $137,600k - $172,000k and generall