Senior Managing Director, Ignite Program Impact

TEAM: Ignite

REPORTS TO: Priscilla Forsyth, VP, Ignite Program Impact

LOCATION: Flexible

PRIORITY APPLICATION DEADLINE: We anticipate a high volume of interest in this role and will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis. Early applications are strongly encouraged, as the posting may close once we reach our target applicant pool.

THE ROLE

Teach For America’s Ignite Fellowship seeks a Senior Managing Director, Ignite Program Impact to ensure Ignite’s programmatic success and impact across 150+ schools and 40+ communities by leading a team of up to 10 Ignite Program Impact portfolio leads (Managing Directors of Ignite Program Impact or “Managing Directors”). In this role, you’ll work closely with Managing Directors to ensure they have access to the strategies, tools, resources, and solutions to establish and deepen strong school partnerships and steward progress towards Teach For America’s 2030 goal. Through supporting and developing Managing Directors, you’ll ensure that each school partner receives standardized and customized support to maximize the impact of Ignite in their unique local context. This role may be a good fit if you (1) enjoy being a partner and guide, managing staff to support educators (experienced and novice) to navigate a vast and complex ecosystem; (2) have strong systems-level and critical thinking skills, and thrive in making sense of the moving pieces of a complex ecosystem to maximize learning and impact; (3) are experienced, comfortable, and effective with management, and are confident managing through layers; and (4) operate with deep respect, humility, and empathy for the challenges and limitations that our school partners may be experiencing, and (5) enjoy working in a fast-paced start-up environment, being creative in building solutions while ensuring sustainable success for Ignite across our national network of partners. 
 

THE PERSON

(70%) Team Management: Manage a team of Managing Directors of Ignite Program Impact, who each serve as the primary relationship holder and success partner responsible for ensuring a portfolio of ~14-16 schools achieve strong results and value partnering with Ignite. 

• Set overall vision for partnering with school leaders and external, school-based Ignite site leaders to increase investment in Ignite’s programmatic impact

• Onboard, train, and support Managing Directors to high levels of programmatic expertise, performance, and impact in their roles

• Plan and lead learning experiences for Program Impact team to mine insights and codify learnings that will inform continuous improvement of the Ignite model

• Create solutions for programmatic challenges as needed in response to partnership or Fellowship issues, partnering cross-functionally with the Ignite team and others 

• Drive strategy for partnerships communications to support program impact

(10%) Programmatic Strategy: In collaboration with Program Impact staff, evolve, design, and facilitate a centralized strategy for Ignite site leader onboarding, training, and learning as well as systems to support programmatic success.

• Strengthen onboarding approach to meet programmatic needs and the needs of Ignite site leaders

• Design and facilitate impactful and engaging onboarding for Ignite site leaders

• Design systems and structures for Managing Directors to leverage to drive impact across the program (e.g., data trackers, progress monitoring systems)

• Manage program-level strategies to progress monitor with local and school partners (i.e., Customized Vision for Impact strategy, Local Partner Alignment Tool)

(10%) Codify Learning and Evolve Partnerships Strategy: In collaboration with VP, Ignite Partnerships, help Ignite determine which conditions, practices, processes in the field lead towards strong impact. 

• Through supporting Managing Directors and collaborating across the Program Impact team, ensure that we are thoughtfully stewarding success with school partners, fostering impact and delight

• Contribute to strengthening Ignite’s conditions for success based on insights from programmatic partnerships to inform future growth strategies

• Participate in school partnership cultivation and confirmation for FY26+

• Manage a successful transition from cult