Managing Director of Academics

Originally founded in 1991 as Harlem RBI, DREAM has grown to annually serve more than 2,500 youth across East Harlem and the South Bronx through a network of seven PreK-12, extended-day, extended-year DREAM Charter Schools and community sports-based youth development programs. Through our commitment to rigorous academics, social-emotional learning, deep family and community engagement, and health and wellness, we create lifelong learners who are equipped to fulfill their vision of success in and out of the classroom. We dream big, as well, with an aggressive five-year plan to expand to serve 3,500 students across seven schools—growing our organization’s impact and leveling the playing field for all children. To learn more, visit wearedream.org.
The Managing Director of Academics (MDA) provides instructional and content leadership for DREAM’s K–12 academic program, with a strong emphasis on excellent curriculum implementation, leader and teacher development, and instructional quality. Reporting to the Deputy Chief of Learning, the MDA leads the 10-member Curriculum and Instruction Team (CIT) and oversees DREAM’s network-wide approach to curriculum, assessment, data responsiveness, professional learning, and instructional support.
This role has evolved from an earlier phase of system-building and vision-setting into one that is deeply content-focused and implementation-driven. The Managing Director of Academics is responsible for taking strong curricular foundations—particularly in K–8—and driving them from good to excellent, while leading the next phase of high school curriculum development and implementation.
The ideal candidate is an exemplary instructional leader with a proven track record of developing teachers and academic leaders, a curious learner of new content who has experience selecting and adapting high-quality curriculum (especially at the high school level), and a strategic, analytical, and data-driven leader who can craft organizational action plans and implement complex instructional initiatives such as project-based learning, integration of generative artificial intelligence and edtech tools, and proactive and inclusive differentiation for diverse learners.

Core Priorities of the Role

• Leader and Teacher Development: Build the instructional leadership skill set of Curriculum and Instruction Team Directors and Associate Directors as well as school Principals, Academic Deans, and teachers across the network through high-quality coaching, professional development, and modeling of exemplary practice.
• High School Curriculum Quality and Coherence: Lead the selection, adaptation, and implementation of rigorous, AP- and SAT-aligned, career-connected, and culturally responsive high school curricula across content areas.
• Acceleration of Academic Achievement Results: Consistently elevate the quality of Tier 1 curriculum implementation and strengthen data-responsive systems to achieve exceptional academic achievement results across all core content areas and gradespans.
• Project-Based Learning Implementation: Oversee the phased, network-wide implementation of project-based learning, ensuring coherence, feasibility, and strong instructional execution.
• Inclusive Curriculum and Differentiation for Diverse Learners: Partner with our Student Supports teams to strengthen differentiation, accessibility, and special education alignment within Tier 1 curriculum and select and adapt a research-based Tier 2 and 3 Intervention program.

Key Responsibilities

• Instructional Leadership & Vision


• Own and steward the network-wide instructional vision, ensuring alignment with DREAM’s 5-Year Curriculum Vision and Graduate Profile.
• Partner closely with the network Education Leadership Team and school leaders to ensure strong instructional coherence and fidelity of implementation.
• Set clear instructional priorities that emphasize rigor, culturally and historically responsive education, constructivist learning, and joyful classrooms.


• Curriculum Vision Implementation (K–12)


• Provide executive oversight of curriculum selection, adaptation, and implementation across all grade levels and content areas.
• Lead the next phase of high school curriculum development, including ELA, math, science, social studies, and emerging d