Director of Partnerships and Innovation

Description

Director of Partnerships and Innovation

Organization Description

New Leaders is a national non-profit that ensures high academic achievement for all children, especially students in poverty and students of color, by developing transformational school leaders and advancing the policies and practices that allow great leaders to succeed.

Through our leadership programs, we develop talented educators into transformational school leaders who create a vision of success for all students and engage the whole staff and community in realizing this vision.  Through our leadership services, we also collaborate with districts, charter management organizations and states to foster the conditions that enable highly effective school leaders to drive results for students.

New Leaders currently runs programs in Baltimore, California’s Bay Area, Charlotte, Chicago, Jefferson Parish, LA, Memphis, Newark, New Orleans, New York City, Prince George’s County and Washington, DC.  Please visit our web site, www.newleaders.org to learn more about our organization.

Position Overview:

The Director, Partnerships and Innovation will provide high level program and project management for our new product development partnership.  This will include building and managing to detailed product and marketing plans, coordinating the activities of all involved New Leaders staff, and managing all internal financial aspects of the product development initiative.  In addition, the Director will work closely with senior staff within the partner organization, ensuring effective communication and coordination across the organizations and supporting the overall success of the relationship.  Beyond the current initiative, the Director will also serve as a key advisor and support to New Leaders Executive Team members in the exploration of similar innovation opportunities.  This innovation work could include drafting business models and plans for potential new initiatives and managing the process of formalizing any additional such relationships. 

This position will interface with senior leaders across the New Leaders Executive Team, ensuring that all are updated on the progress and lessons learned from any existing partnerships, as well as the potential for new innovation and partnership opportunities.   Specifically, the Director will work closely with the following New Leaders functions and Executive Team members:

• Supporting the Chief Operating Officer in identifying and structuring any new initiatives to reach more school leaders across the country
• Coordinating with the External Relations team on all marketing and communications related to the new initiative
• Engaging the Program Team in all product design and quality control aspects for the initiative, and ensuring that the partnership serves to generate new products, capabilities, and lessons learned for the existing New Leaders programs and services
• Coordinating with the Legal and Finance teams for all specific agreement structures and reporting requirements

Key Outcomes and Responsibilities:

If successful, the Director, Partnerships and Innovation will drive to the following key outcomes:

• Delivering high-quality initiative products to the market in a timely fashion, through effective program and project management and engagement of New Leaders expertise in the product design and approvals
• Holding the initial investment from New Leaders to budget by closely managing all initiative expenses, and ensuring the most efficient use of time from New Leaders staff
• Increasing long-term impact and revenue for New Leaders by coordinating all sales and customer communication activities from New Leaders
• Building confidence in and recognition of New Leaders as a strong partner for future initiatives and innovation opportunities
• Ensuring that New Leaders captures lessons learned and new innovations for its programs and services by engaging the Program and Research and Evaluation teams in studying new initiatives
• Launching new initiatives and innovations by supporting Executive Team members in identifying and formalizing new opportunities

Specific Responsibilities to include:

• Create, revise, and manage to all product development and marketing plans as part of any innovation projects and partnerships
• Manage all sales processes and materials for each initiative, including:
  • Identifying and responding to state and district requests for proposal along with the partner organization
  • Creating and updating customer target plans and coordinating all communications with potential and active customers
• Serve as point for communications and coordination with project leads within our partner organizations, as well as coordination lead for all New Leaders teams that are involved in partner initiatives
• Coordinate agendas and New Leaders staff commitments for all major meetings – design agendas for each major meeting (in partnership with external partners as needed) and identify specific action items from every partnership meeting
• Manage New Leaders staff involvement and budget to plan for all partnerships, including direct management of the Special Projects Coordinator that supports the innovation initiatives
• Identify and problem-solve any risks to meeting New Leaders partnership deliverables
• Build familiarity and content knowledge around principal evaluation and professional development, as well as any other areas of potential partnership and innovation
• Become expert in the program management approaches and organization structures for any major external partners
• Provide business development  and implementation support to New Leaders Executive Team members that identify potential innovation opportunities
• Prepare and frame all updates for the New Leaders Executive Team and Board of Directors

Skills, Experiences & Competencies

• Self-starter, highly motivated, and proactive.
• Experience in program or product development management, with experience in developing products for the K-12 sector a plus
• Proven track record of managing multiple staff and multiple projects/programs with minimal supervision, on time and on budget.
• Consistent history of working positively and collaboratively with others inside and outside the organization, at all levels. 
• Demonstrated understanding of project management best practices, including planning, budgeting, and issue management.
• Ability to prioritize work, execute exceptionally well, and deliver high-quality results within very tight timelines.
• Familiarity with school leadership content and K-12 education reform landscape.  Work with states or school districts as customers, or experience with product development for the K-12 market, a plus.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated maturity to work successfully in high-pressure situations with good humor, grace, and a positive attitude.

Compensation

Compensation package is commensurate with experience and includes competitive benefits package and 401K.

Important Application Notes:

If you are planning to apply for more than one position, please specifically address each position you are applying for in your cover letter.

If after submitting materials you decide to apply for an additional position, please re-write your cover letter to reflect this and resubmit. If you do not indicate your interest in a position, you will not be considered for it.

Although we encourage you to apply for any positions you are both interested in and consider yourself qualified for, we ask you to be careful when attaching yourself to more than one requisition.

Your cover letter should include:

• An explanation of your interest in the New Leaders mission
• An explanation of your interest in the position for which you are applying
• An explanation of anything unusual in your resume (more than one year employment lapse or a major shift in your career interest)

New Leaders is an equal opportunity employer.  New Leaders evaluates applicants for employment on the basis of qualifications, merit and work-related criteria without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national or ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, childbirth, medical condition, marital or familial status, family responsibilities, veteran status, personal appearance, political affiliation, matriculation, or any other characteristic protected by law. All applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of such status.

Please note all offers of employment are subject to and contingent upon the successful completion of a background check