idealist.org

Senior Program Managers – Memphis Teacher Talent Initiative
Memphis, TN

The New Teacher Project (TNTP) helps school districts and states fulfill the promise of public education by ensuring that all students—especially those from high-need communities—get excellent teachers. A national nonprofit organization founded by teachers, TNTP recognizes that although teachers matter more than any other school factor in student success, the nation’s education systems are not aligned with the goal of an effective teacher in every classroom. In response, TNTP develops customized programs and policy interventions that enable education leaders to diagnose their teacher quality challenges and find, develop and keep great teachers. Since its inception in 1997, TNTP has recruited or trained approximately 33,000 teachers—mainly through its highly selective Teaching Fellows™ programs—benefiting an estimated 4.8 million students. TNTP has also released a series of acclaimed studies of the policies and practices that affect the quality of the nation’s teacher workforce, most recently including The Widget Effect: Our National Failure to Acknowledge and Act on Differences in Teacher Effectiveness (2009). Today TNTP is active in more than 25 cities, including Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, New Orleans, New York, and Oakland, among others. For more information, please visit www.tntp.org.

We are currently seeking four Senior Program Managers for our Memphis Teacher Talent Initiative. The Senior Program Managers will be TNTP employees based at the Memphis City Schools district office. These positions are contingent on securing funding for the initiative. We are aiming for the positions to begin on November 1, 2009, once funding is confirmed.

The Program

Teachers are the most powerful resource a school has to raise student achievement. Hiring decisions need to be driven by the imperative to help schools build the most effective instructional teams possible. That requires matching a highly vetted and screened pool of teacher applicants with school leaders who have been trained to hire teachers who are the best fit for the needs of their students. We will implement a start-to-finish teacher pipeline solution that is year-round and tied to results. Specifically, the Memphis Teacher Talent Initiative will collaborate with Memphis City Schools (MCS) to supply high-quality teachers, support effective matches between candidates and schools, strengthen hiring practices and ensure that all of the district’s principals can choose the best teachers for their classrooms from the strongest possible pool of candidates. The Teacher Talent Initiative services will include working directly with school leaders to strengthen their staffing approaches, market their schools to high-quality teacher candidates and identify teacher vacancies earlier in the school year. Through aggressive recruitment and selection, the Teacher Talent Initiative will amass a large, high-quality pool of teacher applicants – both traditionally certified and alternate route candidates - from which principals can hire the best who most closely fit school needs.

Role and Responsibilities

Each Senior Program Manager will help facilitate the placement of teachers in approximately 50 Memphis schools. This position offers the successful candidate the opportunity to have a profound impact on how teachers are hired in Memphis City Schools. The Senior Program Manager responsibilities will include:
• Hiring and managing a full-time Operations Associate who is responsible for managing day-to-day operations such as maintaining the applicant database, scheduling interviews between candidates and principals, and responding to candidate communications in a timely manner
• Monitoring and meeting ambitious goals that support the early hiring of high quality teachers and ensuring that all school vacancies are filled by the first day of school
• Meeting regularly with principals to monitor staffing progress, discuss current needs, help solve problems related to teacher hiring, guide principals to use technology solutions and implement hiring best-practices
• Assisting with and delivering TNTP’s professional development modules to principals and other school-based hiring staff to help them hire the highest quality teachers
• Managing relationships with District and school-based staff through regular meetings as well as formal and informal communication channels
• Engaging school staff, particularly principals, in ongoing problem solving to ensure that best hiring practices, including early hiring, can take place in the partner schools
• Collecting and analyzing data to benchmark progress against goals
• Generating innovative solutions to program challenges
• Building and managing strong working relationships with district staff, and other stakeholders as needed
• Collaborating with a team of other Senior Program Managers to ensure Memphis schools open fully-staffed with high-quality teachers
• Working with the client and Memphis Teacher Talent Initiative Senior Site Manager of Staffing on additional projects as necessary

This position will report to the Senior Site Manager of Staffing on the Memphis Teacher Talent Initiative team. This position will manage one full-time Operations Associate.

We seek detail-oriented, independent self-starters who believe deeply in our organization's mission and who display a record of achievement in challenging situations. Successful candidates will also demonstrate:

• Outstanding interpersonal and teamwork skills
• A commitment to producing consistently high quality, detailed work
• The ability to learn quickly, work in a fast paced environment and multi-task effectively
• The ability to identify challenges and actively work to find solutions
• The ability to effectively manage and develop staff talent
• Strong communication and writing skills
• The ability to work effectively with others at all levels of an organization and to consistently display a high level of professionalism in all interactions
• Excellent event planning, organizational and time-management skills
• Extraordinary attention to detail
• Professional demeanor
• Flexibility
• The ability to work well independently while collaborating with others on meeting common goals
• Public-speaking abilities, including the ability to inspire others
• Knowledge of the Memphis school system (preferred)
• Experience working with underperforming schools (strongly preferred)
• Excellent skills working with computers, including a strong working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite
• A willingness to work non-standard hours and/or occasional weekends

Compensation

The annual starting salary for this position is $55,000 or commensurate with experience in a similar position. We also offer a motivated team of colleagues, a collegial atmosphere that values professional development, a comprehensive benefits plan effective on the first day of employment – including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, and a 403(b) plan with matching – as well as the opportunity to impact the direction of a growing, mission-driven company that is committed to the success of our nation’s children.

Please submit your resume and cover letter online at http://tbe.taleo.net/NA5/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=THENEWTEACHERPROJECT&cws=1&rid=425

We review applications on a rolling basis – so it is to your advantage to apply as soon as possible. We will not consider applications without a cover letter tailored to this position, which can be addressed to the Human Capital Team. The New Teacher Project is committed to fostering and capitalizing on the diversity of our organization. We are an equal opportunity employer and seek individuals of all ethnic and racial backgrounds to apply to this position. If you would like to learn more about our mission, please visit our web site at www.tntp.org.