New York Executive Director, Citizen Schools

Citizen Schools accelerates student learning through an innovative expanded learning time model that is rigorous and evidence-based. Our client partners with middle schools to provide "apprenticeships" (hands-on projects taught by volunteers from business and civic organizations), academic support and a culture of high expectations. As a result, its students develop the skills, knowledge and beliefs they need to succeed in middle school, advance towards college, and become leaders in their careers and communities. Citizen Schools' goal is to demonstrate that these approaches, taken together, can transform struggling schools. National external evaluations have shown that Citizen Schools students attend more school, get better grades, perform better on standardized tests, and graduate from high school at higher rates than their peers who did not participate in Citizen Schools.

Citizen Schools currently operates in 31 schools across eight states, serving approximately 5,000 students and engaging 5,000 Citizen Teachers. Building on fifteen years of programming innovation and results, Citizen Schools is in the midst of a strategic plan that will reach 10,000 students by 2017. About Citizen Schools New York:

Founded in 2007, Citizen Schools New York (CSNY) serves 1035 students, employs 12 regional staff members and 85 front–line educators and operates with a $5.1M budget. Its Board is comprised of executives across industries, including finance, media, consulting and intelligence. CSNY currently partners with six partner schools in three boroughs and is about to embark on a five-year growth plan, increasing the number of students by 30% per year to serve 2,000 students by 2017.

ABOUT THE POSITION:

Citizen Schools seeks an extraordinary leader to serve as the New York Executive Director and drive the next phase of its growth. This is an ideal opportunity for a visionary and entrepreneurial individual to take an organization from proof-of-concept to scale and to serve as an education reform leader, helping to develop and advocate for a new education design to close the opportunity and achievement gaps. The ideal candidate has proven leadership skills with demonstrated success in fundraising or highly transferable skills (sales, business development, etc.), entrepreneurial zeal, excellent partnership and relationship management skills, familiarity with the state education, business, and political landscapes, and a deep commitment to education reform.

The Executive Director will be charged with growing the regional footprint in many areas: results, budget, schools, students, staff, board, partnerships, volunteers, policy and media. Additionally, the Executive Director will work to dramatically increase the STEM-sector partners, apprenticeships and board members, while growing its brand significantly across the NYC landscape, both in the private and education sectors.

Specifically, this role will require cultivating state and local public and private sector funds; leading regional expansion; building and stewarding relationships with partners; championing the Citizen Schools brand; and actively engaging in local and state policy work and initiatives. Reporting to the national President, the New York Executive Director will directly supervise a regional team of 12, with ultimate accountability for all campus outcomes. The NYED will also serve on the national Leadership Team, comprising state Executive Directors and senior executives from the National Headquarters.

Responsibilities include:

Vision and Strategy

• Lead development of a growth strategy for the New York region that will position Citizen Schools as a thought leader and first-in-class expanded learning time partner
• Articulate the ways in which Citizen Schools, with partners, can help close the achievement gap in New York
• Strengthen existing sites and cultivate new ones in New York City by securing related partners - i.e., schools, school districts, funders, community-based organizations
• Further develop a deep portfolio of apprenticeships and a strong pipeline of Citizen Teachers
• Develop local and regional philanthropic, political, corporate and educational contacts as Citizen Schools champions

Partnership Development: Public Policy, Fundraising, and Brand Building

• Grow the current annual budget from $5M to $8M over the next five years through public and private fundraising, including corporations and foundations
• Cultivate and steward relationships with policymakers at the district, city, and state levels
• Engage partners and media in active dialogue about education reform in New York; serve a spokesperson for Citizen Schools

Organizational and Program Leadership

• Directly support and develop regional team of 12 staff and work with the Managing Director of Programs to retain and develop campus staff of over 100
• Champion the New York region's accountability to Citizen Schools' quality standards, as expressed in our Program Scorecard and Balanced Score Card, and as measured by an external evaluation
• Oversee the Managing Director of Programs in the delivery of essential support and technical assistance to the Campus Directors at each site
• Facilitate interaction among state-based programs to share best practices; initiatives include regional meetings/trainings and state team building events
• Serve on Citizen Schools' Leadership Team; collaborate with headquarters staff on key national initiatives

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS:

All candidates should have demonstrated leadership skills, a passion for education and community, and effective collaboration skills. Other qualifications include:

• Fundamental belief in the ability of all students from all backgrounds to achieve excellence both academically and professionally, on an absolute scale
• Substantial leadership experience, including three to five years of experience managing successful teams.
• Knowledge of the New York region, and a well-developed professional network; experience working with the education reform community in the New York region is strongly preferred
• Proven fundraising experience or clearly transferable skills that can be leveraged to raise New York's annual budget of $5M, assuming growth each year
• Understanding of the challenges inherent in large-scale education reform; experience with policy advocacy and/or analysis would be an advantage
• Entrepreneurial self-starter; capable of self-managing in a complex environment with multiple stakeholders
• Familiarity with the Citizen Schools program and/or experience in an education environment preferred
• Excellent presentation, verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational and logistics skills
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity and cultural competency across all levels of the regional team
• Ability to model Citizen Schools' core values: Pride, Joy, Respect, Courage, Teamwork, Perseverance, and Vision
• Bachelor's degree from an accredited institution required; relevant advanced degree preferred

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Competitive compensation commensurate with experience