Partner of Schools

About Future Ready Cleveland

Future Ready Cleveland works so every Cleveland student, especially those most affected by inequality, has access to a high-quality school and learning experiences that help them thrive. Our current team of four equips leaders to build and sustain high-quality learning experiences. We publish clear, factual information that families can trust and use. Through strategic grantmaking, advising, and coordination, we strengthen the schools, educators, and systems that make educational opportunity possible for Cleveland students.

Position Overview

Future Ready Cleveland is seeking a Partner of Schools to start in July 2026 and lead the work that expands access to high-quality schools for Cleveland students. This full-time, exempt position reports to the CEO. This Partner identifies and supports school founders, recruits and guides national school models, and strengthens existing schools through targeted investment and strategic partnership.

The Partner collaborates with leaders across district, charter, and private schools. This work requires deep relationship skills, clear communication, and steady judgment. The Partner builds and maintains trust with school leaders and system partners to understand their needs, surface opportunities, and strengthen school quality across Cleveland.

The ideal candidate listens well, plans carefully, and brings quiet authority that helps founders, school teams, and partners do their best work — and thrives in a startup environment where the path is still being built and no task is beneath them.

Key Responsibilities

Identify and Support Education Entrepreneurs

• Guide the development of new school concepts. Identify individuals and teams with promising ideas for high-quality school models. Provide strategic guidance, structured planning support, and access to resources that help refine academic models, strengthen operational plans, and prepare for launch.
• Manage early-stage incubation. Coordinate support from national partners, consultants, and experienced leaders. Ensure emerging models understand community needs, regulatory conditions, and what strong learning experiences require.
• Assess readiness for launch. Support founders in meeting clear milestones tied to design strength, team capacity, financial planning, and student experience.

Recruit National Educational Models

• Attract proven national school models to Cleveland. Identify networks aligned with student needs and citywide goals. Build a clear and compelling case for expansion to Cleveland.
• Lead the full recruitment and due diligence process. Manage conversations, vet model quality, coordinate site visits, and guide decisions about fit and readiness.
• Support successful entry and integration. Serve as a steady point of contact as models enter Cleveland. Help them navigate facilities, planning, enrollment conditions, and key partnerships that position them for success.

Support Existing Schools

• Guide improvement investments. Manage a portfolio of existing schools. Use data, school visits, and partner input to identify meaningful investment opportunities and areas for targeted improvement.
• Provide tailored support. Offer clear, steady guidance to school leaders working to strengthen culture, instruction, leadership capacity, student supports, and operational systems.
• Coordinate resources and partners. Connect schools with the right support providers, instructional partners, and leadership development resources to advance improvement.
• Build relationships across governance types. Maintain strong working relationships with leaders in district, charter, and private schools to understand needs, constraints, and opportunities across the city.

Strategic Advising and Organizational Collaboration

• Advise the CEO on strategy, risk, and opportunity. Provide steady counsel on issues tied to school quality, new model development, school improvement, and ecosystem conditions. Ground recommendations in data, community insight, and the needs of Cleveland students.
• Integrate school-focused strategy across portfolios. Collaborate closely with the Partner, Talent and Strategic Initiatives, Partner, Public Engagement, and Director, Policy, Research and Impact to ensure FRC’s school-facing work is aligned and coordinated.
• Support data-informed decision-making. Partner with the Director, Policy, Research and Impact to ensure decisions about model selection, school improvement, and school investments are guided by clear evidence and practical learning systems.
• Inform FRC’s advocacy agenda. Share insight from schools, founders, and partners to shape policy priorities that strengthen school quality and improve conditions for teaching and learning.
• Contribute flexible leadership capacity. Support emerging organizational priorities and help refine internal systems that improve clarity, follow-through, and shared results.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferred focus in education, public policy, or related fields
• Minimum of ten years of experience in education leadership, school management, and/or educational entrepreneurship
• Excellent judgment and comfort with ambiguity
• Demonstrated ability to identify strong ideas, support strong leaders and develop emerging leaders
• Deep understanding of the education landscape, including national models and strong instructional and cultural practices, as well as connections to the local education landscape
• Strong communication and interpersonal skill with the ability to collaborate across district, charter, and private school contexts
• Strategic thinker with a steady, practical approach to planning and execution
• Ability and willingness to operate with an investor mindset
• Experience with advocacy, policy work, or nonprofit strategy is helpful

Additional Workplace Expectations:

• This is a remote position with the expectation that the successful candidate will live in or near Cleveland, Ohio
• Access to reliable personal transportation
• Available for evening commitments approximately 4–6 times per month
• Able to travel regularly across the city for frequent in-person meetings both internal and external
• Open to occasional weekend events a few times per year

Future Ready Cleveland’s benefits package includes medical, dental, and vision insurance, paid time off, generous paid holiday schedule, a 401(k) retirement plan with an employer contribution, and reimbursement for cell phone/home internet usage.

Proficient in English