Managing Director, Partnerships & Pre-Service

TEAM: Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana Regional Team

REPORTS TO: Vice President, Corps Member Leadership

LOCATION: Chicago, IL

THE ROLE

The Managing Director, Partnerships and Pre-Service (MD, P&P) will play a crucial role in building the movement for educational equity by leading the team that ensures annually we bring in a diverse coalition of Corps Members positioned to teach and lead in Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana. The MD P&P will partner with Corps Members, school and university partners, and AmeriCorps to ensure that members have a strong start to their corps commitment with Teach For America. The ideal person for this role will have prior experience leading high stakes projects, cultivating external relationships, and leading teams. The MD P&P will utilize this experience and knowledge in their work as they strategize, design and execute on regional program pre-service activities alongside the Vice President of Corps Member Leadership and the broader Corps Member Leadership team. Through this work, the MD P&P will ensure that partners in Chicago-Northwest Indiana deepen their understanding of our work and our members understand how to lead within their Corps commitment as a part of a broader and longer legacy of change making in our community. 

THE ORGANIZATION

There are more than 16 million children growing up in poverty in the U.S., and less than 10 percent of them will graduate from college. These statistics are not a reflection of our children’s potential; we know that children growing up in poverty can and do achieve at the highest levels. Rather, these statistics reflect the systemic lack of access and opportunity for children in low-income communities.

By 2030, twice as many children in communities where we work will reach key educational milestones indicating they are on a path to economic mobility and a future filled with possibility. Teach For America’s (TFA) mission is to find, develop, and support a diverse network of leaders committed to expanding opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate. We are seeking individuals who align with our mission, core values and commitment to Diversity Equity & Inclusiveness and are ready to join us in this global movement.

THE PERSON

Partnerships Strategist and Relationship Builder (30%)

• Cultivate school partner champions through managing a portfolio of school partner relationships directly and laterally managing coach school partner portfolio management
• As a leader on our regional team, constantly strive toward being a reflective model of our team culture aspirations
• Lead school partner program evaluation, growth, and innovation

Collaborative Corps Preservice Operations Vision, Evolution and Execution Leader (30%)

• In partnership with the Vice President of Corps Member Leadership, set and evolve an inspiring and contextualized vision and strategy to matriculation, onboarding and placement of Corps Members aligned to our organizational, regional and broader program vision.
• Develop, progress monitor and evolve key metrics to understand progress towards vision and goals
• Ensure alignment of member program operations experiences to and through the first day of school including but not limited to onboarding, School placement, university partner enrollment, licensure, and AmeriCorps enrollment. 
• Maintain corps member and program compliance with AmeriCorps, the Illinois Board of Education, and National Teach For America policies and procedures. 
• In partnership with development, contribute to the creation of proposals and reports for public grants
• Contribute to the vision and strategic direction for the region, driving the regional team towards our strategic plan outcomes, and personally modeling our core values and culturally conscious leadership practice

Team and Culture Leader (30%)

• Hire, train, develop and manage a team to execute the strategy to achieve results in corps matriculation, 2-year retention, culture and experience, and create an inspiring and inclusive team culture grounded in Teach For America’s core values and culturally conscious practices (internally and externally of TFA).
• Provide ongoing development to the broader Corps Member Leadership on partnerships stewardship

Collective Responsibilities (10%)

• Contribute to our organization-wide and regional success by supporting member, supporter, and partner programming as needed
• Engage in team responsibilities to strengthen our collective work, including check ins, team meetings, professional development, data management, etc.

THE MUST HAVES

Prior Experience:

• 7+ years of work experience preferred 
• Previous experience cultivating diverse high stakes external relationships 
• Strong existing knowledge of the public and charter education landscape in Chicago, Northwest Indiana and North Chicago
• Track record of setting ambitious goals and achieving results

Skills and Values:

• Exceptional strategic thinker, particularly regarding networks of influence
• Exceptional relationship builder; ability to build strong relationships with others in challenging situations
• Exceptional project and people manager; ability to both organize work for themselves and managing the execution of others
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with an ability to convey complex ideas concisely and compellingly to a range of external audiences; credible external communicator
• A keen understanding of the beliefs, motivations and contexts of others as well as the ability to influence key stakeholders toward meaningful outcomes 
• Impeccable ethical standards and an uncommon level of personal responsibility in driving towards ambitious goals
• Agility and endurance to navigate a large, complex national organization and competitive landscape
• Passion for TFA’s mission, believes deeply in the importance of inspiring/investing external people in TFA’s work, and has high expectations for how TFA is viewed by external constituents
• Comfortable with ambiguity, adaptability, risk taking, and learning from failure in a constantly evolving context 
• Open to taking on projects outside of your immediate job description to respond to the needs of our network
• Displays and models a learning orientation, including of one’s own personal identity development and our organization’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusiveness

Work Demands

• Ability to work some weekends and evenings; ability to travel to in-person meetings

Education: Bachelor’s degree required

THE TEAM

For over twenty years, Teach For America Chicago-Northwest Indiana has worked shoulder-to-shoulder with parents and students to ensure that all children receive an excellent education. As we reflect on our past twenty years of impact and look forward to the continued positive impact we seek to have in our region, we aspire to remain at the forefront of student growth and continue to prove that poverty is not destiny for our students. By 2030, our goal is that twice as many Chicago-Northwest Indiana students are reaching key educational milestones that indicate they are on a path to economic mobility and shaping a better world for themselves and all of us.

Teach For America’s mission is to end educational inequity through extraordinary leadership. As a leadership development organization, Teach For America –Chicago-Northwest Indiana will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with others in our community by fostering diverse and talented education leaders, igniting our community to lead together, and building an enduring organization that can sustain the fight for educational equity for the long haul. With a local member base of over 3400, including 1,100 teachers, 290 school leaders, system level leaders, and non-profit leaders, and a staff of 50, we are positioned to continue working alongside the Chicago-Northwest Indiana community and ensure that the students of today become leaders of tomorrow.

THE PERKS

By joining staff, you join a network of individuals committed to pursuing equity for all students and developing themselves as professionals in the process. We as an organization value the longevity of our employees and offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits plan. The salary for this position is also competitive and depends on your prior work experience. Please be advised, you will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

WE ARE DEEPLY COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

Teach For America encourages individuals of all ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to this effort.

Teach For America is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

*This job description reflects Teach For America's assignment of essential functions and qualifications of the role. Nothing in this herein restricts management's right to assign, reassign or eliminate duties and responsibilities to this role at any time.

NEXT STEPS

Interested in this position? Click here to apply now! If you still have questions regarding the role, feel free to contact our recruitment team at staffing@teachforamerica.org or visit www.teachforamerica.org/about-us/careers.