Senior Director of High School and Post Secondary Success

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

About Us and Our Philosophy

Breakthrough Greater Boston (BTGB) is a transformative college access and teacher training program. BTGB offers ten+ years of academic enrichment, college preparation to middle school and high school students with high potential but limited opportunities, as well as college persistence and success supports. Simultaneously, BTGB recruits, trains, and inspires a diverse cohort of high achieving college students to become the next generation of urban teachers. Leveraging a Students Teaching Students model, BTGB provides engaging, tuition-free academic programming during the summer and after school. Our students gain the skills and motivation to succeed in rigorous high school courses and, ultimately, in college. Meanwhile, our teachers gain hands-on experience, research-based training and coaching from professional educators.

With a deep commitment to our mission, BTGB operates with the highest standards of integrity and best practices, while also enjoying the ability to be innovative and flexible to meet the evolving needs of our students, families, and teachers. Our team is diverse, high-performing and dedicated. We continue to build an organizational culture that emphasizes our core values for every member of our community:

• Spirit: We cherish and embody the youthful energy and spirit of our students and teachers
• Continual Learning: Everyone in our community has something to learn and something to teach
• Team Together: We all chip in to accomplish whatever is needed for our teammates and the broader organization
• Student Centered: Our students are our first priority and our decisions center around what benefits our students
• Equity and Opportunity: We value diversity of identity, background and thought. We treat everyone with dignity and respect
• Excellence in Everything: We maintain high expectations for ourselves

Breakthrough Greater Boston encourages individuals of all backgrounds to apply for this position, and we do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by applicable law. We celebrate the diversity of our world and our community, and we seek to build a team that reflects that diversity in every way. We welcome and encourage all qualified applicants who share that same vision, as we wish to engage all those who can contribute to our work and this mission.

THE OPPORTUNITY

• Breakthrough Greater Boston is currently seeking a highly motivated and talented Senior Director of High School and Post Secondary Success (SD of HS & PSS) to oversee programing for 9th12

th grade through six years of post-secondary for its Boston and Cambridge campuses. In partnership with the Senior Director of Middle School, the Senior Director will also manage the sunsetting of BTGB’s Somerville campus.

The SD of HS & PSS will be responsible for programmatic planning, management and evaluation as well as will foster a culture of programmatic excellence. Leadership of this function includes oversight of college awareness/readiness programming, post-secondary counseling, and student and family engagement for our high school program. The SD of HS & PSS is also responsible for program evaluation, program staff hiring, training, and supervision, as well as the support of seasonal hiring and volunteer training for the department.

The SD of HSS & PSS will nurture strong relationships with partners that advance high school and post-secondary services at BTGB, including the Boston and Cambridge Public School Districts. The SD of HSS & PSS reports directly to Breakthrough Greater Boston’s Co Executive Director.

POSITION OUTCOMES

A successful SD of HSS & PSS will:

• Ensure teachers, students and their families experience Breakthrough as a welcoming, inclusive, supportive community that works with them in partnership to pursue their long-term educational and life goals
• Thoughtfully develop a closely aligned, highly motivated, and outcomes-driven team that delivers on BTGB’s mission and promise to students and families
• Lead within the department in areas that include but are not limited to short- and long-term departmental strategic planning, partnership development, special initiatives, staff support and coverage, data/reporting
• Oversee the execution of safe, engaging, high-impact year-round out of school programming for 9th – 12th grade and through post-secondary success
• Ensure that the High School team maintains accurate, up-to-date student records, particularly pertaining to support services and post-secondary planning
• Work to ensure that BTGB’s college access and post-secondary success efforts are informed by the latest research, reflective of cultural humility and a commitment to equity
• Nurture robust and mutually beneficial relationships with schools, districts, colleges and universities, and other partners
• Represent Breakthrough’s programming and serve as a thought leader in various external settings including with the Board of Directors, donors, and partners

YOUR CONTRIBUTION

In this exciting role you will be responsible for a variety of critical leadership responsibilities including:

Departmental Leadership

• Share Breakthrough’s data and outcomes both internally (Board, Executive Director, Development team) and externally (school partners, Breakthrough Collaborative, education field)
• Partner with the Leadership Team in the development of strong programmatic policies, and systems for effective program delivery as well as to plan for program growth, innovation, and improvement.
• Work with Co Ed to manage monthly departmental expenditures against budget
• Maintain up-to-date field knowledge in the following subject areas: College Readiness and Awareness Strategies, particularly as they apply to FGLI (first generation, low income) students; Higher Education; Career Training and Exploration; Youth Development; and other relevant fields.

Team Supervision

• Hire program staff on the High School and Post Secondary teams, including permanent full-time employees, as well as oversee the hiring of part-time and seasonal staff and regular programmatic volunteers
• Ensure team members receive high quality onboarding and training to set them up for long-term success in their roles, as well as oversee onboarding and training of part-time and seasonal staff and regular programmatic volunteers
• Conduct weekly supervision, professional development planning, and regular performance evaluations for your team, providing them with consistent support and opportunities for professional growth
• Observe high school and post-secondary programming on a consistent basis
• Create coverage plans and cover open areas of work during staff transitions within department
• Build vision and collaboration among department team members across campuses

Program Leadership

• Ensure BTGB’s positive relationships with its students, families and school/university partners through direct relationship building and advisement to your team
• Develop and track qualitative and quantitative outcomes to measure College Access and Success work
• Provide leadership in the development and execution of strong programmatic policies, systems, and infrastructure for effective and equity-centered program delivery
• Maintain a regularly updated calendar for both High School and Post Secondary work
• Manage Student Advising Program to ensure that all students are connected to a BTGB advisor and receiving consistent advocacy touchpoints
• Ensure students are provided with connections to supplemental and enrichment opportunities and maintain important organizational partnerships

Partnership Management

• Build awareness of BTGB’s mission and clearly articulate program impact to stakeholders
• Establish and maintain meaningful contact with university, school, district and other partner leaders through regular meetings and program reports as well as informal touchpoints
• Ensure university, school, district and other partner communications are tracked in Salesforce
• Manage partnerships with external organizations for the high school and post-secondary success departments including community-based organizations, universities and more
• Represent BTGB at key events for your department

YOUR BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS

As the incoming Senior Director, you will possess many, though perhaps not all, of the following characteristics and qualifications:

• Three or more years of experience supervising staff while leading educational programs, ideally serving low-income students, students who will be first generation college and/or training teachers
• Five to seven years of experience with high school and post-secondary programming, ideally supporting low-income students or students who will be first generation to college
• Experience with college counseling and/or college admissions work
• Experience using data to drive program development decisions
• Experience managing and fostering positive relationships with colleges and universities, secondary schools, and partnered school districts
• An unwavering commitment to anti racism, in deepening your personal understanding and in advancing our collective work
• In depth understanding of Self Responsibility in Leadership roles
• An unwavering commitment to anti racism and advancing our collective efforts towards educational effort
• Ability to take initiative and work on multiple projects, adjust quickly to shifting priorities, meet deadlines, exercise good judgment, and handle high-pressure situations
• Excellent organization and project management skills
• Team player who demonstrates a positive attitude, sense of humor, energy, entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to collaboration
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with a variety of audiences
• Ability to hold others to high standards while also offering support and maintaining positive relationships
• Prior experience with Breakthrough model a plus; familiarity with partner schools or districts a highly desirable
• Flexibility that allows for periodic work on Saturdays and evenings
• Candidates of color and those from low-income backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply as are those with fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Somali, Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Tigrinya, or Urdu
• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree preferred

COMPENSATION

Breakthrough Greater Boston offers a competitive compensation package and is deeply committed to pay equity and transparency. The salary range for this position is $103,000-126,000; Breakthrough Greater Boston makes an offer based on relevant years of experience and does not negotiate salaries.

HOW TO JOIN OUR TEAM

If you are interested in learning more about how your passion and experience can help Breakthrough meet its mission and grow its impact, please submit your resume and a thoughtful and targeted cover letter outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity. Applications can be submitted to Oneda Horne, Co-Executive Director, at jobs@btgbmail.org.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Learn more about Breakthrough Greater Boston at www.breakthroughgreaterboston.org.