Research and Policy Director of Education Policy and Editor-in-Chief, Inside Schools
Job Description
Director of Education Policy and Editor-in-Chief, InsideSchools
Center for New York City Affairs
The New School
The Center for New York City Affairs (CNYCA) is an applied public policy research organization based at The New School’s Milano School for Policy, Management, and Environment. The Center offers analysis and solutions to pressing social and economic challenges. Using rigorous analysis, journalistic research, public convenings, and collaborations with government, nonprofits, and community residents, we seek to strengthen neighborhoods, support families, and improve public services.
CNYCA seeks a Director of Education Policy and Editor-in-Chief, InsideSchools to lead our education portfolio, which includes providing practical information to parents, engaging with families via our online community, and cutting-edge policy research. InsideSchools is the premier source of information on NYC public schools and the website serves more than a million students and parents each year. InsideSchools has been helping families identify the best NYC public schools for their children for nearly twenty years. Though historically our work has focused on helping families select schools or getting families to “Day 1” of school, the pandemic catalyzed the organization to expand into helping families confidently advocate for their children’s “Day 2” needs and beyond. To that end, InsideSchools has reoriented its work to support family engagement, including piloting a new space called InsideSchools+ where families receive direct guidance and support, building partnerships with local and national organizations, and supporting parent leadership.
Recent policy research has focused on equity, digital learning, mayoral reform, and family engagement.
The Director of Education Policy and InsideSchools leads the Center’s education policy agenda, develops and executes research projects, manages the InsideSchools website and parent engagement, supervises staff and students, and fundraises for the education project. This position reports to the Executive Director of the Center for New York City Affairs.
The New School is strongly committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and particularly seeks applications from members of underrepresented groups, as well as candidates who share this commitment.
Responsibilities:
- Serve as an expert, both internally and externally, on education issues.
- Develop education agenda and lead policy research.
- Provides strategic and programmatic leadership for CNYCA, and actively advances the University’s commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice.
- Engage in local policy discussions and develop actionable policy proposals
- Prepare reports and policy briefs, contribute regularly to the Center’s online Urban Matters feature, organizing and presenting at public forums, and cultivate effective relationships with the news media, public officials, and community partners.
- Develop and lead family engagement initiatives including partnering with other organizations, schools, and parent leaders.
- Provide editorial leadership for all content areas of the InsideSchools ecosystem, including the InsideSchools website, InsideSchools+, newsletter and other platforms including blog posts and “how-to” guides for parents.
- Oversee technical improvements and updates to the InsideSchools website, including adding new interactive features.
- Supervise team of staff and student workers, support the team’s ongoing professional development, and continually assess and improve upon policies and procedures, with attention to EISJ principles.
- Active fund-raising, including grant and report writing and cultivating relationships with funders, to support the salaries and operating expenses of the education department.
- Contribute ideas and support the work of others at the Center to ensure the broader success of the organization in fulfilling its mission.
- Implement plans to reimagine the InsideSchools platform, including product and program improvements.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree
- At least 7 of years of relevant experience
- Proven track record of successful fundraising.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information clearly to a range of audiences in writing, through public speaking and to the media.
- Experience in leadership roles in sectors such as government, public policy, and nonprofit management.
- Deep knowledge and experience on issues concerning New York City government, schools, education, community advocacy and engagement, and policy analysis.
- Working knowledge of the use of technology platforms in education and family/community engagement spaces.
- Demonstrated track record of developing programs to advance EISJ.
- Ability to adhere to the university’s COVID-19 protocols.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Graduate degree
- Project management experience for web design and development
Work mode – Hybrid: The work mode for this position will be hybrid / fixed-split. A consistent schedule for on-campus and remote work will be determined once the hire is made.
Salary range: $90,000-120,000
