Job Description

JOB SUMMARY

The Chief External Affairs Officer (CEAO) reports directly to the Executive Director and will manage PSP’s Development, Communications, and Access Initatives teams. S/he will be a visible and strategic executive responsible for maintaining and enhancing PSP’s relationships with and services to our external stakeholders, particularly funders, families, policymakers, and the general public. The CEAO is expected to:

• Develop and lead a team to execute on our new strategic plan
• Forge meaningful partnerships with funders, families, and peer service providers
• Engage local and national funders in pursuit of educational equity: The CEAO will drive PSP’s fundraising strategy, including working with the Board to set fundraising goals, directly engaging funders to invest in our mission-critical initiatives, managing the development team, and stewarding PSP’s relationships with the funder community.
• Communicate to inspire others: the CEAO must be a compelling communicator who can serve as a brand ambassador for PSP. S/he will have a history of working across the aisle with elected officials; education, business, and civic leaders, and funders to collectively understand and articulate the educational challenges facing students and families today and to inspire others to join PSP in the effort to create real solutions.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

General Leadership

• Serve as a member of the organization’s leadership team
• Use local and national data and real-time feedback to manage all teams toward outcomes aligned to the strategic direction and goals of PSP
• Serve as an expert on policy, practice, and service delivery that supports low-income, children of color to access high-quality education options across all sectors
• Create and foster a healthy and productive team culture of professional growth and high achievement inside the organization, while maintaining a positive staff morale

Fundraising

• Support the Executive Director in effectively stewarding current donors, and cultivating new donors and strategic funding partnerships both locally and nationally
• Support the Executive Director and lead the development team to achieve our annual fundraising goals of between $10-15M each year
• Connect the dots between other divisions (e.g., Investments, Data) to support fundraising
• Form relationships throughout the Philadelphia region (and beyond) that contribute to enriching and collaborative experiences for Philadelphia students and families

Communications

• Set and pursue an effective communications strategy to position PSP as the trusted leader on school quality in the Philadelphia region
• Determine key communications goals and systems for monitoring impact of our message/brand both internally and externally
• Advance PSP’s public brand by serving with the ED as active and magnetic ambassadors for PSP’s mission and vision with key stakeholders
• Provide strategic and operational leadership for the internal and external communications functions of the organization

Access Initatives

• Build and lead a high-impact Access Initatives division by attending to all aspects of supporting families with access and education related to reliable information on cross-sector school options and quality and how to increase their access to these options
• Maintain and expand our existing support tools (e.g., GreatPhillySchools, Apply Philly Charter) and create visionary new ways to engage families directly in education and access opportunities
• Create strategies for galvanizing community-level support for improving educational outcomes for students across Philadelphia

REQUIRED SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Deep commitment to the mission and vision of PSP and how to provide leadership in achieving educational equity for all children in Philadelphia
• Strong interpersonal and communications skills, both oral and written, and a passion to develop relationships with stakeholders
• Ability to build strong relationships across diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders
• Superb project management and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate data insights into actionable solutions
• Experience in direct service to low-income, communities of color and an understanding of the barriers to quality educational options for the families we serve
• Experience managing a team and multiple work streams toward measurable outcomes
• Track record in hiring and coaching staff to higher performance and skill development
• Proven commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion both inside organizations and in their approach to education reform
• Experience cultivating partnerships with individuals and institutions across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.
• Successful history of major gifts fundraising from individuals and/or foundations

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree highly preferred
• Minimum of 10 years of professional experience required, including leadership roles, preferably in urban K-12 education or nonprofit(s) working in partnership with public and/or private education systems
• Deep functional expertise and a proven record of success in two or more of the following areas: Fundraising, Communications, Community Engagement, or Project Management
• Leadership experience in K-12 public, public charter, and/or private schools, preferred
• History of success in raising philanthropic dollars and stewarding donor relationships

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:

• Traveling to offsite meetings – valid driver’s license and/or access to transportation when necessary
• Functioning in office space — reaching file cabinets, filing, faxing, scanning, coping, typing, mailing, making phone calls
• Must be able to sit for up to two hours looking at a computer monitor, using a keyboard/mouse and typing

PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with excellent benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.  Salary is commensurate with experience.

How to Apply

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS Email cover letter and resume to Molly Farley, Human Resources Consultant, at Molly@mfconsultantsllc.com.

Bureaus: Philadelphia. Job Categories: Full-Time. Job Types: Operations / Administration.