School Network Staff Managing Director of Academics & Teacher Development
Job Description
About the Managing Director of Academics and Teacher Development: The Managing Director of Academics and Teacher Development role will be an essential partner to the Chief Academic Officer (CAO), Principal Team, and the Academic Leadership Teams. This role will partner closely with KIPP’s school leaders, instructional staff and external stakeholders and will have the unique opportunity to contribute to the overall impact of KIPP Colorado. The role reports directly to and serves as a critical support to the CAO. The Managing Director of Academics and Teacher Development will support the educational performance of KIPP Colorado, contributing to a clear vision and strategic direction for KIPP Colorado’s curriculum, instruction, and school improvement initiatives. This role will provide coaching, mentorship, and development of Home Office Academics Team Leaders at KIPP Colorado schools to foster healthy schools and overall academic achievement, as well as support leader development for assistant principals, including instructional and culture leaders. The Managing Director of Academics and Teacher Development will play a leadership role in academic systems and program design aligned with our 2025 strategic plan. The MD will consistently demonstrate their experience in the design, integration, and implementation of a large complex system to improve student results, as well as knowledge of curriculum, instructional practices, school improvement and leadership development.
About KIPP: Together with families and communities, KIPP creates joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. KIPP is a national network of tuition-free, public charter schools open to all students. There are 255 college-preparatory KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia, serving more than 100,000 students. Nationally, KIPP students are graduating four-year colleges at three times the national average for low-income students.
Who we are: KIPP Colorado Public Schools is a network of six free college-preparatory public charter schools open to all students. Our 350-person staff educates 2,600 students from ECE to 12th grade. At KIPP Colorado, we partner with our KIPPsters, educators, families and communities to ensure that we are all united around the goal of a choice-filled future for our KIPPsters. Our KIPP Forward Team supports our 1,000+ high school Alumni as they create their own paths. Our core values of excellence, belonging, belief, advocacy and courage are central to who we are and how we operate at all levels of our organization.
What we do: We believe in the unique gifts and brilliance of every student. We believe in setting a high bar for joy and academic excellence to ensure the infinite possibilities our students have before them become a reality. We aspire to create and reinforce a culture of achievement, belonging and support. We know that every student is different and we personalize learning based on a student’s needs, skills, and interests.
Role Responsibilities and More About How You’ll Spend Your Time in this Role
Develop: Formally developing Academics Team Leaders they manage through structured coaching, data analysis and observations;
Drive Results: Driving strategic school improvements using data in order to drive results in schools and across the region;
Lead and Coordinate: Coordinating a Home Office regional support team and contributing to strategic decision-making in the Home Office;
Engage Community: Partner with the External Affairs Team to build and execute a comprehensive community engagement strategy to drive community connection in their region and equity of voice within school communities.
Leader Effectiveness:
- Alongside the CAO, implements KIPP Colorado’s ECE-12 instructional model to achieve breakthrough student results, promotes a strong culture of teaching and learning excellence, and fosters educational equity for all students.
- Promotes the regional academic and cultural vision, strategy and goals by leveraging demonstrated success and learnings as an instructional expert.
- Helps develop a strong region-wide change management plan to achieve strategic vision, including metrics, indicators, and key initiatives that align to the broader regional strategic plan
- Manage the development and/or selection of high-quality curricular materials and aligned assessments across academic disciplines and grade levels that are designed to serve students at all levels and abilities, in partnership with schools and the teaching and learning team
- Provides support to school academic leaders to implement curriculum effectively, including facilitating professional development for teachers in pedagogy and their specific content areas, in partnership with the CAO, Regional Content Leads and Principals
Teacher Development and Effectiveness:
- Designs and implements a Teacher Development and Effectiveness strategy and approach
- Supports in the development of state of the art Teacher evaluation processes, teacher coaching approaches, and strong onboarding of new teachers
- Leads Teacher Residency programs and cohorts, designed to Build Our Own next generation of Teachers for KIPP Colorado
School Management and Support:
- Ensure high-quality ECE-12 academic and cultural experience for students through direct management and coaching of the six KIPP CO principals.
- Work with the CAO to set clear expectations for principals on academic outcomes, school culture and student experience, and related goals. Actively coach, develop, and mentor new principals to deepen their effectiveness across all aspects of school leadership
- Ensure continuous school-based and regional monitoring of student progress toward outcomes and related goals, including regular data analysis and evaluation of aligned instructional and social emotional development strategies
- Actively communicate academic progress against goals and outcome targets to school, regional, and other relevant stakeholders
- With the CAO, partner with the Director of Leader Development, Chief of Staff and Talent Team to ensure the development of a school leadership pipeline for all levels of campus leadership, in particular principals
Educational Equity:
- Promote educational equity (equitable outcomes and processes) as a guiding principle across the entire school network, and ensure it is reflected in curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems.
- Actively listen to others, understands nuance, and effectively interprets motivations/perceptions and data (both quantitative and qualitative); able to integrate feedback from others and additional data points to achieve better results.
- Serve as a key member of the Academic Leadership Team and contribute and lead portions of the 2025 strategic plan.
Academic Strategy
- In collaboration with the CAO, set the organization’s vision for educational excellence – including academics, student culture, student experience – across the Org in alignment with the new strategic plan.
- Analyze academic, persistence, retention, and proficiency-based data metrics in collaboration with home office support staff members to make appropriate decisions about resource allocation and coaching support.
Relationship Management
- Successfully balance decision-making that is in the best interest of both the Org and the schools they oversee
- Assure alignment between Org priorities and school management, by building relationships and investment with all parties and supporting the efficacy staff in our schools.
- Cultivate and manage relationships with Org leaders and other critical stakeholders, especially Chief People Officer, principals and school leadership team members.
- Meet with internal and external stakeholders and synthesize their concerns, challenges, and ideas into easily understandable and actionable recommendations.
Professional Responsibilities
- Believe deeply in the mission, values, and Race, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (RIDE) commitments of KIPP Colorado Schools and that all children can and will learn.
- Providing an active presence, strategic supervision, and intentional monitoring to ensure student safety and engagement in rigorous learning (regardless of my role and its proximity to students)
- Take ownership for the development of your craft (meet 1x/1-2 weeks with a manager, implement feedback, engage in active practice, etc.)
- Meet professional obligations including and not limited to meeting deadlines and honoring schedules.
- Collaborate with colleagues and seek feedback in the spirit of continuous improvement.
- Reflect on professional practices to meet individual professional development goals.
- Assume personal responsibility for student achievement.
- Actively participate in professional development, grade level, and department meetings.
- Actively engage in all school-wide professional development.
- Serve as a positive, contributing member of a grade team, collaborating with colleagues to tackle common challenges and implement grade-wide initiatives.
- Share candid, solutions-oriented feedback with peers and leadership on a regular basis.
- Maintain strong attendance each day and be on time to all responsibilities
- Assist with both student and staff recruitment.
- Other duties as assigned
Managing Director Role Level Specifics, Scope of Work, and Level of Responsibility For more about how you’ll lead at the Managing Director level, please visit the KIPP Colorado Role Levels Matrix (this is an internal document, only).
About Your Skills and Qualifications at the Managing Director Level
- Bachelor’s Degree (required)
- At least 3 years as a successful school Principal (required)
- At least 8 years of school based experience (required)
- Three or more years of experience managing a team (preferred)
- A full understanding and Commitment to an Exceptional Student Experience (more about that HERE) (required)
- Previous experience developing and facilitating adult learning/training (required).
- Adept at thinking strategically, translating plans into action, and exhibiting excellent judgment
- Detail oriented with exceptionally strong follow-up and follow-through skills
- Unquestioned integrity and commitment to KIPP Colorado’s mission and values, including a strong commitment to the belief that all children can learn and deserve access to an excellent public education
- Naturally and readily assumes responsibility to fix problems and create improvements
- Ability to quickly and effectively build relationships with, motivate, and engage a diverse group of stakeholders
- Skilled at analyzing, interpreting, and using data to collaborate, identify best practices and areas for improvement, and drive results
Compensation and Benefits:
Staff retention and satisfaction is imperative for KIPP Colorado. We seek to provide competitive compensation and benefits including the following:
- Competitive Market Salary: Starting salary for this role begins at $145,000
- Please submit a comprehensive resume to assure all your experience is accounted for! (Tip: We don’t care if your resume is more than one page, we are eager to see and compensate you for all of your experience and accomplishments.)
- Excellent Healthcare Plan: 100% of employee-only monthly premium paid by KIPP Colorado and options for family enrollment and coverage, through United Healthcare.
- Time Off !!!: More than 6 weeks of annual vacation and Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Based on hire date, employees are eligible for up to 8 days of Paid Time Off (PTO)
- All employees receive summer break through an Org closure, based on work location and position
- Access to Parental and medical leave: Includes 6 weeks paid and 6 weeks unpaid for a total of 12 weeks (after your first year).
- Career Trajectory: Access to opportunity to to move up, across schools, and grow your career and weekly coaching session to refine your craft.
- Mental Health Care: Immediate and ongoing access to mental health support through our Employee Assistance Program.
- Technology & Access: Equipment provided: laptop & phone
- Retirement Planning: Participation in the Colorado PERA retirement program, including a PERA 401k option.
- Move to Join Us: Relocation reimbursement (when applicable)
- Additional Pay: Most school offer various stipend opportunities
- All the Insurance Options:
- Wellness reimbursement
- Voluntary employee, spousal, and child life insurance
- Voluntary long term disability insurance
- Voluntary short term disability insurance
- Optional Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
- All the Info: For more information, you can view our benefits FAQ here .
KIPP Colorado Schools is dedicated to equal employment opportunities and fair labor practices. KIPP Colorado Schools, KIPP Denver Collegiate High School, KIPP Northeast Denver Middle School, KIPP Northeast Elementary, KIPP Northeast Denver Leadership Academy, KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy and KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary provide equal employment opportunities to all individuals based on job-related qualifications, and the ability to perform a job without regard to race, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, religious creed, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, legally protected medical condition, veteran status, sexual orientation, or on any other basis made unlawful by federal, state or local laws. It is our policy to maintain a non-discriminatory environment free from intimidation, harassment or bias based upon these grounds.
