School Network Staff Program Director
Job Description
ABOUT US
Founded in 2017, Moonshot edVentures is recognized nationally as a model for a place-based, culturally responsive approach to identifying a diverse pipeline of educators and accelerating them to found and/or lead schools and programs that are co-created with students and families most on the margins in education. As one of the only organizations designed to develop and support BIPOC and LGBTQ+ educational leaders in the Rocky Mountain region, Moonshot is currently training our sixth cohort of Fellows, running several alumni programs, and continuing to grow our alumni network and services. To date Moonshot’s successes include:
- 100 leaders in our alumni network, 86% BIPOC and 65% women or non-binary
- 35 new schools or educational programs that center the needs of students and families of color
- Over 5,000 students served each year through Moonshot pilots and ventures in Metro Denver
Moonshot is in the beginning stages of executing on our next five year plan, which includes revising and codifying our proven programmatic model, developing a robust data and evaluation strategy, and exploring opportunities for expansion either state-wide or nationally.
You can learn about our programs on our website.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Moonshot edVentures seeks a Program Director who will be a key partner for the Managing Director of Programs and the Program & Operations Manager in running Moonshot’s core programming. This role will balance supporting group-learning workshops and delivering personalized support to Fellows through building strong relationships, understanding individualized needs, and connecting Fellows to the right people or opportunities. The Program Director will manage the Program and Operations Manager, supporting them in executing towards the successful delivery of the Fellowship and Residency, including a rigorous recruitment & selection process for Fellows. The ideal candidate is both experienced and excited about setting strategy, vision, and innovation while simultaneously managing the day-to-day execution of programs. A successful candidate is an excellent relationship-builder, project manager, adult facilitator, and coach, with strengths in detail orientation and strategic thinking. The Program Director is also a quick and nimble learner and is excited to innovate and adapt as the program evolves.
The Program Director will be based in the Metro Denver area and must be available to deliver programming on evenings and weekends. This role will report directly to the Managing Director of Programs.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The primary responsibilities will include, but are not limited to the following:
Fellowship Implementation & Management
A successful candidate is excellent at people development & project management, with a focus on adult facilitation, learning experience design, and coaching.
- Lead the Moonshot Fellowship as the primary facilitator and designer to ensure coherence of Fellowship experience for Fellows
- Develop and/or revise Fellowship curriculum and materials, in collaboration with the Program Team
- Manage the complex, multifaceted project of Fellowship, including:
- Creating and managing project plans to ensure high-quality execution and results around Fellow satisfaction, learning, and results
- Identify and support panelists and outsourced workshop facilitation
- Infuse liberation, diversity, equity, and inclusiveness into programming
- Solicit necessary feedback from team, speakers, Fellows, and external experts to revise curriculum appropriately
- Adapt fellowship programming dependent on Fellows’ needs
- Coach and develop Fellows to develop high-quality school and program learning through Fellowship workshops and 1:1 support
Alumni Strategy & Implementation
A successful candidate is a strategic thinker and an organized professional, able to manage a high number of relationships while providing individualized support.
- Develop and executive a comprehensive strategy that supports alumni in launching, leading, and sustaining their school or program, including the continuation of existing services and implementation of new services responsive to alumni needs
- Establish a system of support for our alumni network, including but not limited to career services, venture support, connection making, support in applications to other fellowships, etc.
- Establish a data and evaluation system to track alumni advancement, venture growth, and continuous improvement for existing ventures
- Bring network/connections and facilitate connections between external audiences and Fellows and alumni
People Leadership & Management
A successful candidate is committed to building strong relationships internally and externally and is a responsive manager and coach.
- Build a cohort culture that is aligned to organizational core values and rooted in strong, culturally-responsive management practices
- Manage, coach, and support 1 FTE on the program team using best practices of equity centered management and with a focus on growing skills and talent. Specifically:
- Program & Operations Manager to execute towards the successful delivery of the Fellowship and Residency, including a rigorous recruitment & selection process for Fellows.
- Engage contractor relationships to provide meaningful and impactful supports to fellows and alumni using high-quality feedback cycles and accountability
KEY QUALIFICATIONS
Success in this position will require the following:
What you’ve accomplished (required):
- Minimum 5-7 years of experience in K-12 education (including educational nonprofits), leadership development, and/or start-ups.
- Strong alignment to the Moonshot vision and mission
- Track record of successful adult facilitation and coaching
- Excellent written and oral communication skills are required to communicate to others with widely varying understanding of issues
- Exceptional at project management, with the ability to produce high-quality work in a fast-paced and deadline-driven environment
- Excited about a collaborative, start-up environment and eager to learn and take on new challenges
Experiences you’ve either developed or would be excited to learn here:
- Depth of knowledge about the skills, mindsets, and knowledge it takes to launch a charter school and/or nonprofit organization
- Experience supporting early-stage founders (supporters of school founders or other education entrepreneurs preferred) and/or emerging school and program leaders
- Knowledge of and relationships within the Metro Denver community and/or Colorado
How you work and what you value:
- An empathetic leader aligned to our mission & values with a deep commitment to racial and social justice and a drive to help students of color to excel and succeed.
- A diversity equity and inclusion centered leader adept at engaging liberatory practices to examine structures of oppression, white supremacy culture, and bias at a systems level. Actively centers liberation, equity and inclusivity in management, coaching and development, and decision making.
- A strategic and visionary leader who is able to manage ambiguity in start up, sustaining and scaling environments.
- An exemplary operator and manager who implements strategy with fidelity and effectively directs projects characteristic of many moving pieces through strong management of self, directly reporting staff, and indirectly reporting contractors/volunteers while facing competing priorities, resource/time scarcity, and ambiguity.
- A highly organized leader who is both adept at adopting new systems and practices and who has their own organizational systems in place to ensure success in a fast-paced environment.
- A highly relational and collaborative leader with the capacity to build strong working relationships with internal and external stakeholders both in service of Moonshot’s goals and as a responsible and equity-minded steward of the broader ecosystem. Proven ability to build authentic, deep, and abiding relationships across lines of difference.
- A self-directed learner who is eager for feedback, proactively seeks opportunities for growth, and takes initiative to implement and apply learnings to their own work and practices.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:
- Fair Wages: The salary range for this position is $82,000 – $92,000.
- Excellent Benefits: We offer flexible paid time off with no cap on hours, 27 office black-out days, a 401k matching plan, short and long term disability, and a yearly wellness fund.
- Commitment to Staff Learning and Development: We believe people are our most precious resource, and dedicate time, resources, and capacity towards the learning and development of each staff member. Managers undergo continuous training to grow their coaching and management practices. Each staff is allocated 15 hours of Professional Development hours per quarter and a yearly allocation of Professional Development Funds. We also engage in ongoing full-team professional development.
- Work that has a real impact: By working at Moonshot, each staff plays a role in building a robust, diverse education ecosystem and supporting BIPOC and historically marginalized leaders in actualizing their dreams. Our mission drives our work and is what brings people to our team.
- Flexible work culture: Staff have the option to work from our office or from home with the exception of in-person team meetings and programming.
