Research and Policy Project Manager Common Charter Application Initiative
Job Description
Organization Summary
The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) works to give every child in America’s fifth largest city the opportunity to attend a great school. We invest philanthropic funds in high-impact schools so they can serve more low-income students—whether they be in the traditional public, public charter or private sectors. Our aim is to catalyze the creation or transformation of enough schools to ensure better options for 50,000 students, or nearly one in four of all Philadelphia schoolchildren. Since 2011 PSP has invested in more than 50 schools, creating new educational opportunity for 21,000 students. PSP also works to create the conditions that enable great schools to grow and thrive, including a strong pipeline of qualified teachers and principals, resources and initiatives to empower parents and families, and policies that enable entrepreneurial school leadership and create opportunity for high-performing schools to grow.
Like all cities, Philadelphia has finite resources for K-12 education. PSP believes the route to effectively educating all of the city’s children lies in fomenting and sustaining an educational ecosystem that steers resources toward effective schools, regardless of sector or type of school, so they can grow; increases school choices for families through equity of access to all; and utilizes multiple measures of school performance to hold schools accountable for outcomes, thus ensuring support and—if necessary—intervention for struggling schools. PSP also believes that helping to empower parents to find, choose, and advocate for higher quality schools of all types (district, charter, and private) is a critical part of our strategy to ensure every child in Philadelphia is enrolled in a great school.
Position Summary
The Project Manager, Common Charter Application Initiative will be responsible for managing the design and implementation of a single online application portal for families to use to apply to Philadelphia charter schools. The launch of the online portal is scheduled for Fall 2018. The Project Manager reports to the Managing Director of Strategic Partnerships and also works closely with the Director of GreatPhillySchools and their team.
Primary Responsibilities include:
- Oversee the design and implementation of a single online application portal for families to use to apply to Philadelphia charter schools by Fall 2018.
- Manage the steering committee, working groups, and a wide variety of external stakeholders, including staff at public charter schools and the School District of Philadelphia, as well as vendors and community partners to inform the portal design and implementation.
- Manage external consultants and/or interns.
Successful candidates will have demonstrated experience in successful project management, in addition to being highly skilled in written and oral communication.
PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with good benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.
Duties and Responsibilities
- Manage External Stakeholders:
- Chair and facilitate a steering committee and working groups of charter operators and staff to build consensus around the application portal, policies and procedures, and public awareness and outreach strategies.
- Facilitate one-on-one, small group and large group information sessions for charter leaders, charter staff, and other city stakeholders and leadership.
- Generate talking points, presentations, data analytics and related materials to communicate about the portal to citywide stakeholders and charter school staff about the portal
- Policy & Technical Design:
- Identify and manage external vendors to support the technical solutions and design for the portal.
- In consultation with the working group, design the policies that would govern implementation of a common portal for charter applications.
- Work with GPS to gather family input on portal design and usage and integration with GPS.
- Launch and Ongoing Support
- Provide technical assistance and support to charter schools through the process of implementing the portal including training materials for charter operators and staff
- Develop and implement plan to support end users (i.e., families) with online application portal
- Work with GPS to design outreach, marketing, and educational materials for families
- Work with PSP leadership to integrate this effort into the long-term vision for unifying enrollment and design the funding and functions for launch and sustainability.
- Participate in strategic discussion and decision-making around the long-term goals for unifying enrollment (e.g. make recommendations for governing of a fully unified system long term).
- Other duties as assigned
Competencies & Qualifications
- Demonstrated project management skills: ability to set and adhere to strict deadlines, manage multiple projects while maintaining a firm grasp of individual project details, ability to hold internal and external stakeholders accountable, comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, excellent planning and organizational skills.
- Experience developing and leading projects that involve multiple stakeholders
- Excellent written, presentation, and communication skills
- Demonstrated managerial experience, specifically with external vendors and/or direct reports
- Willingness and desire to participate in unexpected projects
- A passion to improve educational opportunities for children and families is required;
- Familiarity with the Philadelphia charter school community and education sector is preferred.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree strongly preferred
- Minimum of 3 years of professional experience
- Demonstrated project management experience
- Experience in education a plus but not required
- Written fluency in Spanish, preferred
Physical Requirements
Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:
- Traveling to schools – 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
Salary commensurate with experience, along with excellent benefits.
A modest relocation package may also be available for out-of-state candidates.
