OVERVIEW OF THE POSITION

The Senior Director of Networks and Partnerships will lead SCORE’s efforts to build on and expand our current portfolio of strategic practice and partnerships, working directly with practitioners in the field to generate proof points that can be spread and scaled across the state and country. This data-driven and results-oriented individual will play a critical role in advancing the organization’s work by thinking strategically with a systems lens to ask key questions, and uncover and communicate insights from data across the K-12 to jobs continuum. In collaboration with the research and innovation team and data strategy team, this team member will transform these insights into innovative pilots to generate proof points. These pilots, which SCORE refers to as strategic practice initiatives, will necessitate working directly with schools, districts, institutions, higher education partners, funders, community leaders, and other stakeholders to test out and learn from innovative models. This individual will also work to connect various strategic practice work across the organization to inform SCORE’s policy and advocacy work and strategic investments, as well as sharing lessons learned with stakeholders across the state and country.

ABOUT SCORE

“The progress that our students have made in recent years is inspiring — there is no doubt that they are capable of achieving at high levels and leading Tennessee into a bright future. While education stakeholders are already working together in exciting ways in Tennessee, it is our responsibility to redouble our innovative efforts to ensure that we are supporting our students to truly excel and thrive. The future of our state depends on it.”

— Senator Bill Frist, Chairman and Founder, SCORE

Tennessee has been making significant progress in advancing a bold education reform plan over the last decade and is now a leader in the nation in dramatically improving student achievement. Tennessee is among the fastest improving states for student achievement according to the Nation’s Report Card.

While Tennessee has made significant gains, there is much still to do — in public K-12 education, in college and career readiness, and in postsecondary completion. The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) plays a critical role in advancing student achievement, aligning K-12 and postsecondary education, and ensuring that all students can achieve career and life success. We work to monitor statewide progress in support of a prioritized agenda that drives collaboration across the state on policy while generating proof points and providing targeted support for implementation across the state.

SCORE is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan organization founded by former US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and is dedicated to the goal that that all students can achieve success in college, career, and life. SCORE supports student success in public schools across Tennessee by ensuring all schools and systems meet high expectations; preparing, recruiting, supporting, and retaining excellent teachers and leaders; and aligning K-12 and college with career and life success.

SCORE is based at Vanderbilt University’s John Seigenthaler Center. This role is eligible for hybrid work with the expectation of 15-20 hours per week in the office and the balance remote. For more information on SCORE, please visit www.tnscore.org.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategic Practice

SCORE defines strategic practice as work done directly with practitioners to incubate and support innovative work in the field. The ideal candidate will be able to help cast a vision to support implementation of innovative pilots across the kindergarten to career continuum with clear goals and flexibility to adjust course where needed. This includes: 1) identifying common challenges across systems, 2) proposing, designing, and launching communities of practice to target common challenges, 3) identifying and managing technical assistance partners to support with strategic practice as needed, 4) engaging in the development of the strategy and scope of work for contracts and MOUs with partners in the field, 5) proactively tracking and sharing lessons learned to ensure work has long-term impact, 6) developing and executing on a robust knowledge management and sharing strategy, 7) managing multiple networks and making course-correcting decisions as data shifts and/or priorities change.

Strategic Partnership Management

SCORE’s strategic practice work is built on strong, trusting relationships with our school, district, higher education, and community partners. As such, the ideal candidate will be exceptionally adept at quickly developing rapport with key stakeholders. This relationship management will also entail strategic pushing on key deliverables, progress monitoring and support, thought partnership and guidance, and accountability for outcomes. Additionally, this individual may interface with funders supporting and enabling strategic practice work, and as such will need superior communication skills to share progress on key work and pitch new and recurring work based on outcomes.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Deep understanding of the education field and education policy in particular
• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree in relevant field preferred
• Experience at the school district level strongly preferred
• Minimum of five to seven years of professional experience in education field
• Self-starter with ability to think innovatively about what is possible
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to design innovative pilots to test emerging ideas that are informed by data
• Passion for SCORE’s mission, a drive to dramatically improve student achievement in Tennessee, and an understanding of current national, state, and local education policy issues
• Deep alignment with SCORE’s core values of collaboration, optimism, student focus, excellence, and innovation
• Strong partner engagement and consulting skills with an ability to quickly build trusting and authentic relationships with education stakeholders
• Demonstrated success in project management with proven experience managing multiple tasks simultaneously in a fast-paced, high-intensity, and intellectually demanding environment
• Ability to problem-solve in the moment and proactively consult and collaborate with other team members as appropriate
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to move projects forward and the ability to communicate with a variety of audiences
• Evidence of leadership amongst their peers and ability to build professional relationships that result in improved outcomes for students

SCORE is committed to providing opportunities for professional growth by providing team members with feedback and opportunities to grow in their work.

COMPENSATION

SCORE offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience.

BENEFITS

SCORE deeply values team members and their well-being and is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits plan. All full-time SCORE employees are eligible for benefits, including:

• Medical insurance, including access to a high-quality network with SCORE paying for most medical coverage costs; dental insurance options; vision insurance options; employer-paid disability, life insurance, and EAP benefits; access to Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) benefits.
• Eligibility for participation in a 401K program with employer match after one year of service.
• Paid parental leave time, including paternity, maternity, and adoption leave, available after six months of service.
• Paid time off, holiday office closures, and paid floating holidays.
• Free on-site parking.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

At SCORE, we are committed to creating a workplace where all team members bring their whole selves to work and thrive both personally and professionally. We deeply value collaboration, optimism, excellence, and innovation in our student-centered work and in how we work together and support each other as a team. We also believe that it is important for our team to reflect the rich diversity of students in Tennessee, and that we intentionally create space for diverse viewpoints to meaningfully contribute to our work.

SCORE is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.