Operations / Administration SENIOR MANAGER INNOVATION
Job Description
CAREER CONNECT
235 work days
FTE: 1.0
Salary Range: Commensurate with experience
Essential Functions and Objectives:
Senior Manager, Innovation Programs is responsible for leading the team that designs and implements innovative programs preparing students for career success and continued education in Colorado’s highest opportunity sectors. The current focusof this position is CareerResidency Youth Apprenticeship Program, offered in partnership with the statewide organization CareerWise Colorado. In this game-changing modern apprenticeship program, high school students spend about half of their time doing paid work within a host company while also earning college credits and completing high school graduation requirements. The Senior Manager will be responsible for building the necessary conditions for scale within DPS. This will include working with schools to meet short-term recruitment and retention metrics while also helping design district-wide operations, policies, and funding streams that will support as many as half of DPS students in apprenticeships and similar programs in the future.
The Senior Manager will be responsible for leading vision and planning efforts alongside CareerWise, higher education institutions, business leaders, government leaders, industry associations, and K-12 school district leaders. The Senior Manager will also have the opportunity to present this work in state and national forums.
The Senior Manager will also be charged with identifyingopportunities to design and pilot other related programs and will eventually be responsible for a portfolio of innovative programs that offer new and exciting ways for students to experience high school and propel themselves into high opportunity careers and continued education. The Senior Manager will evaluate these programs against a set of student outcomes metrics and work to scale the programs that are successful.
Personal & Values:
– Exhibits vision, large-scale change management, collaboration, creative thinking, self direction, drive, and a deeply held belief that all students deserve equitable access to (and support in) high quality college and career pathways.
Vision & Strategy:
– Overseeing postsecondary programming that is currently rolled out at six schools, with more schools coming online each year.
– Prepare and deliver executive-level briefings, reports, budgets, and proposals concerning the CareerResidency and other programs.
Operational & Organizational:
– Budget management of $1-3M/yr in district funds and grants (and growing). Collaborate with the DPS Foundation for fundraising efforts in support of new and expanding programs.
– Strategic planning, project management, start-up phase problem-solving and management, public speaking, and communications, data and analytics.
– Work closely with the School-Based Learning, Operations, and Work-Based Learning teams of DPS CareerConnect in order to drive strong integration of the CareerResidency across our high schools
– Working with CareerWise and higher education institutions to ensure transferability of credits, devise credit accumulation schedules, and ensure full alignment of partnership.
People & Culture:
– Leadership, coaching, and development of 3-5 (and growing) professional staff that are responsible for recruiting students and managing the rollout program.
– Working with partners in key sectors, including but not limited totechnology, business and finance, advanced manufacturing, and healthcare.
– Working with partner organizations, including CareerWise Colorado, to design and continually monitor the success of new programs.
Community & Equity:
– Working with workforce and economic development partners.
– Working with company partners design new entry points and opportunities for funded higher education and training opportunities.
– Work with federal and state agencies to communicate about our objectives and secure resources.
– Support in policy analysis and proposal development to create public systems necessary for program innovation.
– Supervise the pilot of the CareerResidency Youth Apprenticeship Program which is targeted to serve as many as half of DPS high school students over time.
– Regularly report to the Executive Director of DPS CareerConnect, the Executive Director of College and Career Readiness, the Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education, the Superintendent,the Chief Operating Officer and the DPS CareerConnect Executive Advisory Council on progress.
– Other Duties as assigned.
Knowledge, Experience & Other Qualifications:
– 5+ years experience managing work and programs at a high-level, team collaboration, and setting strategy for a fast moving, high profile, growing initiative.
– Strong background in higher education systems, STEM industries, and/or K-12 education systems.
– Demonstrated experience managing and completing multiple projects (full life-cycle project planning and implementation.
– Outstanding facilitation and communication skills, including ability to inspire others.
– Strong interpersonal and leadership skills, including the ability to lead a high-performing team.
– Demonstrated experience performing as an effective leader and team player, and recognizing and resolving conflicts or potentially controversial situations through diplomacy.
– Ability to work in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural environment with district and school leaders, faculty, staff and students.
– Ability to communicate diplomatically, persuasively, effective oral, written and presentation skills.
Education Requirements:
– Bachelor’s Degree in Business or Education Management.
– Master’s degree in business, education management, or related field OR Master’s degree or higher in focal industry field: Engineering, Medical, Technology, Advanced Manufacturing, Finance, Construction, or Hospitality.
About Denver Public Schools:
Denver Public Schools is committed to meeting the educational needs of every student with great schools in every neighborhood. Our goal is to provide every child in Denver with rigorous, enriching educational opportunities from preschool through high school graduation. DPS is comprised of nearly 200 schools including traditional, magnet, charter and alternative pathways schools, with an enrollment of more than 90,000 students.
Under the leadership of Superintendent Tom Boasberg and guided by the tenets of The Denver Plan, DPS has become the fastest-growing school district in the country in terms of enrollment and the fastest-growing large school district in the state in terms of student academic growth. Learn more at dpsk12.org.
Denver Public Schools is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other status protected by law or regulation. It is our intention that all qualified applicants be given equal opportunity and that selection decisions be based on job-related factors.
