Job Type
Full-time
Description
Role OverviewThe Director of Programs is a senior operational and strategic leader within the program team. This role serves as the connective tissue across all program verticals, ensuring that leadership has the real-time visibility, operational infrastructure, and strategic insight needed to drive program-wide excellence. The Director of Programs partners closely with the Chief Program Officer (CPO) to advance organizational priorities, manage critical cross-functional projects, and ensure that the program team operates with clarity, cohesion, and impact.
This is a high-impact, high-visibility role suited for a deeply collaborative leader who brings both strategic acumen and operational rigor, and who is passionate about new teacher development and the systems that enable educators to thrive.
Key ResponsibilitiesProgram Operations & Strategic Visibility (30%)- Coordinates across all program verticals to ensure real-time visibility into program performance and emerging priorities.
- Leads monthly program leadership team data review cycles, synthesizing program-wide insight to inform CPO-level strategic decisions.
- Builds and maintains program SOPs, playbooks, and documentation that institutionalize best practices as the team grows; manages and operationalizes programmatic shifts and development.
- Supports program-wide special projects as needed, conducting research, cohort modeling, staffing projections, and growth planning to enable data-informed decision-making.
Partnership Management (25%)- Supports New Partner Launches, providing strategic framing and tactical support to ensure smooth, high-quality onboarding.
- Serves as a primary point of contact for partner relationships, building trust and ensuring alignment between partner needs and organizational goals.
- Monitors partnership health and outcomes, proactively identifying risks or opportunities and adjusting strategy as needed.
- Monitors programmatic trends, challenges, and opportunities, proactively surfacing recommendations to program leadership.
Leadership Engagement & Culture (10%)- Prepares and facilitates org-wide program vision sessions, retreats, and key leadership engagements for the program team.
- Acts as a trusted thought partner to the CPO and program leadership, managing sensitive information and representing leadership priorities across the organization.
Talent & People Development (10%)- Supports hiring, leadership development, performance conversations, and talent pipeline development across the program team.
- Partners with program leaders to identify professional growth opportunities and strengthen the leadership bench.
Content & Instructional Expertise (25%)- Brings deep expertise and knowledge of new teacher development and research-based instructional practices to inform program design, coaching frameworks, and organizational strategy.
- Serves as an internal resource and thought leader on best practices in teacher development, drawing on current research to shape program priorities and quality standards.
Requirements
Required- 7+ years of experience in education, teacher development, or a related field, with at least 3 years in a program or operational leadership role.
- Deep expertise in new teacher development and evidence-based instructional practices.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional projects and driving results across multiple teams.
- Strong analytical skills with experience in data synthesis, cohort modeling, or program performance analysis.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to synthesize complex information for senior leadership.
- Proven ability to build systems, SOPs, and documentation that enable organizational scale.
- Track record of supporting and developing talent, including hiring, performance management, and leadership coaching.
- Has reliable transportation to commute to school sites in and around Chicagoland
- Genuinely enjoys in-person collaboration and thrives working alongside colleagues, with the flexibility to adjust their schedule and location as team and project needs shift in a hybrid environment.
Preferred- Experience in a Chief of Staff, Deputy Director, or senior strategy and operations role within an educational organization.
- Familiarity with new partner launch processes or organizational expansion in an education context.
- Comfort operating in a fast-paced, growing organization with an ability to navigate ambiguity and lead through change.
Core Competencies- Proactive Problem-Solving: Anticipates challenges before they arise by thinking several steps ahead, connecting dots across people and processes, and building long-term plans that prevent issues rather than react to them
- Strategic Thinking: Translates organizational vision into operational plans and connects day-to-day work to long-term program goals.
- Systems & Operations: Designs and maintains structures that bring clarity, efficiency, and accountability across a complex organization.
- Collaboration & Influence: Builds trust across teams and levels; moves work forward through relationships, not just authority.
- Analytical Rigor: Uses data to drive decisions and is comfortable working with ambiguous or complex information.
- Instructional Expertise: Grounds decisions in a deep understanding of teacher development and what it takes to support new educators.
- Communication: Communicates with precision, warmth, and clarity in writing, facilitation, and interpersonal settings.
Benefits - Paid time off, sick time and holidays
- Medical Insurance - Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Short-Term Disability
- Long-Term Disability
- 403(b) Retirement Savings - Annual Matching
- Flex Spending Account - Medical
- Flex Spending Account - Dependent Care
- Employee Assistance Program
- Parental Leave
- Accidental Insurance
- Perks at Work Discounts
- Annual Professional Growth Plans
Salary Description
$105,000 to $110,000
