Innovation Manager - Summit 3.0 - SY27The Innovation Manager leads the end-to-end coordination of Summit 3.0 pilots across schools. Reporting to the Senior Director of Innovation (and working day-to-day with Directors of School Design / RISE Teams), this role manages the operational backbone of the pilot portfolio: planning timelines, supporting site teams, tracking progress, and ensuring that every pilot generates actionable evidence. Beyond the pilots, the role supports redesign work at multiple focal schools and provides project-management support across other innovation priorities.
This is a hands-on, cross-functional role for an educator-operator who can translate vision into workable school-level pilots, keep complex initiatives on track, and drive a learn-fast culture without burning out schools.
What You'll Do:Portfolio Planning & Coordination- Manage multi-year pilot roadmap aligned to Summit 3.0 priorities and the Future Ready School Model.
- Coordinate pilot selection, scoping, sequencing, and readiness across sites.
- Develop clear pilot charters, timelines, milestones, and resourcing plans.
- Maintain a shared calendar of pilot events, deliverables, and decision points.
Pilot Design Support- Partner with Senior Director of Innovation, Directors of School Design, and school leaders to co-design pilots that are coherent, feasible, and tied to clear hypotheses.
- Ensure pilots include strong implementation plans, measurement strategies, and feedback loops.
- Vet pilot designs for alignment to student outcomes, Summit 3.0 vision, and operational reality.
Implementation Management- Serve as the day-to-day project manager for pilots running across multiple schools.
- Provide "air-traffic control" during launches: troubleshooting barriers, ensuring materials and training are ready, and keeping stakeholders aligned.
- Monitor implementation fidelity through site check-ins, observation data, educator feedback, and usage signals.
- Escalate risks early and propose course corrections quickly.
Data, Learning, and Codification- Partner with the Innovation team to define metrics, data-collection methods, and reporting routines for each pilot.
- Maintain the Innovation Data Infrastructure for pilots-tracking status, outcomes, and scaling indicators.
- Produce mid-cycle and end-of-cycle learning memos that summarize results, user experience, and recommended decisions.
- Work with Research & Operations to codify promising practices into tools, frameworks, and training assets.
School Partnership & Change Support- Build strong working relationships with Executive Directors, site leadership teams, and pilot educators.
- Support adult learning and change management at the site level so pilots are understood and owned.
- Ensure pilot work respects school constraints and integrates into existing priorities.
Continuous Improvement of the Pilot System- Improve the Studio's pilot playbook and standard operating procedures over time.
- Share patterns across pilots to improve design quality and reduce friction for schools.
- Contribute to a culture of disciplined experimentation and honest reflection.
Focal School & Other Innovative Workstreams Support- Provide coordination and project-management support to the Directors of School Design leading redesign at the focal schools.
- Pitch in on other innovation project management as priorities shift, such as materials preparation, working-session logistics, and cross-functional follow-through.
- Focus on coordination and operations; design and implementation decisions at the focal schools sit with the Directors of School Design.
Who You AreKey Qualities & Skills- Deep belief in Summit's mission and in the need to evolve public schools for a future-ready world.
- Strong project and program management skills; you can run multiple complex workstreams without losing quality.
- Field-grounded educator mindset-you design with schools, not to schools.
- Comfortable flexing across workstreams and pitching in where the innovation team needs the most support.
- Data-informed and research-literate; able to define success metrics and interpret evidence.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and proactive.
- Excellent facilitator and relationship builder across school-site and home-office teams.
- Comfortable with ambiguity; moves fast, learns fast, and adjusts without drama.
- Clear writer who can produce sharp plans, briefs, and learning summaries.
Required Experience & Qualifications- 5+ years experience in teaching, school leadership, instructional coaching, program design, and/or innovation/piloting work.
- Demonstrated success leading cross-site initiatives or complex school-based projects.
- Experience designing and/or implementing pilots, continuous improvement cycles, and new learning models.
- Experience coordinating or supporting embedded, site-based change work is a plus.
- Proficiency with Google Workspace; strong comfort with tools for project management and data tracking.
- Clear background check.
What You GetIn addition to joining a team that is collaborative, supportive, and engaging in meaningful work, you'll have access to a comprehensive suite of benefits including a retirement plan, unlimited "take what you need" PTO policy, 11 paid holidays, and 3 weeks of organization-wide closures during the year. You and your dependents will have access to multiple health, dental, and vision plans at 25% cost (we cover the other 75%) and employee life and disability insurance at no cost. Our compensation policy strives to be equitable and transparent. The salary range for this position starts at $95,892 and goes up to $113,286 commensurate with experience and qualifications.
