Associate Partner, Programs (State and District Support)

Closed for Review

Overview

Catalyst:Ed is looking for an exceptional, equity-oriented leader to join our team as Associate Partner, Programs (State and District Support). In this role, you will be responsible for the day-to-day management of key programmatic initiatives and for helping state and local education agencies tap into the expertise in the sector and strengthen their capacity to address critical priorities with a focus on underserved student populations.

This position reports to the VP, Programs.

Who We Are

Catalyst:Ed is a national nonprofit that helps education organizations build capacity and deepen their impact by connecting them to the expertise, resources, and hands-on support they need to drive transformational outcomes for students, especially those from underserved communities. Our team is purpose-driven, innovative and inclusive, with a supportive culture where all team members have the opportunity to grow and contribute. Founded and led by a woman of color, Catalyst:Ed is committed to being a space where diversity is valued and all team members are able to bring their full, authentic selves to work.

The Programs Team @ Catalyst:Ed delivers high-quality services that meet authentic needs of field leaders and helps organizations grow their capacity and deepen their impact to drive transformational outcomes for students, especially those from underserved communities. In order to deliver on this promise, the Programs team:

  • Works in partnership with organizations to understand their needs and connect them with expertise, resources, and support to grow their capacity and deepen their impact. This includes leading the strategic direction, management, and execution of our project matching services provided to the general public, within Catalyst:Ed’s Exchanges and
  • Expert Hubs, and via other forms of capacity building services. This work may also include managing intensive support opportunities like cohorts and networks.
  • Delivers coordinated, streamlined, thoughtful, and high-quality customer service to organizations and providers.
    Supports the development of providers in the Catalyst:Ed network through engagement in community and learning activities.
  • Ensures that organizational values and equity-orientation are represented across all programmatic efforts.
  • Maximizes organizational learning and quality improvement, and field-facing learning by developing and disseminating content.

About This Role

Associate Partners are responsible for the day-to-day management of one or more key programmatic initiatives such as our Exchanges (see here for more on our Exchanges for grantees). As the Associate Partner responsible for state and district support, you will work to support our SEA and LEA Exchanges. These Exchanges help state and local education agencies tap into the expertise in the sector and strengthen their capacity to address critical priorities with a focus on underserved student populations. Both the SEA and LEA Exchanges are in-progress with significant opportunity for growth and deepened support.

Key Components of Your Role

  • Manage the day-to-day operations of the SEA and LEA Exchanges to build capacity and deepen impact for organizations in the education sector. This might involve the following:
    • Conduct consultations with leaders and teams to help them assess their needs, and identify capacity-building projects where they can benefit from expert help; develop project scopes based on each organization’s needs, and; oversee the matching process.
    • Provide as-needed advice to organizations and providers during the project.
    • Capture lessons and ensure accountability through capacity assessments, surveys, feedback and reflection processes, and/or relationship management conversations with organizations.
    • Continuously connect the dots between people, lessons, and insights to maximize organizational and field-facing learning. Think strategically about the connections across discrete projects, initiatives, and how they align with overarching team priorities. Identify, advocate for, and implement improvements to complex initiatives.
    • Maintain strong relationships with organization leaders, funders, and other stakeholders to ensure continued support and resourcing.
  • Manage the development and delivery of new and existing strategic initiatives like the launch of new Exchanges or content-oriented service efforts. This might involve the following:
    • Work with leadership, strategic partners and funders to design innovative and high-impact initiatives that fulfill an unmet need and leverage Catalyst:Ed’s unique model and strengths.
    • Provide hands-on, project management support in developing specific aspects of the initiative while ensuring alignment to overall goals.
    • Manage community-oriented capacity-building initiatives where a key mechanism for organizational growth is achieved or enhanced through a collaborative experience with other organizations growing toward the same goal. This involves strong network management, relationship-building, project management, knowledge management and communications activities.
    • Ensure fit between needs of education organizations in the sector and provider capacities in the Catalyst:Ed
    • Provider network. If necessary, work with the Operations team to manage the selection and intake process to source new providers and identify their specific experience and expertise. Collaborate with the team to design improvements to the process.
    • Engage in one-off project matching activities for organizations with an eye toward customer service, program quality, and potential future opportunities for collaboration.
  • Manage one or more team members, including supporting their overall growth and development, helping to prioritize their time and project focus, providing feedback, and escalating issues to your manager if the employee is having trouble.
  • Collaborate regularly across Catalyst:Ed to ensure we innovate and grow our organization
    • Understand resourcing opportunities and challenges, and communicate effectively with funders on specific initiatives.
    • Support efforts create a robust provider network by engaging with providers via community calls, blog posts, communications, and engagement through our online platform.
    • Work with the team to solve day-to-day concerns, innovate solutions and design improvements.
    • Support hiring processes through position advertisement, resume screening, interviews, work product analysis, etc.
    • Collaborate with others on the development of knowledge products (position papers, blog posts, social media insights, etc) to share lessons with the field.

Supports you’ll rely on from others to be successful

  • Your manager, and other Partners and VPs will help you root your workstreams in the broader strategic framing of Catalyst:Ed’s services and supports to the education sector. This will help you ensure program quality, partner satisfaction, and cultivate future funding and partnership opportunities.
  • Our Product team continues to improve and support technology platforms for project matching, data collection, and data analysis and visualization.
  • Catalyst:Ed’s HR team provides extensive equity-oriented materials for onboarding for yourself and your direct reports, supporting your own growth and development and that of your direct reports, standardized policies and benefits, and more.

Skills and Qualifications

  • Operational excellence: You’re able to plan, execute to plan and get things done. You have experience leading complex projects with multiple work-streams and tight deadlines. You demonstrate attention to detail and consistent follow-through.
  • Strategic thinking: You can quickly analyze complex and ambiguous situations and challenges and determine what needs to be done and how. You have deployed this skill across multiple contexts, either in a consulting role (internal or external) or through your leadership experiences in different organizations or teams.
  • Relationship management: You maintain good relationships with clients, mentors, co-workers, etc to further your understanding of issues in the sector, career goals, etc.
  • Equity orientation: You have demonstrated your equity values through decisions you’ve made, priorities you’ve placed on time, actions, or resourcing, and have a personal ethos around antiracism.
  • Service orientation: You seek ways to be helpful and add value to others and know how to build strong relationships.
  • You have experience working with external partners or clients and can quickly establish trust.
  • Self-confident integrity: You are grounded in your values and are able to influence others without relying on hierarchy or positional authority.
  • Strong communication skills: You communicate effectively and write with clarity.
  • Comfort and facility with technology: You learn new technical applications quickly, and may even enjoy helping to design improvements where needed.
  • Ownership: You’re a highly motivated self-starter and have proven experience bringing projects from concept to completion, persevering in the face of challenges and doing everything possible to ensure project success.
  • Comfort with ambiguity: Catalyst:Ed is a young and rapidly growing organization and contextual factors may not always be clear and codified. You must be comfortable operating in and asking for help and support if there is ambiguity.
  • Education and experience:
    • 9+ years of professional experience with progressive levels of leadership responsibility
    • 5+ years of experience in K-12 education

Good to Know

  • Video: Get to know more about the role and the team by watching this video.
  • Compensation: This is a full time, salaried position with full health benefits and retirement. Compensation is commensurate with experience. Salary range: $110,000-$129,000
  • Start date: Mar 1, 2023 (some flexibility for the right candidates)
  • Location: Catalyst:Ed works nationally. We are a remote team with an office in New Orleans. Team members can work from a location of their choosing.
  • Travel Requirements: 5% travel (2-3 day trips, once or twice a quarter) required for attendance at in-person team retreats and professional conferences if public health standards allow.
  • Physical Demands and Working Environment: The bullet points below are representative of the physical demands and working environment that must be met by a team member to successfully perform the essential functions of this role. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.
    • Standard/remote office setting; proximity to office equipment that includes electronic devices.
    • Multiple people-facing meetings and interactions a day using Zoom or other video call software
    • Must remain at a workstation for at least 50% of the time; will need to use equipment that includes electronic devices.
    • Perceive and interact with text, media, and people.
    • Communicate and accurately exchange information with text, media, and people.
    • Additional Note: This is a people-facing position, and to be successful, you will need to have comfort interfacing regularly with team members and external stakeholders as well as dealing with a range of personalities across multiple domains.

How to apply

Applications for this role are closed. We will review applications on a rolling basis shortly after they are received. The selection process includes a work exercise and 3-4 virtual interviews of 45-60 minutes each.

Catalyst:Ed has a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply, particularly folks who identify as people of color, first generation, low income, or LGBTQ.