Director of Governance & Strategy

At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential. We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non-profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential.

Position Description

The Director of Governance and Strategy is a crucial member of Rocketship TN’s Leadership team and works cross-functionally to manage priorities and advance the goals of the region. This role will have a wide lens to gather input, plan, and engage partners to lead cross-functional initiatives and manage sophisticated projects across the region, including growth strategy, governance, and compliance. This role will also work to support and improve Rocketship Tennessee’s internal communications systems across employees and teams.

• Lead Rocketship’s coordination of Rocketship Tennessee’s Board of Directors, ensuring our Board operations and meetings are strategic, compliant, and operationally smooth.
• With support from the Executive Director, plan and execute all national board and committee meeting logistics, including attending in person.
• Coordinate agenda and materials development for all national board and committee meetings, bringing a strategic lens to the work.
• Direct board-related processes, e.g. board member selection/appointments, form collections, calendar creation, trainings.
• Collaborate with the National Compliance team to strengthen Board practices and advance network priorities.
• Build relationships with Board members and serve as a resource for them.
• Develop and and evolve systems and processes to support this work.

• Lead the development and execution of a multi-year growth strategy to expand Rocketship in Tennessee.
• In collaboration with National NeST partners, assess potential new school sites through market research, enrollment demand analysis, and partnership building with local organizations and government agencies.
• Manage the charter application and authorization process in collaboration with the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission and Metro Nashville Public Schools.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure successful planning and launch of new campuses, including facilities acquisition and staff recruitment.
• Build relationships with Nashville-area community leaders, families, elected officials, and philanthropic partners to cultivate support for sustainable and mission-aligned growth.

• Direct  projects related to compliance challenges, reviews, or updates.
• Monitor relevant new laws and requirements, and develop systems and strategies for efficiently and effectively remaining in compliance.
• Serve as a resource for teams and regions as they have questions and issues related to compliance.
• Will collaborate with National NeST compliance team members to ensure on-time reports, collaboration, etc.

• Direct regional communications strategy while leveraging resources and support from marketing and communications teams. 
• Develop and lead a clear internal communications strategy to ensure staff are informed, aligned, and engaged during all phases of school growth and expansion.
• Partner with senior leadership and network teams to streamline communication, ensuring clarity of roles and coordination across academics, operations, and talent.
• Facilitate feedback loops with school leaders to address concerns, gather insights, and adapt communication plans to support smooth transitions during expansion.
• Ensure consistent messaging and knowledge-sharing across campuses and regional teams to build internal confidence, ownership, and understanding of the network’s growth vision.

• Minimum of 7 years of work experience in roles that include systems-building, project management components, and/or consulting.
• Minimum of 3 years of full-time people management and team leadership experience.
• Bachelor's Degree required.

• An ideal candidate would have experience working in/with schools. In absence of this, an eagerness to dive right in and spend time in our schools to understand their operations would be critical.
• Exceptional communication and presentation skills, both orally and written.
• Deep experience with campaign and digital marketing development and using data to drive decision-making.
• Relationship-building and influencing skills, collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Creative, ambitious and highly adept in designing and implementing cohesive project plans and cross-functional strategies
• Experience in a non-profit and/or start up
• Results and quality-focused with an eye for detail

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, and communicate with both adults and children. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally climb ladders. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to high.

Compensation:

Commensurate with qualifications and experience, plus excellent health and wellness benefits, 403b retirement plan, flexible spending account (FSA), and generous paid time off.

Rocketship Public Schools provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Rocketship Public Schools complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Rocketship Public Schools expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Rocketship Public Schools’ employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated. Click here for our Sexual Harassment Policy.  For questions, concerns, or complaints, please contact Human Resources.