Director or Vice President of Schools

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

Rocketship is seeking to hire an instructionally and school leadership focused Director of Schools (DoS). Reporting to the Executive Director and serving as a strategic leader, the DoS will help to refine, innovate upon, and scale the Rocketship instructional and operational model to achieve the organization's collective mission to eliminate the achievement gap in historically under-served communities. Based in Washington DC, the DoS will be a key strategic leader of the DC Regional Leadership team. This role will directly manage a team of three principals, the Director of Achievement, and the Director of Culture providing coaching and development to direct reports. 

The DoS will manage Rocketship's schools and Achievement team; customizing Rocketship’s  model for personalized learning and student achievement. The DoS will own the academic outcomes/ student achievement for the entire region. The DoS will provide direct supervision to our Principals in the DC region. The DoS, will ensure that all our (~1500 Rocketeers across 3 campuses) students meet ambitious academic outcomes. 

Additionally, the DoS will also be responsible for setting the scope and sequence for Schools Talent Development for the region. In collaboration with both the Program Team and Talent Team, the DoS will be a key decision maker in succession planning and development tracks for all schools facing roles.

The ideal candidate will have direct school leadership experience and will have developed and/or led an instructional model that realized high levels of student achievement in an organization similar in scope and scale to Rocketship. The DoS will have experience leading and expanding a multi-site enterprise and interacting effectively with senior leadership, school-level administrators, teachers and school based staff, donors, and members of a board of directors. The DoS will ensure that Rocketship maintains a culture that puts Rocketeers first and provides outstanding support to its schools while also creating a culture of excellence amongst Rocketship staff that encourages and creates strong tenure. She/he/they will combine a capacity for systems-level and strategic thinking, deep pedagogical and instructional experience, an eye towards school leadership, careful attention to detail, and strong interpersonal skills in building relationships with critical internal and external stakeholders. 

The DoS will be a mission-driven leader with a tangible passion for ensuring Rocketship continues to provide life-changing opportunities for its students. The ideal DoS candidate will have experience working in a dynamic, growing organization during a transformational phase. S/he is entrepreneurial by nature and positively impacts both strategic and tactical initiatives by managing multiple projects at a time. The ideal DoS candidate identifies with, and appreciates the work of, every contributor across all levels of Rocketship's organization.

The following are essential functions related to the position:

• Lead a high-performing team, including senior-level leaders of schools and achievement; model and sustain a culture of high performance and service orientation among team members through professional development, observation, feedback and data analysis
• Recruit, retain, and develop a high performing staff in partnership with Talent and Program 
• Align regional strategy with national priorities, manage through layers (regional and national)  ensure a close, collaborative working relationship with other members of the Network Support Team (NeST—Rocketship’s centralized office that operates in support of its schools and regions), school directors, and all school staff (teachers, school leaders, support staff, etc.) to ensure established best practices are being realized, innovated upon, and optimized.

• Cultivate an outstanding team of school leaders and regional leaders through effective coaching and supervision, designing and facilitating meaningful professional development, collaboration and mutual support among school leaders, and otherwise creating a robust support structure for Rocketship school leaders
• Supervise and progress monitor the performance management cycle for school leaders
• Partner with Talent Development and Professional Learning to create systems to ensure the development of leadership within every member of our school communities so that Rocketship always has a robust leadership pipeline. 
• Plan and lead meetings and retreats for the regional program team
• Develop ongoing training, coaching, and professional development programs for schools team members at all levels (hourly, instructional, school leaders, Director of Achievement, Achievement Managers, etc.) to ensure each school and region are staffed with high quality instructional staff and highly effective leaders; provide leadership and in partnership with the Executive Directors missions, core values, academic standards, and strategic goals

• Partner with the Regional Director of Operations (RDO)  to lead the strategy, planning, and execution for the operational requirements for schools in the region
• Partner with the RDO to provide consistent, high-quality behavior coaching and support to all regional  operations, focusing on school systems, operations team management, and school leadership collaboration 
• Partner with school Principals and network Operations Team to ensure that schools function at a high level 
• Design and implement tools to drive operational excellence

• Build a strong organizational culture in the region and in each school that is aligned with the Rocketship organization and ensures school success and impact 
• Engage internal and external stakeholders for input, alignment, and support 
• Drive strong collaboration with the network teams to ensure that schools are receiving necessary instructional and other supports and that priorities and initiatives are being fully executed across the region 
• Lead cross functional meetings and stepbacks between all regional Program (ISE, Ops, and Achievement)  teams to align on support for School Leaders
• Lead with a macro perspective of achievement, operations, special education, and compliance
• Set vision for collaboration and decision making between regional program team leaders
• Define and refine how to use formative and interim data to drive progress monitoring and continuous improvement; change management; budget and resource allocation; setting and monitoring academic priorities and goals; balancing consistency across Rocketship DC

• In terms of the performance and personal competencies required for the position, the ideal candidate should be a results oriented, determined, skilled operation leader with a record of experience that includes:
• A deep belief in the mission and educational model of Rocketship Public Schools with the ability to work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, flexible and autonomous environment;   
• A minimum of 5 years of broad school system and instructional experience with a track-record of successful instructional expertise in realizing high levels of student achievement in a complex, multi-site, multi-regional environment; Previous experience as a principal in a high performing school strongly preferred
• Strong understanding and oversight of the achievement and school leadership functions, with the ability to strategically advise the Executive Director and the Board on the academic and instructional pipeline strength of the organization;
• Strong people manager with the ability to drive outcomes through collaboration
• Strong pedagogical, culturally responsive, and personalized learning skills to effectively innovate upon the school model and systems to achieve greater student achievement outcomes and opportunities, whilst constantly thinking about, innovating upon and implementing new strategies and approaches to our personalized learning approach in order to always ensure that the Rocketship model offers our Rocketeers and families the most robust learning experience competitive with our more affluent public school peers;
• Experience in designing and facilitating professional development growth strategies;
• Excellent communication, influencing and negotiation skills to interact effectively with all levels of the organization, the school network, and any external stakeholders;
• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree and or Administrative Services Credential preferred.

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.