Director of Great Schools Fund Philadelphia School Partnership

Organization Information:

Budget:

$20M +

Website:

https://www.philaschoolpartnership.org/

Mission statement:

Organization Summary

The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) works to give every child in America’s fifth largest city the opportunity to attend a great school. We invest philanthropic funds in high-impact schools so they can serve more low-income students—whether they be in the traditional public, public charter or private sectors. Our aim is to catalyze the creation or transformation of enough schools to ensure better options for 50,000 students, or nearly one in four of all Philadelphia schoolchildren. Since 2011 PSP has invested in more than 50 schools, creating new educational opportunity for 21,000 students. PSP also works to create the conditions that enable great schools to grow and thrive, including a strong pipeline of qualified teachers and principals, resources and initiatives to empower parents and families, and policies that enable entrepreneurial school leadership and create opportunity for high-performing schools to grow. Additionally, PSP invests to catalyze collaboration, facilitating the sharing of best practices among schools and support organizations. Nonpartisan and data-driven, we work with government officials, business leaders, education leaders and practitioners, and community groups to pursue the promise of a great school for every child.

PSP believes that in a city as large as Philadelphia, there is not one best or right kind of school. Two hundred forty thousand children need a wide variety of schools from which to choose. The city has numerous examples of high-performing schools, and they span all three primary sectors: charter schools, district schools and private/Catholic schools. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of quality options in all three sectors. More than 35,000 students sit on waiting lists for the city’s best schools—which include private, charter, district magnet, and district neighborhood schools. Our work centers on leveraging philanthropic capital to attract entrepreneurial leadership and overcome inertia and financial and political barriers so that Philadelphia can have more great schools.

Like all cities, Philadelphia has finite resources for K-12 education. PSP believes the route to effectively educating all of the city’s children lies in fomenting and sustaining an educational ecosystem that steers resources toward effective schools, regardless of sector or type of school, so they can grow; increases equity of access to all school choices for families; and utilizes multiple measures of school performance to hold schools accountable for outcomes, thus ensuring support and—ultimately—intervention for struggling schools.

Position Details:

Job Description:

Position Summary

The Director of the Great Schools Fund manages PSP’s $65 million (and growing) school investment fund. The Fund invests in schools to support their growth and transformation, toward the goal of increasing the number of students enrolled in high-performing schools citywide. Ultimately, the Fund aims to invest in growing and transforming more than 100 schools across the city, including charter, district and private schools, to ensure that students in every neighborhood have the ability to enroll in quality schools. The Director is responsible for leading Fund strategy and the five to six people who work on the Fund team.  The GSF team solicits and reviews applications from schools, school leaders and school networks, determines and structures investments, manages relationships with investees, and monitors academic and other outcomes. The team does deep due diligence to understand strengths and risks of potential investments, including school visits, meetings with school leaders and boards, deep analysis is student achievement, school culture and other outcomes data, and analysis of financial history, financial projections, facility costs and plans, and more. The Director of the Great Schools Fund reports to the Managing Director.

PSP has been making investments in schools for five years and is currently reflecting on lessons learned and strategy for the next five years. The Director will lead the team as it hones the strategy for the next five years. This is an exciting opportunity for a leader with experience and skill in setting strategic direction. The Director will manage this work in partnership with the Managing Director and with the support of the GSF team and other PSP managers. 

PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with good benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.

 Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead development of the strategic vision for the Fund for the next five years
• Build due-diligence and investment decision-making processes for the GSF team  
• Engage in development and review of analyses to identify trends and outcomes in GSF school investments
• Manage relationships with schools in the GSF portfolio and citywide stakeholders
• Keep abreast of emerging education issues in Philadelphia and nationally
• Partner with PSP team on strategic projects
• Actively engage in the strategic planning and thinking of the organization 
• Drive development of new work streams and projects
• Manage all aspects of portfolio management
• Supervise up to six GSF team members

Education and Experience

• Advanced degree required 
• Minimum of 7 – 10 years of professional experience, including leadership roles
• Experience managing a team required
• Experience in K-12 education a plus, but not required

Physical Requirements

Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:

• Traveling to schools – valid driver’s license and/or access to transportation when necessary
• Functioning in office space — reaching file cabinets, filing, faxing, scanning, coping, typing, mailing, making phone calls
• Must be able to sit for up to two hours looking at a computer monitor, using a keyboard/mouse and typing 

Qualifications:

Qualifications

• Commitment to the mission of the Great Schools Fund and the Philadelphia School Partnership 
• Experience managing a team toward measurable outcomes
• Strategic thinker with strong leadership and analytical skills
• Experienced in financial analysis and Excel data crunching and analysis; skilled at training junior staff in use of Excel to perform sophisticated financial and data analyses
• Demonstrated resourcefulness and creativity in an entrepreneurial setting
• Ability to work with a wide variety of “clients” and partners; strong relationship-building skills
• Confidence working under pressure of deadlines
• Strong oral and written communication skills; be comfortable representing the organization in meetings and larger venues
• Excellent interpersonal skills and desire to work as part of a team
• Ability to work independently, solve problems and be flexible
• Willingness and desire to participate in unexpected projects 
• Experience developing and leading projects that involve multiple stakeholders

Benefits:

Salary commensurate with experience, along with excellent benefits.

A modest relocation package may also be available for out-of-state candidates.

Salary:

Commensurate with Experience

Posting Expiration Date:

12/31/2016

How to Apply:

Application Instructions

Email resume and cover letter to Molly Farley, Human Resources Consultant, at MFConsultantsLLC@gmail.com.