Portfolio Manager, Innovative Schools

About Overdeck Family Foundation

Overdeck Family Foundation (“the Foundation”) was founded in 2011 with the goal of providing all children the opportunity to unlock their potential. The Foundation focuses exclusively on enhancing education, funding efforts both inside and outside of school in the areas of early childhood, hands-on STEM education, and K-9 programs that include supporting educators and student-centered learning environments. Our grantmaking and strategic support focus on unlocking innovation, evidence, and growth opportunities for organizations that are committed to accelerating key academic and socioemotional outcomes for all children. The Foundation funds both direct impact organizations and ecosystem efforts that clear the path to scale for our grantees and the work that they do.

At the Overdeck Family Foundation, we achieve our impact by thinking and acting with rigor and collaborating with one another, fostering a culture of curiosity and learning while living our core values to drive meaningful change. Visit www.overdeck.org for more information.

The Portfolio Manager, Innovative Schools Position

The Foundation is seeking a full-time Portfolio Manager to lead the Innovative Schools investment portfolio, which aims to expand access to tech-enabled, student-centered learning environments across kindergarten through ninth grade. The portfolio invests in evidence-based learning solutions, including tools and programs that support the literacy and math skills needed for all students to thrive. 

The Portfolio Manager will play a central role in shaping strategy, sourcing and proposing investments, adding value to grantees, and strengthening the field. The ideal candidate is passionate about transforming how children learn, skilled at identifying and supporting breakthrough organizations, and committed to scaling solutions that meaningfully and cost-effectively improve outcomes.

Reporting to the Sr. Director, Grantmaking, and managing an Associate, the Portfolio Manager will develop an investment strategy, build relationships across the K-9 ecosystem, and support early and growth-stage ventures to scale cost-effectively and sustainably. The role requires about 20 percent travel for site visits, conferences, and funder meetings, including some outside standard work hours.

Visit www.overdeck.org for more information. To learn more about our Innovative Schools portfolio, explore spotlights on some of our partner organizations: Common Lit, OnYourMark, and Zearn. 
 

What You’ll Help Us Do: 

• Shape and steward a grantmaking strategy that advances student outcomes
  • Lead the development of a coherent portfolio strategy, which evolves from setting ambitious portfolio goals that are grounded in the analysis of evolving market opportunities, trends, and gaps in the education and philanthropic landscapes
  • Define a clear and differentiated position for Overdeck Family Foundation within the portfolio strategy issue area that is grounded in evidence, research, and ROI on portfolio investments 
  • Measure, evaluate, and capture lessons from investments to inform strategy iteration and to build strong pattern recognition for how to best provide strategic support to portfolio investments to achieve stated goals
• Source and propose bold, coherent, and strategically balanced investment recommendations
  • Identify organizations aligned to the portfolio strategy and conduct rigorous diligence on prospective investments that are grounded in the Foundation’s investment criteria
  • Form a hypothesis and narrative for each investment to create actionable, written grant recommendations and present these to the Board of Trustees
  • Build a balanced portfolio of investments grounded in the potential of each organization to spur innovation, build evidence, and grow to deliver impact while also ensuring that the overall portfolio realizes ecosystem-level impact with minimized risk
• Add value as a strategic advisor and thought partner to grantees
  • Serve as a strategic advisor to grantees by developing a strong and trusting partnership—inclusive of providing support, coaching and/or taking on board roles when appropriate—to help grantees understand their organizational needs and achieve their vision for impact
  • Manage and prioritize allocation of strategic supports in service of grantee and portfolio goals, grounded in an understanding of the holistic needs of individual grantees and the portfolio, including direct supports, third-party supports, and portfolio-wide learning experiences 
  • Understand and advise on an organization’s ability to be cost-effective, scalable, impactful, and sustainable, ensuring a high ROI for both the organization and the portfolio as a whole, in service of advancing student outcomes
• Influence the field to support the portfolio to achieve its vision and goals while supporting the scale of the portfolio’s direct impact investments
  • Build momentum for positive change related to the portfolio strategy by proactively developing relationships with influential stakeholders
  • Develop and maintain an extensive and diverse network of partnerships across nonprofit, philanthropic, public, and private sectors to advance the mission and goals of the portfolio’s grantees
  • Partner effectively with peer funders to build awareness of the Foundation’s strategy, identify ways to support each other, and elevate promising grantees to attract additional funding
  • Build awareness of the portfolio strategy and learnings while elevating and amplifying high-performing grantees through strategic public engagement and thought leadership, including speaking at conferences, hosting and participating in key meetings, and engaging in thought leadership writing 
• Manage and coach an Associate to enable the portfolio to maximize its impact and influence 
  • Support the Associate to identify a pipeline of prospective investment opportunities and conduct due diligence of those opportunities against Foundation investment criteria
  • Collaborate with the Associate to create their professional development plan; regularly revisit progress on growth by taking an active and supportive coaching role to ensure they have a clear path to recognize and expand their strengths, while also addressing opportunities to improve
  • Support the Associate to navigate obstacles using effective problem solving, as well as discussing and identifying connections, networks and/or opportunities to advance portfolio or grantee goals
  • Engage in joint decision-making around grantmaking, including measurement, reporting, and monitoring targets

Who You Are:

An outcomes-oriented strategist who is able to synthesize information to arrive at an evidence-based approach to making investments and supporting grantees. You have experience with early stage and growth stage organizations and understand the challenges they face as they clarify and scale their models. You can build deep relationships across grantees, understand their challenges, observe patterns of need, and build and nurture meaningful and efficient supports to help them succeed. You are analytically natured, curious, and learning oriented. You leverage data and evidence to drive strategic decisions around investments and portfolio support in service of goals. You are comfortable with ambiguity—confidently exploring your hypotheses while remaining flexible and viewing learning from failure as a path to success. 

An authentic and empathetic leader who builds deep and candid relationships with ease. You possess a strong presence and gravitas and can clearly communicate a message tailored to your audience. You build trusting relationships internally and externally because you are authentically you, and you value candor and kindness in your interactions. You operate with a high level of self-awareness, humility, and emotional intelligence, and you value the same in your colleagues. You engage in conflict confidently and with kindness and navigate tensions by seeking understanding and valuing multiple perspectives. You are able to hold and honor values and perspectives that are different from your own.

Someone who understands innovative school practices. You understand the K-12 U.S. education ecosystem and have developed relationships within that ecosystem on both the supply and demand sides. You are familiar with best-in-class student-facing products and understand product market fit, business/revenue models, and scale and distribution channels. You are able to evaluate solutions to understand how cost-effective, scalable, impactful, and sustainable they are. You believe in the power of technology and the potential of AI as tools to improve outcomes, and you value products grounded in teacher and student needs and experience.

A team leader who enjoys managing, coaching, and developing direct reports. A colleague who seeks reciprocal learning and growth from colleagues at every level. You deeply believe in the potential of all professionals to learn and grow. You look forward to building and sustaining an effective, growth-oriented, and inclusive team. You are able to collaboratively set a clear vision for the Innovative Schools investment portfolio, and you can map individual roles and responsibilities in service of this vision across your team.

Someone who is comfortable in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. You thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and can successfully manage multiple priorities with focus. You are energized by tackling complex challenges and are comfortable navigating change and ambiguity. You bring creativity and innovation to your work, seeing potential in new ideas and translating them into solutions that deliver meaningful outcomes. 
 

What You’ve Done:

Required experience and qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree
• Minimum of 15 years of work experience, including time spent leading teams to deliver results in or adjacent to early and/or growth stage organizations
• Relevant experience and sector leadership in K-9 education, with exposure to innovation in school design, curriculum, assessments, edtech, and/or personalized and whole-child learning models
• Demonstrated experience scaling organizations or initiatives, setting strategy, and driving results
• Strong quantitative and analytical skills with an ROI- and impact-oriented mindset
• Demonstrated business acumen: ability to analyze financials, assess risk, and advise CEOs and boards
• Proven management experience, with success developing and coaching direct reports to drive results
• Comfort in entrepreneurial, fast-paced environments, with adaptability and decisiveness

Preferred experience:

• Master’s degree in relevant field of education, policy, business, law, statistics, math, science, nonprofit management, or engineering
• Venture philanthropy experience supporting organizational growth and development through informal and formal support (i.e. grants, board experience, consulting, providing capacity-building support)
• Experience conducting cost-benefit analysis and/or cost-effectiveness analysis

Working at Overdeck Family Foundation:
Overdeck Family Foundation is committed to providing a total rewards package (both base salary and benefits) that is competitive within the philanthropic sector. The base pay for this role is anticipated to be between $155,000 and $165,000, including a meaningful discretionary year-end bonus based on performance. Please note that the top end of our compensation range is reserved for candidates who fully meet the required skills, qualifications, and experience.

Our best-in-class benefits and perks reflect our investment in our employees’ well-being, as well as their personal and professional growth. Our total rewards include:

• Comprehensive Health Coverage: Fully paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and eligible dependents, including a One Medical membership
• Hybrid & Remote Work Support: A balanced approach to in-office and remote work to support collaboration and flexibility, plus a $1,500 home workspace stipend for new hires
• Paid Time Off & Wellness:
  • Generous PTO: 20 days annually, increasing to 25 after five years, plus Foundation closure on major holidays, an end-of-year reset week, and unlimited sick days
  • Lifestyle & Wellness: Stipends for gym memberships and fitness programs
  • Sabbatical Leave: One month fully paid after seven years of employment
• Professional Growth: $3,000 annually for professional development opportunities
• 401K Retirement Savings: 1:1 match up to $5,000, plus an additional 8% employer contribution of base salary annually
• Matching Gifts Program: 1:1 match for donations and volunteer hours up to $5,000 per year, plus Milestone Tenure Grants for employees to donate to an eligible nonprofit of their choice every five years of service.
• Family Planning Support: Coverage for IVF treatments (up to 3 cycles), generous stipends for family planning and backup childcare, and fully paid 16-week primary caregiver leave

Overdeck Family Foundation requires all employees to live within a commutable distance from New York City and does not provide relocation assistance. The Foundation is currently working from a temporary space in the FiDi while a new and expanded office in SoHo is being developed, expected to open in December 2025. 

How to Apply

Please submit your application here. The preferred application deadline for this position is September 30, 2025. Note that we do not guarantee review of applications after this date.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Overdeck Family Foundation is dedicated to unlocking every child’s potential. We are committed to fostering a workplace where all employees can thrive personally and professionally. As an equal opportunity employer, we make all employment decisions based on qualifications, merit, and organizational needs. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.