Position: Senior Manager, Early College 

Location: Northeast Preferred, Flexible

Location: Flexible/Remote

Our preferred application deadline is June 25, 2024.  Please note that we do not guarantee review of applications received after this date.
 

Who We Are

Empower Schools envisions a country where every student – especially those in underserved communities – has the opportunity to succeed in school and life. As a national non-profit, we catalyze innovative solutions by partnering with educators and communities to reimagine local education systems towards more equitable life outcomes for all students. To date, we have supported the design and launch of fourteen empowering partnerships across five states, serving more than 28,000 students attending 60 schools. We focus on three key areas:

• Empowerment Zones- We work with communities to design and launch sustainable local partnerships that enable transformative district schools. Empowerment Zone educators have the flexibility to make decisions that are right for their students, community, and staff.

• Rural Collaboratives- We work with rural communities to forge new partnerships and develop new ways to share resources so that students in rural areas have access to a great education and are equipped for college and career success.

• Early College and Career Pathways- We work with communities to create opportunities that lead to postsecondary success for all students. We foster innovative, sustainable, and scalable structures that bridge high school to college and career so students can get the head start and success they need even before they graduate high school.

Position Summary

There are now more than 1,000 Early College High Schools (ECs) across the nation. While EC is a well-proven innovation, it requires some unique structures, governance, and funding to be effective. Building on our experience designing and launching an Early College Alliance (ECA) in Massachusetts, Empower Schools is actively working to build the ecosystem and conditions for a thriving EC sector within our existing geographies and beyond. As Empower School’s first Senior Manager, Early College, you will co-lead these efforts by managing an array of important initiatives, strategy, and relationships.

This is a full-time remote position, with a preference for candidates in the Northeast, allowing easy and frequent travel across New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Boston. 

How You’ll Help

• Co-lead our team’s growth and project manage the development of state-level Early College Alliances
  • Support exploration and implementation in several states with local civic, philanthropic, and education leaders
  • Refine materials for meetings and support customization to local context
  • Participate proactively and collaboratively in incubation, design, and launch efforts, providing expert technical assistance and project management support to local champions and partners
  • Coordinate, convene, and drive forward work within groups of stakeholders including representatives from higher education, K12 education, and local and state governments as well as funders, business and civil rights groups, education policy nonprofits and think tanks, community groups, and others
  • Help recruit and support initial leadership of new ECAs during the launch phase
• Support the development and implementation of Empower Schools early college, career and postsecondary strategy 
  • Partner deeply with the Empower Partner leading this work and also engage with multiple other Empower team members leading related work in other states
  • Develop proposals and supporting materials to explain Empower’s approach to funders and other stakeholders
  • Build and deepen Empower’s relationships with aligned education organizations and coalitions across target geographies 
  • Cultivate allies and champions for Empower’s theory of change and the work of our district, state and other partners 
• Provide strategic guidance and support on early college and career pathway projects in select states 
  • Advise Empower colleagues on a variety of strategic planning and launch projects to advance early college and career partnerships in district school systems
• Take on additional opportunities as they arise

Assuming public health conditions continue to make travel possible, applicants must be willing to travel up to approximately 30% of the time to support the growth of our partnerships and on-the-ground support in select states and communities in potentially multiple regions of the country. 

Preferred Qualifications

• At least 5 years of work experience
  • Experience in early college and/or dual enrollment and career pathways, K-12 public education, higher education, preferred
  • Successful experience in consulting and/or strategic planning work valued
• Strong alignment with the mission and goals of Empower Schools including anti-racism, diversity, equity & inclusion, and a commitment to centering racial and socioeconomic equity
• Commitment to using leadership skills and creative thinking to develop local and regional solutions to address systemic challenges and create better educational opportunities for students and families
• Track record of successfully managing ambiguous and complex projects and initiatives involving multiple components, stakeholders, and deadlines to high standards while engaging and incorporating the perspectives of others along the way 
• Demonstrated ability to build successful relationships and collaborate with teammates, partners, external organizations, and education leaders and to navigate partisan and politically challenging environments and differing viewpoints to build consensus and influence others 
• Experience building partnerships and expanding organizational impact to new types of support and/or geographies 
• Excellent written and oral communications skills, including the ability to translate ideas into clear, compelling documents (e.g., both in PowerPoint and written forms)
• Strong analytic orientation, balanced by willingness to shift strategy and direction as needed

Salary and Benefits

The salary range for Senior Managers at Empower is $93K to $117K and candidates are placed within the range based on relevant years of experience. Empower Schools uses a transparent formula that factors in years of experience to determine initial placement in the salary band. New hires should expect to be placed closer to the start of the band with opportunities for meaningful increases over time. Empower Schools offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health and dental insurance, retirement benefits, parental leave, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts.

Application

Interested and qualified applicants should apply here. Note: the application deadline for this position is June 25, 2024. We do not guarantee review of applications submitted after this date.
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We support equal opportunity and value building the diversity of our team as we grow. We seek individuals of all races, ethnicities, abilities, and creeds to support our organization’s work and encourage individuals from historically underrepresented backgrounds to apply.