Director of School Partnerships

Houston, Texas
KIPP Texas
Company Description
KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 59 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose -college, career, and beyond-so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.
Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.
KIPP Texas is part of the national KIPP network of 255 college-preparatory public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, KIPP students complete four-year college at a rate of 36 percent, comparable to the national average for all students and approximately three times higher than the average of students from low-income communities.
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Job Description
The Opportunity
The Director of School Partnerships will be a member of the Advancement Team and will directly report to the Managing Director of Strategic Expansion. The Director of School Partnerships will be responsible for leading school partnership work. The partnership that KIPP Texas created alongside Spring Branch ISD and YES Prep was a model for the creation of district-charter partnerships in the state of Texas, also known as “1882 partnerships” due to the name of the Senate Bill in 2017 that provided incentives for district-charter expansion. KIPP Texas strives to work alongside districts as a true partner to help create better educational opportunities for those 1.4 million students across Texas who need high quality options. The Director of School Partnerships will lead our work to expand partnerships across the state of Texas in our next growth plan.
Successful candidates for this role will be able to demonstrate ability to work in complex situations, experience bringing together stakeholders with differing opinions and finding a way forward. While strong people and project management skills are a necessity in this role, the successful candidate will also be a proven problem solver who can leverage impact and influence to find clarity in complex situations. Additionally, successful candidates will understand the interconnectedness of various central support functions in order to lead a cross-functional working group.
This position may be based out of the Austin, Dallas, Houston, or San Antonio offices. Some travel will be required.

Key Responsibilities

• Communication & Team Champion: Champion and communicate consistently and with convection around the work of the Strategic Scaling Team and the importance of multiyear planning, growth, and strategic projects to allow the organization to scale effectively
• Internal Stakeholder Management: Serve as internal expert on district-charter partnerships. Build deep understanding from KIPP Texas staff around partnership experiences, lessons learned, and opportunities. Gather input from critical stakeholders on desired structure for future partnerships;
• External Stakeholder Management: Work with external groups, such as the District-Charter Alliance, to investigate and observe success partnership models throughout Texas and the United States. Build relationships with potential ISD partnerships. Build relationships with other CMOs operating partnership models.
• Strategic Thinking and Project Design: Own the design of the KIPP Texas partnership model. Work closely with other members of the Strategic Scaling Team to understand programmatic needs and how the KIPP Texas School Model will be implemented in partnership schools, including both areas that are non-negotiable and areas that are flexible;
• Progress Monitoring and Contract Design: Monitor progress of partnerships, including existing partnership at Spring Branch ISD. Support contract discussions and negotiations with potential partners with support from counsel;
• Synthesize Takeaways from Data and Lived Experience: Balance a data-driven, analytical, and rational problem solving skill set with the understanding that people and relationships matter. Utilize both qualitative and quantitative data synthesis to formulate recommended solutions on the right path forward. Demonstrate an adaptive mindset with an ability to concurrently see the big picture while focusing on the details (can see the forest for the trees).
• Team Culture: Contribute to team culture through authentic engagement and participation in meetings and retreats. Participate actively in development opportunities, including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) sessions, and lead sessions for the team as asked and/or interested. Volunteer as interested to serve on the Advancement team’s Connection Committee. Give honest, constructive feedback via established feedback mechanisms (e.g., staff surveys) to ensure the continued improvement of the team and the organization. Seek to work by the values of the organization and to act in alignment with the Advancement Team’s agreements. Represent the Advancement Team responsibly to other stakeholders within and outside the organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year university.
• Experience working in traditional district school system highly preferred;
• Experience leading cross-functional projects/initiatives;
• Demonstrated ability to have impact and influence across multiple functional areas (e.g., academics, talent, finance, operations, etc.).
• Experience fostering strong working relationships with C-level executive team members.
• Excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
• Excellent listening and verbal communication skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and service-orientation.
• Self-directed and results-oriented, demonstrating initiative and follow-through.
• Experience with charter or charter-like schools, non-profit strategy, non-profit consulting, and/or with students in low-income urban environments is required.
• Ability to model KIPP’s values at all times.

Additional Information
Compensation and Benefits:
In addition to a competitive salary scale, a part of KIPP Texas’ competitive benefits options, KIPP offers all employees an $0 HMO plan for the employee only. In addition to our $0 plan, KIPP provides a $600 employer contribution towards a Health Savings Account and a variety of other supplemental benefits such as Dental, Vision, Short and Long-Term Disability, Pet Insurance, Life, etc.