Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC), a national initiative developed by EDUCAUSE and
five other leading national nonprofit organizations, is seeking a K-12 Program Officer to help direct its secondary school-related programs. This is an
opportunity to have an impact on one of the most important issues of our time –
college readiness and completion. The organizations partnering with EDUCAUSE on
this initiative include the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the League for Innovation in the Community
College, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the
International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). Sterling Martin Associates has been retained to assist with
this search.

NGLC’s mission is to accelerate
educational innovation through applied technology, in order to dramatically improve
college readiness and completion in the United States. NGLC’S mandate from its
funders is threefold: (1) to provide investment capital to organizations
approved for grants, (2) to build evidence of effectiveness, and (3) to develop
a community of innovators and adopters to sustain action. Since October 2010, NGLC
has provided or made commitments of nearly $40 million in grants to
organizations, agencies, and institutions seeking to re-invent American
secondary (grades 6-12) and postsecondary education with new-model schools and
degree programs and groundbreaking, scalable innovations.  NGLC aims to move these solutions to broad
adoption with the goal of enabling more students to graduate from high school
college-ready and able to successfully complete a postsecondary credential. For
more information, visit www.nextgenlearning.org.

Program Director

The NGLC Program Officers report to
NGLC’s Deputy Director. (There are two Program Officers – one for postsecondary
programs and one for K-12.) The K-12 Program Officer will play a crucial role
in helping NGLC to fulfill its goals with respect to its College Readiness
(K-12) grantees, and in helping to design and implement the Performance Metrics Collaboratory – a
key program on NGLC’s College Readiness side. For that reason, NGLC’s criteria
for skills and experience include a preference for some familiarity with
student assessment and/or school performance review.

NGLC uses a nationally distributed
staffing model where most individuals work from their home offices. All staff
members are employed by EDUCAUSE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit member association
whose mission is to advance higher education through the use of information
technology. EDUCAUSE has a budget of approximately $17 million and a staff of 75
located in Louisville, CO, Washington, DC, and also working on a nationally
distributed staff model from various locations throughout the U.S. For more
information visit www.educause.edu.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Under the broad supervision of NGLC’s Deputy Director,
the K-12 Program Officer will be responsible for:

• 
  Managing NGLC’s relationship with its 39 K-12 grantees,
  with support from other NGLC staff members, in matters relating to analysis of
  their project outcomes, resource-sharing, encouraging collaboration and
  learning from each other to facilitate data sharing and other forms of support.
• 
  Assisting grantees in understanding and meeting NGLC
  requirements for planning, financial, and/or programmatic documentation; and
  monitoring grantee performance, including careful review of all reports and
  communication with principal investigators and financial administrators.
• 
  Generating and/or collaborating in the development of
  reports, case studies, profiles, toolkits, and other materials designed to
  bring NGLC grantee outcomes and lessons learned to the wider field.
• 
  Co-designing and implementing, with NGLC’s Deputy
  Director, the Performance Metrics
  Collaboratory, an initiative designed to generate a common approach among
  selected NGLC “breakthrough” model grantees and schools/districts from other
  networks to defining student success, measuring progress towards those
  outcomes, and assessing and articulating school performance in ways that
  include, but are not limited to Common Core-based exams.
• 
  Contributing to NGLC strategic design, including the
  development and execution of potential new waves of investment.
• 
  Collaborating with the communications and community
  engagement manager to establish connections and foster community collaboration
  within the College Readiness grantee cohort and across NGLC.
• 
  Supporting NGLC, EDUCAUSE, partners, Gates, and Hewlett
  Foundation marketing and communication functions in areas relating to NGLC’s
  College Readiness grantees.
• 
  Coordinating with other EDUCAUSE, partners, Gates and/or
  Hewlett Foundation staff and operations as necessary to ensure appropriate
  integration and/or collaboration.
• 
  Representing NGLC as needed in front of partners, audiences
  at relevant conferences, potential funders for NGLC grantees, and other key
  constituencies.
• 
  Assisting in preparing reports as needed to the NGLC Executive
  Committee, NGLC funders, and/or the NGLC Advisory Panel.

Requisite Candidate Skills, Qualifications and
Experience

• 
  A minimum of five years of experience in a K-12-related
  education reform initiative.
• 
  Involvement in grant-making and grant management or the
  management and operation of grant-funded projects, analysis and documentation
  is strongly preferred.
• 
  Deep familiarity with current K-12 education reform
  issues, with an understanding of national trends in the definition and
  measurement of student outcomes and in school performance review; understanding
  of technology-enabled reforms (such as blended learning) preferred.
• 
  A background in managing online community mechanisms,
  such as wikis, blogs, social networking applications, discussion lists, and
  online resource collections, etc., is a plus
• 
  Demonstrated ability to actively and enthusiastically work
  in a collaborative manner with co-located and nationally distributed employees.
• 
  Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.
• 
  Demonstrated ability to generate respect and trust from
  staff and internal/external partners.
• 
  Strong written and oral communication skills as well as
  excellent analytical and project planning capabilities.
• 
  A baccalaureate degree or higher.