Description
Senior Consultant, State Professional Learning (Remote)
Position summary NWEA's State Professional Learning Team provides facilitation, coaching, and consultative services to support NWEA's state education agency partners with the professional learning goals they have for the educators in their states. We build capacity to support statewide professional learning initiatives that empower educators to make data informed decisions and implement evidence-based instructional practices that make a difference for students.

As a Senior State Professional Learning Consultant , you will draw upon expertise and experience in consultation, facilitation, and coaching to accelerate and deepen the acquisition and application of adult learning, the development of skills, and the coordination of methodologies and system-wide organizational practices to support educators state-wide and improve student growth. This position contributes to State Professional Learning team for both professional learning design and delivery. In the Senior State Professional Learning Consultant role, you will work collaboratively with other teams across NWEA to accomplish the goals of organization-wide programs that our partners have selected. This position involves significant contact with NWEA partners . Note : We are seeking candidates who have deep level knowledge and experience in K-12 education as well as significant experience in a State Department of Education leadership role or experience supporting state education agency staff in a consulting relationship. This is a full-time, remote opportunity where candidates may work remotely from any location within the United States.

Responsibilities

• Leads one or more medium- to large-scale state professional learning programs of varying complexity
• Understands implementation science and supports NWEA colleagues and state partners in designing large-scale complex professional learning programs that are likely to make a positive impact on adult learning
• Responsible for building and maintaining relationships with state education agency partners in a manner that respects their politically nuanced environments
• Understands and contributes to proposal development and budget/costing assumptions to support ongoing business development activities in partnership with the State Professional Learning team manager.
• Performs some professional learning design work in partnership with State Professional Learning Coordinator
• Collaborates with PL Design leads and coordinators to configure and/or customize existing PL assets to align with state requirements
• Coach and facilitate discussions and dialogue with organizational leaders, state education agency staff, school leadership teams, instructional coaches, educators, and other key stakeholders
• Conduct strategic PL planning, implementation, and progress monitoring with partners includes eliciting partner vision and goal s , assessing current reality, gap analysis, existing initiatives, as well as assessing progress, resource allocation, and adjusting plans to meet the needs of key stakeholders, educators, and students
• Collaborates with PL Research Scientist to develop a project specific theory of action aligned to the NWEA PL Theory of Action
• Access, analyze, interpret, and apply multiple sources of data accurately and summarize results in reports for state-level stakeholders as required
• Guide partners in analyzing, coordinating, and leveraging all parts of the educational system for student growth and achievement
• Lead delivery teams and/or personally d eliver high quality, responsive, agile, and collaborative professional learning to meet the multi- dimensional goals of each partner
• Incorporate adult learning strategies and multiple learning styles within an effective and dynamic learning environment
• Utilize systems-thinking practices and tools, inquiry, assessment literacy, educational best practices to address relevant and timely issues impacting the learning environment
• Use Appreciative Inquiry, adult learning research, and a variety of mediums in support of partner learning
• Identify opportunities and enact plans for customization and differentiation, reflection, planning, and opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and sharing
• Ensure that relevant research and evidence on pertinent content areas as well as implementation science is incorporated in the project set up
• Work collaboratively with internal cross-functional teams to inform the on-going design and development, revision and maintenance of instructional format and content for NWEA's professional learning offerings
• Collaborate with internal project managers to develop, implement, and monitor/adjust project schedules and implementation plans for each assigned state professional learning program
• Establish and maintain contact with partners to gather qualitative and quantitative data to inform professional learning design and delivery
• Participate in learning experiences with colleagues to maintain expertise related to the products and services provided by the organization
• Provide professional learning as partners implement NWEA's products and services; deliver and/or coordinate others to deliver all Professional Learning Services for each assigned state contract
• Collaborate with partner and State Professional Learning Team manager to navigate requested scope of work changes in a manner that stays within budget
• Perform other work as necessary to ensure the success of the team and the entire organization
• 100% FTE devoted to State Professional Learning team, functions in matrix staffing role across multiple state projects as needed
• Travel up to 50% of the time

Skills, Abilities and Competencies

• Customer focus: build strong customer relationships and deliver customer-centric solutions.
• Manages complexity: make sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.
• Action oriented: take on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Drives results: consistently achieve results, even under tough circumstances.
• Collaborates: build partnerships and work collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Communicates effectively: develop and deliver multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Interpersonal savvy: relate openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people.
• Instills trust: gain the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Demonstrates self-awareness: use a combination of feedback and reflection to gain productive insight into personal strengths and weaknesses.
• Situational adaptability: adapt approach and demeanor in real time to match the shifting demands of different situations.
• Must be able to perform the physical and intellectual requirements of the role, with or without accommodation.
• Must be able and willing to serve partners during standard business hours in the Pacific Time Zone
• Must be able to work successfully in a remote work environment

Education and experience

• Master's degree in Education or related field; equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered in lieu of Master's degree (required)
• Minimum of three years' experience facilitating professional learning, coaching educational leaders, and/or consulting using data and evidence to inform decision-making (required)
• Experience with NWEA products and services (preferred)
• Minimum of five years' experience working with school leadership teams (preferred)
• Minimum of five years' experience working either in a state education agency leadership role or supporting state education agency staff in a consulting relationship (preferred)
• Depth of knowledge in the Science of Reading and experience implementing large-scale (state or district) literacy programs (preferred)

About NWEA...
NWEA® is a research-based, not-for-profit organization that supports students and educators worldwide by creating assessment solutions that precisely measure growth and proficiency-and provide timely data to help tailor instruction. For more than 40 years, NWEA has developed innovative pre-K-12 assessments, including our flagship interim assessment, MAP® Growth™; our progress monitoring and skills mastery tool, MAP® Skills™; and our reading fluency and comprehension assessment, MAP® Reading Fluency™. Educators trust our professional learning offerings to accelerate student learning and our research to support assessment validity and data interpretation. More than 11 million students in 146 countries use our solutions to support their learning and growth each year.

What We Can Offer You....
At NWEA we not only offer a competitive base salary, we offer a 15% contribution of eligible employees' base salary to a defined contribution 403(b) retirement savings plan; career development opportunities; an awesome work culture and environment; we also offer industry leading benefits and perks that are focused on supporting our employees' holistic wellbeing. To learn more about what we can offer more, click here.

NWEA strives to make diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) practices the center of our work. Our organization's mission, Partnering to Help All Kids Learn, is the foundation for our DEIA commitment as we work to reflect, value, and support the educators, students, colleagues, and communities we serve. We seek to empower and engage all stakeholders in the research, services, solutions, and products we provide, our organizational culture, and the partnerships we establish with schools, districts, states, and countries.
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NWEA is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. For our EEO Policy Statement, please visit our website. If you'd like more information on your EEO rights under the law, please visit the EEOC website