Overview

The managing director of talent recruitment leads and manages Ascend's talent recruitment function across the organization. Reporting to the chief people officer and managing a growing team of eight, he or she develops a cohesive and best-of-sector strategy and vision, informed by research, for recruiting and retaining teachers, leaders, and all staff at Ascend's schools and the network office. The managing director of talent will oversee three essential talent functions: talent recruitment, talent outreach, and talent data and operations. He or she works with the managing director of human resources and the chief people officer to shape, promote, and sustain the Ascend organizational culture to impart commitment and urgency to all members of the Ascend team.

Why extraordinary leaders lead at Ascend

Ascend is a network of K-12 public charter schools serving 5,800 students in 16 schools across Brooklyn-New York's most populous borough. Our undertaking is to lead our students on a great intellectual adventure, provide them with an exceptional college preparatory education, and place them firmly on the path to success in college and beyond.

We guide our students to think critically and independently and to enjoy education as an end in itself. We teach a rich and rigorous liberal arts curriculum that nurtures students' natural curiosity about the world. We foster a positive, non-punitive school culture where students feel connected, empowered, and safe to take academic risks. Even our school buildings are designed to reflect our high aspirations for teaching and learning and the notable accomplishments that occur within our walls.

To create this kind of vibrant learning community, we invest heavily in our faculty by providing ongoing professional training and support, and encourage our educators to collaborate closely and push each other to achieve great outcomes. Leading at Ascend means growing deeply in your career, expressing your voice, and playing a defining role in the future of your students, your school, and the Ascend network.

Ascend is committed to building a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities-opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.

Learn more about the Ascend approach by visiting our website .

Responsibilities

Talent recruitment

• Manage the recruitment team members in hiring approximately 300 employees per year, scaling and growing the department to meet Ascend's growing talent needs
• Along with the chief people officer and the managing director of marketing and communications, communicate'Ascend's unique value proposition to the market of prospective teachers and leaders through branding opportunities, including the Ascend website, printed materials, social media, public engagements, networking events, conferences, job fairs
• Ensure that recruitment systems and technology are regularly improved and refined, including systems for scheduling, screening, interviewing, monitoring, and cultivating potential applicants to identify the best prospects
• Vet the development of interview guidelines, evaluation methods, and training for hiring to ensure that all school teams are equipped with the resources to run an inclusive and equitable process, to identify and land top-tier talent, and to provide a rigorous but cultivating experience aligned with the Ascend brand
• Ensure that annual recruitment campaigns for teachers and leaders successfully result in the hiring of top-quality educators for Ascend's schools
• Implement best-in-class diversity, equity, and inclusion practices that build and retain a talent pipeline reflective of the communities Ascend serves across all functions and levels
• Play an active role in ongoing development and adoption of our competency model to facilitate equitable hiring practices and create hiring tools aligned to the competency model

Talent outreach

• Manage the outreach function to develop a targeted data-driven outreach strategy that builds a short and long-term pipeline of teachers, leaders, and other hard to fill roles leveraging reports and dashboards
• Oversee a direct outreach sourcing strategy; research and develop comprehensive teacher and leader prospect lists
• Oversee all online and traditional recruitment marketing efforts to attract and cultivate diverse talent pools
• Oversee the candidate relationship management system to build a robust database of talented teachers, school leaders, support staff, and network staff
• Identify, develop, and orchestrate prospective candidate cultivation efforts conducted by Ascend staff and oversee other Talent members and Ascend staff involved with outreach initiatives and events

Talent data and operations

• Manage the data and operations function to create annual, monthly, weekly, and daily data reports for strategy and tactic development; specifically lead the development of the yearly data review, monthly dashboards, and weekly CRM reports for outreach
• Co-lead daily data huddle and other data-specific meetings
• Monitor Talent Team processes and lead process improvement initiatives
• Ensure Talent Team is using data to drive operations and strategy decisions
• Analyze data to track progress toward goals and determine the success of initiatives with the focus on work talent acquisition
• Oversee talent systems that will help the Talent Team support aggressive hiring for a growing network
• Maintain fidelity and accuracy of talent systems through regular audits
• Ensure all Talent systems are appropriately integrated and transferring data with fidelity

Talent retention and network culture

• Working with the chief people officer and managing director of human resources, ensure that Ascend and its partner schools are an exceptional place to work and grow
• Provide vision and strategic direction for retention, and sustain, promote, and evolve Ascend's unique organizational culture to achieve Ascend's goals and boost employee satisfaction
• Partner with the managing directors of schools to ensure principals have the tools and resources they need to build and implement retention strategies for school staff
• Build up and retain the talent team, create career pathways within the talent structure, and develop direct reports to assume higher levels of responsibility

Reporting relationships

The managing director of talent reports directly the chief people officer and oversees that talent outreach and operations function, and the talent recruitment function.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree with equivalent work experience required; MBA or Master's degree in a related field strongly preferred
• A minimum of three years of responsible leadership experience in management and a proven track record of growing and developing direct reports
• Deep understanding of best practices consultative selling or in recruitment, either as a hiring manager or recruitment leader, in an organization or division of comparable size to Ascend
• A keen eye for identifying exceptional talent, preferably within an educational context
• Energy and creativity in addressing talent issues; courageous; not afraid to break new ground
• Excellent presentation and communication skills (written and oral)
• Deep sense of empathy and ability to communicate across diverse groups; strong service orientation
• Deep intellectual curiosity and rigor; appreciation for research and data and commitment to using it to inform thinking and strategy
• Absolute integrity and the ability to handle sensitive and confidential employment information with discretion; strong judgment, decision-making, and problem-solving skills
• Passion and commitment to urban education and Ascend's mission of closing the achievement gap
• Alignment with the educational philosophy and core beliefs of Ascend Learning
• Experience in supporting organizational leaders with hiring and performance management and building a strong and innovative workplace culture
• Strong project management experience and attention to detail
• Familiarity with employment law, employee benefits, compensation, and compliance preferred but not required

Diversity at Ascend

Ascend is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, both through our hiring practices and our focus on creating a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into our way of working and educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities-opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. We welcome all applicants who share our mission and vision to join us in our deeply consequential work.

Compensation

Ascend offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package. Please visit www.ascendschools.org/careers to learn more about the benefits of working at Ascend.

Ascend's Vaccination Policy Statement

To prevent the infection and spread of COVID-19, and protect the health and safety of staff, students, family members, interns, volunteers, and visitors to Ascend's premises from COVID-19 infection, Ascend requires all staff to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated for the coronavirus. This policy is mandatory except for staff with a documented medical or religious reason for not receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.