Options Schools Project Director

The Project

The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has set ambitious goals to ensure that every child -- in every school and in every neighborhood -- has access to a world-class learning experience from birth, resulting in graduation from high school ready for success in college, career, and life. The Children First Fund: The Chicago Public Schools Foundation (CFF) is CPS' fundraising partner. In partnership with the District, we leverage, maximize and steward the city and philanthropic resources in ways that best support CPS students.

The Children First Fund, Chicago Public Schools and the University of Chicago Urban Education Lab are collaborating to develop a comprehensive strategy to design, implement and evaluate a new Options Schools model to better serve youth. This innovative approach will not only impact Chicago students, but has the potential to inform cities around the country struggling to adequately serve and support this population.

Position Overview

The Children First Fund seeks a Project Director who will report to the Executive Director of CFF and support the Options School Leadership in the Office of Innovation and Incubation and act as the single point of contact for the district's key partner, the University of Chicago Urban Education Lab, as this project is developed and implemented. The Project Director will be the main internal point of contact for all parties on behalf of CPS and will oversee all external facing engagement activities related to the success of the project, especially regarding the stewardship of local and national funders.

Principal Responsibilities

• Collaborate in the development of a robust project plan for all external engagement factors related to the project and in concert with the Implementation Manager who will compose the project plan objectives for the internal progress. The Director must have experience in complex project planning as responsibilities will include collaboration with multiple parties to define project scope, drafting clear objectives, key performance metrics, key milestones, timelines, and project risks, and ability to manage the implementation through completion.

• Serve as the single point of contact on behalf of CPS for the close collaboration with the counterpart at the University of Chicago's Crime Labs, a critical partner in the pilot and redesign work

• Develop, manage and facilitate the National Advisory Committee and the local Steering Committee for the project

• Work in concert with the grant specific Implementation Manger as well as the CPS and CFF leadership; serve as the key internal leader for ensuring consensus and buy-in on key objectives within the project

• Build and manage strategic partnerships with community-based organizations, government agencies, Options School operators, vendors and other partner agencies as required to implement the project

• Develop formative insights and conclusions about strategies and implementation approaches based on analysis of data; use these for continuous improvement of strategy development and execution of the re-design efforts

• Consolidate student and school-level participation and performance data to support regular reporting to CPS leadership, external partners and funders

• Develop a funder engagement strategy to steward additional local and national prospects in the project to advance the sustainability of the work from its inception

• Satisfying all requests in a timely manner and support the project in securing additional funding

• Coordinate with the CPS Internal Steering committee to identify and develop strategies on how to invest public funding to support successful solutions to ensure sustainability beyond the pilot phase

Skills & Abilities

• Program management skills, including evaluation planning, identifying performance metrics, expected outcomes, progress indicators, and logic models for programs and pilot projects

• Financial skills and experience managing large program budgets

• Track record of strong leadership and management; ability to set vision, define tactics, and lead cross-functional teams towards the achievement of collective objectives

• Outstanding problem-solving and data analysis capabilities

• Strong relationship-building skills with various high-level stakeholders

• Self-starter who can anticipate problems and develop pre-emptive solutions

• Ability to be flexible and to adapt to a continually shifting environment

• Passionate about making a material impact in the lives of students

• Knowledge of urban policy, social policy, crime policy, and workforce development preferred

Education and Experience Required

• Bachelor's degree in public policy, education, social work or a closely related field required; an advanced degree (i.e. EdD, MBA, MPP, JD, MSW) preferred.

• A minimum of 5 years of highly successful project management or similar experience including demonstrated success navigating various stakeholder interests to produce a common goal.

• Experience with philanthropy, the landscape and engagement strategies.

• Knowledge of or experience working with high needs or vulnerable populations preferred.

• At least three years of experiencing managing employees.

• Education and experience in student development, counseling, curriculum and instruction, or educational administration is highly desirable

• Knowledge of strategies for improving student achievement, authentic learning, retention, and resilience is highly desirable

• Knowledge of national and local education landscape

• Previous experience working with a research study preferred

Residency Requirement

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of his or her CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district.