Vice President, The Holdsworth Center

The Holdsworth Center is a non-profit organization founded and largely funded by Charles Butt, Chairman and CEO of H-E-B Grocery Company.  Based in Austin, Texas, the academic campus and its programs are being developed in honor of Charles’ mother, Mary Elizabeth Holdsworth Butt, who was an educator, a philanthropist and a lifelong champion for social justice.

Our mission is to impact, over time, the quality of K-12 public education for all Texas students by supporting and developing educational leaders.  Holdsworth works in partnership with public school districts over a sustained period of time to help tackle their toughest challenges around leadership development, pipeline planning and strategic talent management.  In addition to its core offerings—the District Leadership Program, the Campus Leadership Program, and District Support—provided to partner districts over five years, The Holdsworth Center will work to broaden its impact on all aspects of leadership that drive student outcomes.

The Holdsworth Center is seeking a Vice President who shares a deep commitment to our mission and whose experience and vision will deepen our capacity and enhance our impact as we aim to be of service to public school districts across the state of Texas.

The Vice President, in partnership with the President of The Holdsworth Center, will:

• Lead a strategy office that will design and incubate new programs, strategies, or other efforts that will enhance Holdsworth’s impact
• Support the Center in achieving its mission and evolving its approach, including:
  • Driving performance measures across the organization including managing the creation and monitoring of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) through dashboards and reports
  • Supporting the President in implementing a board adopted strategic plan
  • Leading a research team to ensure the effectiveness of The Holdsworth Center’s efforts

• Build and manage the Center’s Operations team ensuring that operations functions are executed in ways that drive the organization’s mission, including:
  • Supporting campus operations, partnering with any contractors who manage day-to-day operations of the facility to create a world-class learning environment
  • Ensuring effective IT infrastructure and support for staff and participants
  • Establishing best-in-class finance and HR functions to support the Centers work
• Ensuring the facility is strategically deployed to achieve maximum impact, including establishing priorities for utilizing the facility beyond core Holdsworth programming
• Oversee Holdsworth’s internal and external communications, ensuring that brand-building efforts are closely connected to our mission and strategic priorities, including:
• Supporting the execution of a communications campaign related to the opening of The Holdsworth Center
• Growing Holdsworth’s visibility and influence with key stakeholder groups—Texas educators, peer institutions, etc.—including plans for Holdsworth conferences and convenings

Desirable candidates will have a range of prior experience and capabilities to include:

• Strong evidence of alignment with organizational values—Drive for Excellence & Equity, Be of Service, Believe in People
• Highly collaborative work style and ability to influence key internal and external stakeholders
• Strong relationships and credibility with Texas educational leaders or the ability to quickly establish relationships/credibility
• Significant experience leading organization-wide strategic efforts
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills across a range of mediums/audiences
• 10-15 years of leadership experience including campus and district leadership with a strong track-record of results
• Experience in leading key operational functions—IT, facility, HR, finance
• Demonstrated ability to thrive and lead in a fast-paced, dynamic environment
• Experience in leadership development—in schools, non-profit, or university settings—preferred
• Research-background—academic or in a non-profit setting—preferred

The Holdsworth Center is based in Austin, Texas. Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their interest in the Center and its mission here or directly to Denise Smith at HoldsworthVP@denisesmith.net. Applications will be received until May 10, 2019.  We will contact those candidates who most closely match our requirements.  We thank you in advance for your interest.