SPECIALIST, STRATEGIC PLANNING

IMPACT OFFICE

Traditional 235 work days

FTE: 1.0

Salary Range: $63,852- $77,316

Essential Functions and Objectives:

Administers and manages activities within a specific area of a responsibility. Serves as the subject matter expert and applies gained knowledge to execute, maintain and improve systems, programs, or processes.

Supports and leads processes for district strategy development in support of the Denver Plan, progress monitoring, performance measurement and reporting to ensure the district has complete and comprehensive articulation of strategies and the resources and information needed to implement and make improvements needed to achieve intended impact. Maintain district standards and methodology for strategic processes and supports building capacity in these methodologies with leaders across the district.

- Provides various support and conducts activities related to logistics, reporting, training, communications, and processes. Participates in the planning and implementation of new initiatives.

- Assesses and troubleshoots escalated problems and applies expert understanding to resolve complex challenges of stakeholders; focuses on root cause identification in order to achieve systemic and sustainable improvement. Approves and documents exceptions for compliance record keeping and reporting.

- Ensures appropriate key stakeholder involvement in planning, goal-setting, and implementation to achieve buy-in of work products. Ensures purposeful, positive and professional interactions and relationships with all stakeholders; enables consistent application of work products across the district.

- Identifies opportunities for improvement, prioritizes, and recommends solutions to management. Implements approved enhancements to ensure consistency across the district. Identifies opportunities to reduce costs; analyzes available data, trends, and feedback, and ensures compliance with expectations for optimal operation and goal achievement.

- With the Strategy Manager, supports the development of district strategy through the creation and continuous improvement of strategy development methodology and progress monitoring for improvement. Facilitates broad stakeholder understanding and engagement.

- Collaborates with other Impact Office departments, including Research and Evaluation, Innovation and Improvement, and Enterprise Program Management Office to create a streamlined experience for district stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of a strategy.

- Develops and supports the scope and sequence for regular cross-functional collaboration with senior leadership on district priorities; determine agendas, provide meeting facilitation, coordination and/or notetaking to ensure maximum coordination, collaboration and follow-through.

- Develops protocols and guidance documents to scaffold stakeholders\u2019 thinking about their strategy and progress monitoring (e.g., milestones and leading indicators) in preparation for consideration by senior leaders.

- Creates and maintains systems for tracking key documents and for tracking processes, decisions, etc. to ensure continued forward momentum of strategy work. Coordinates logistics and overall preparation for the strategy intake and stepback processes.

- Analyzes the quality of strategy execution to identifies and align the investments, staff resources and championship necessary to implement strategies and achieve impact goals.

- Develops systems and structures to capture real-time district progress on implementation and outcomes related to district strategies, including monthly performance monitoring tools.

- Analyzes and interprets quantitative and qualitative data to provide strategic insights to teams and to the district overall. Identify opportunities to leverage existing data and conduct additional independent analyses to ensure deep understanding of root causes and success factors.

- Convene and facilitate cross-functional teams to identify and address gaps in strategy development and/or execution using methods that ensure the voice of users and stakeholders informs assessments and solutions.

- Independently leads strategic planning sessions with teams throughout the district and provides direct support related to planning, serving as a thought and action partner in designing and improving strategies as well as addressing change management requirements.

- Prepares meeting participants for active participation in cross-functional meetings by supporting sponsors in their preparation of materials and by providing supporting materials before and after meetings.

- Supports communication needs related to the portfolio of district strategies with internal and external stakeholders, collaborating with the Communications office to leverage district communication strategies and channels.

Knowledge, Experience & Other Qualifications:

- 5+ years\u2019 experience in project management, change management, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, strategy, organizational design, leadership or related fields preferred.

- Knowledge with Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel and Outlook.

- Effective time management and organizational skills.

- Effective communication skills.

- Strong attention to detail.

- Effectively handle multiple demands and competing deadlines.

- The ability to take responsibility for one\u2019s own performance.

- Work collaboratively with others on a team.

- Aptitude for variety and changing expectations and fast-paced environment.

- Knowledge of evaluation and progress monitoring best practices including supporting skills (e.g. data anlysis, tool development, dashboard design, logic models).

- Ability to interpret complex data and information to promote understanding for all audience levels.

- Experience with strategy development, implementation, measurement, and adjustment, preferrably in a large organization is preferred.

- Ability to manage projects, including report writing and publication is preferred.

- Knowledge of pre-K to 12 education systems is preferred.

- Experience facilitating group decision making, including skills in managing conflict, driving alignment, and relationship management; Design thinking experience a plus

- Ability to influence senior leaders without direct authority to make change is preferred.

Education Requirements:

- Bachelor's Degree is required.

- Master's Degree is preferred.

About Denver Public Schools:

Denver Public Schools is committed to meeting the educational needs of every student with great schools in every neighborhood. Our goal is to provide every child in Denver with rigorous, enriching educational opportunities from preschool through high school graduation. DPS is comprised of nearly 200 schools including traditional, magnet, charter and alternative pathways schools, with an enrollment of more than 90,000 students.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Susana Cordova and guided by the tenets of The Denver Plan, DPS has become the fastest-growing school district in the country in terms of enrollment and the fastest-growing large school district in the state in terms of student academic growth. Learn more at dpsk12.org.

Denver Public Schools is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other status protected by law or regulation. It is our intention that all qualified applicants be given equal opportunity and that selection decisions be based on job-related factors.