DESCRIPTION
About the Organization
Pivot Learning is a nonprofit organization of K-12 education experts working shoulder-to-shoulder with districts, charter management organizations (CMOs) and schools to address the biggest challenges they face. We partner with education leaders at all levels and provide them with the knowledge, skills and support proven to strengthen educational systems and transform teaching and learning.
About the Position
We are currently seeking a Program Manager to join the Pivot team. This position will be responsible for managing a portfolio of research projects across various topics, along with Pivot’s California Curriculum Collaborative project (CCC), a partnership with EdReports to provide free resources to school districts to make smart curricular decisions.
The Program Manager will be primarily responsible for managing the successful execution of these projects, and for contributing to the overall programmatic direction and strategy. The Program Manager must also be able to successfully build long-term relationships with partners, districts, CMOs, and schools, and will support the sustainability and scalability of Pivot’s work after each project ends.
The ideal candidate would be committed to Pivot’s mission, and have strong project management skills. They would also have solid communication, facilitation, and technical assistance skills and have experience developing resources, including web-based resources, for educators.
This position should have experience working in or with schools, districts or charters and knowledge of quality teaching and learning. They should also have experience managing research projects, in an education setting.
This is a full-time, Exempt position based out of Pivot’s Oakland, CA office. Monthly travel to project sites will be required; project sites are located throughout California.
Key Responsibilities
· For projects in assigned portfolio, develop and manage a project plan for each project, and successfully execute on project plans, achieving major deliverables against set deadlines.
· Lead regular (weekly) meetings of the project teams to ensure progress is being made, to troubleshoot, and make revisions to work moving forward.
· For a collection of Pivot’s key research projects, manage the relationship with the research partner from initial agreements, establishing research questions and data to be collected, collecting and analyzing data, writing, and publishing, disseminating and presenting research.
· Collaboratively develop and implement a strategy for disseminating our research/learnings. Develop and/or revise content for the purposes of sharing our research/learnings (webinars, conferences, etc.). Collaboratively facilitate presentations for projects. Collaboratively communicate and market our work (social media, website, etc.).
· Develop and/or maintain productive relationships with Local Education Agency (LEA) partners to support successful collaboration with Pivot. With the CCC project, this position will directly deliver service in two or more LEAs across California, which includes facilitating site meetings, coaching, training, etc. For research projects, this position will facilitate the involvement of LEAs in the research, including collecting data from LEAs, conducting interviews, surveys, etc.
· Develop and/or maintain productive relationships with all non-LEA partners, including EdReports.org (California Curriculum Collaborative) and County or State partners.
· Develop and/or revise resources to support all projects. This includes building on our processes, developing training materials, toolkits and resource libraries for districts and schools, etc. Ensure that content is easily accessible on various platforms. Collaboratively drive the refinement of our shared CCC website.
· Utilize Pivot’s approach to performance management and design to guide the work in all projects.
· As needed, provide information to Pivot’s funders, board of directors, and other audiences.
· Coordinate with Pivot staff in other projects and/or portfolios, to ensure that our work is aligned.
Qualifications
· Strong project management skills, including the ability to set priorities and track multiple timelines. Ability to Develop and manage project plans for each project, manage self and stakeholders to deadlines and deliverables, and support achievement of project goals.
· Experience managing research projects, including working with a research partner to set agreements, identify research questions and data to be collected, collecting and analyzing data, writing, and publishing, presenting, and disseminating research.
· Adaptability and capacity to solve problems both efficiently and collaboratively and both creatively and strategically.
· Experience working in or with K-12 education.
· Exceptional communication skills, written and oral.
· Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to work with diverse groups and individuals and the ability to work effectively with educators, researchers, and partner organizations.
· Superb facilitation skills, including the capacity to facilitate meetings and technical assistance engagements (e.g. professional development, coaching, etc.).
· Knowledge of California and national education policy and public education reform.
· General knowledge of the Common Core State Standards in ELA and mathematics.
· Able to travel regularly to project sites across California.
· Bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree in related field preferred.
· General knowledge about curriculum adoption and implementation.
· Experience designing learning experiences and delivering trainings for adult learners also a plus.
· Experience working with technology in the education sector preferred.
· A commitment to the mission and vision of Pivot Learning and a desire to continually broaden and deepen the organization’s impact.
HOW TO APPLY
If you would like to apply, please send your resume and a cover letter to resume@pivotlearning.org. Indicate the position title in the subject line of the email for the fastest consideration. In your cover letter, please comment on how your skills and experience are a good match for this position, your salary requirements, and where you heard about this position.