About The Position 

KIPP Foundation is seeking a Director of High School Advancement to play a critical role in shaping and implementing key strategies focused on ACT/SAT performance, Academic Health, and high school systems to drive outcomes at the high school level. This leader will help establish a clear and ambitious vision for high school excellence aligned to those pillars, while also directly supporting regional leaders across our network to drive outcomes for their high schools. This is an ideal opportunity for a seasoned high school leader with a strong track record in one or more of the following areas: leading ACT/SAT improvement efforts, driving GPA growth across a grade level, or building and sustaining high school academic outcomes generally. This role is designed to impact some of our most critical network-wide outcomes, tied to One KIPP’s anchor metrics. 

The Director of High School Advancement will be a key member of the High School Advancement team, reporting to the Team Lead who will also be part of the overall team structure. As part of the larger Schools Team that supports One KIPP implementation, the High School Advancement team is charged with improving academic performance, strengthening school culture, and maximizing college readiness across KIPP’s 47 high schools nationwide. This team will work in close collaboration with the high school curriculum workstream, the KIPP Forward team, and the Region and School Support team and must bring a mindset that is innovative, flexible, and forward-thinking. A strong focus on results will be essential to guide both strategic decisions and execution timelines. Specifically, the Director of High School Advancement will be responsible for driving year-over-year improvements in key indicators such as 9th grade GPA and ACT/SAT performance. 

 

Responsibilities 

Leads and Develops Toward Excellence  

• Drive vision for 9th grade Academic Health, ACT/SAT and high school systems in collaboration with the full team.  

• As part of our K-12 Academics Team, develop high-leverage resources for network leaders to utilize (i.e. turnkey PDs, mastery trackers) that not only serve as model of excellence but also provide a direct value-add to the network – support leaders to ensure strong execution and maximum impact.  

• Provide network-wide development opportunities on a set of core leader moves and in response to school and regional need  

• Collaborate and provide regular feedback and support to teammates on all aspects of HS work, including curriculum and assessments, leader training, college match supports, high school design, and more to ensure we are collectively having the intended impact we seek in an environment that is collaborative, and accountable for student results 

• Plan and lead professional development with regional leaders – focused on building mastery of core leadership skills in alignment to High School Advancement priority.  

• Lead school and regional site visits that will include: observation of key regional practices, review of regional performance and progress data, school walk throughs, and feedback/coaching sessions.  

Progress Monitoring and Ensuring Excellence  

• Drive high school improvement through key anchor metrics from One KIPP work: 9th grade GPA and ACT/SAT 

• Support in designing and executing of long-term strategy and aligned plays in defining the High School Advancement workstream in alignment to key anchor metrics: 9th grade GPA and ACT/SAT 

• Planning with individual network leaders with a focus on how to drive high school academic results within broader regional/network academic strategy 

• Monitor portfolio and school-level progress and performance, both remotely and on-site, to ensure clear lines of sight into what is happening on-the-ground and to provide a pathway to improvement for school and regional leaders via rapid feedback. This will include regular tracking and data collection to monitor progress and improvement.  

Skills and Mindsets 

• Mission and Student Focus: Demonstrates passion and commitment to KIPP’s mission and possesses the desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s Core Values (Focus on Excellent Results, Collective Impact, and Courageous Action) 

• Self-Management: Demonstrated record of setting ambitious goals and achieving them with consistency. Invests in developing teammates’ skills and mindsets to address gaps in achieving team growth; determines what quantitative and qualitative data are most relevant to their goals and supports the team in creating and monitoring systems for collecting, reviewing, and acting upon data to drive outcomes; able to monitor progress, communicating status to the right stakeholders and adjusting plans and use of time to ensure systems are yielding desired outcomes. 

• Data-Driven Actions and Decisions: Efficiently defines the right metrics to evaluate work and ensures critical team actions, decisions, and recommendations are driven by data; effectively works with team to resolve issues around data to ensure sound data-informed decisions. 

• Problem-Solving: Addresses the root of problems and removes obstacles from work. Understands how solutions may unearth other obstacles further downstream. Shows initiative in generating and recommending ideas and solutions within their own workstreams. Anticipates risks and develops proactive solutions that support their team. 

• Collaboration: Has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationship building, and communications skills needed to develop successful working relationships with diverse constituents to deliver results. Evolves and adapts plans and approach with diverse stakeholders to drive results. Possesses excellent communication skills with aptitude for translating complex information into a clear and persuasive narratives that convince others by identifying benefits for all. 

• Core Knowledge and Skills: A deep understanding, ability to launch a vision and monitor and respond to results through systems-level leadership on the following: (1) ACT/SAT and (2) Academic Health  

• Continuous Learning: Engages in the work of personal development at work, knowing that personal development is ongoing and vital to their personal and professional success; holds themself accountable to evolving, growing, learning, and unlearning in ways that improve results for students, adults, and the larger community. 

 

Experience and Qualifications 

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred  

• 8+ years experience working in high schools, with a combination of teaching experience and school leadership experience, with demonstrated impact via student results  

• High school leadership experience necessary 

• Expertise in high school systems for driving ACT/SAT and/or Academic Health 

• Experience managing or coaching principals is highly preferred  

• Proven ability to coach adults effectively and plan and professional development with a clear focus and impact; training in Relay Graduate School of Education’s instructional practices is strongly preferred  

• Experience using continuous improvement cycles to drive learning and results  

• Comfort with a dynamic, fast-paced environment of high energy, rapid change and ambiguity  

• Demonstrated passion for achieving the educational mission of the organization  

• Demonstrated ability to keep the interests and needs of student learning as a central focus for the organization  

Work Conditions 

• Travel: Extensive Travel: 31-40% (65-90 days per year)

• Full, exempt role 

Location 

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office. This role also has the option of working from a remote office full-time. KIPP Foundation offices are in NYC and Chicago. 

Compensation and Benefits 

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience. The salary range for this position is $124,800-$150,000. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:  

• 25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+). 

• 100% paid parental leave 

• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans. 

• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program 

• Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts 

KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world that’s around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.