Education Policy Director, PCCY

Posted by Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) on October 12, 2015

Education Policy Director
Position Summary: Lead PCCY advocacy efforts for improved funding for public schools and proven policies to improve school performance.. The Education Policy Director facilitates coalitions, briefs local, state and national policymakers, researches and writes reports and funding proposals, conducts and organizes community outreach and supervises PCCY outreach staff and interns.

Key Duties:

• Create plans/programs/strategies/campaigns to address PCCY’s priority k-12 issues and lead their implementation
• Mobilize experts, advocates and others in the education networks to shape policy through public testimony, letter writing
• Help form and expand coalitions focused on specific k-12 policy goals and engage directly in the community mobilization efforts of the campaigns
• Meet with elected officials and grasstop leaders to build their understanding of the coalition and PCCY k-12 policy goals.

Qualifications

• Masters Degree in Education preferred, or other advanced degrees
• Knowledge of the significant k-12 policy issues in the state and in the region
• Contacts in the k-12 sector and ability to work well with k-12 policy sector leaders
• Experience in public education as a teacher or administrator preferred
• At least five years management experience with supervisory responsibilities
• Strong ability to be immediately responsive to opportunities as they arise, juggle many tasks and when necessary change plans quickly
• Track record leading others in rapidly changing circumstances
• Proven written and oral communication skills and proficient with social media

Position Description:

• Monitor trends and collect and analyze data on k-12 policy in order to identify unmet needs and persistent challenges, establish priority issues and evaluate PCCY’s progress towards its education goals
• Create and implement strategies to maintain engagement in coalitions and actively participate in outside coalitions that advance PCCY’s work including making private and public presentations and engaging in community outreach activities
• Write reports, issue briefs and other publications on k-12 issues and create and execute plans for their dissemination campaigns and on-line advocacy, this work involved data review, analysis and presentation of data
• Generate/initiate outreach to the media and respond to media requests
• Raise funds to support the k-12 work by: writing funding proposals; building budgets; identifying potential funders; meeting with funders and engaging funders in PCCY’s work year-round
• Conduct administrative and legislative advocacy by meeting with policymakers one on one or requesting department meetings and testifying at hearings
• Supervise and support PCCY county-based outreach staff in their work on k-12 issues
• Regularly reach out to faculty at local schools of higher education to recruit their students as PCCY interns and interview/choose and supervise student interns

Other Duties as assigned: by Executive Director

• Attend and present information at the PCCY Board meetings and subcommittee meetings as requested
• Recruit attendees and auction items for PCCY events and fundraisers
• Assist with PCCY outreach events which may be during evening or weekends
• Attend and participate in staff meetings and staff committees

Important skills:

• Ability to work independently and with others
• Works well under pressure
• Occasional nights and weekend meetings/events
• Detail oriented
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects
• Ability to collect, interpret and simplify large datasets
• Very strong written and oral communication skills
• Ability to travel to communities across the region
• Proficient in excel and social media platforms

Reports To: Executive Director

Salary: Commensurate with experience

Apply: Cover letter, salary requirements and resume to: [email protected]