Manager of School Partnerships, Philadelphia School Partnership

Posted by Philadelphia School Partnership on July 30, 2018

ORGANIZATION SUMMARY
The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) works to give every child in America’s fifth largest city the opportunity to attend a great school. We invest philanthropic funds in high-impact schools so they can serve more low-income students—whether they be in the traditional public, public charter or private sectors. Our aim is to catalyze the creation or transformation of enough schools to ensure better options for 50,000 students, or nearly one in four of all Philadelphia schoolchildren. Since 2011 PSP has invested in more than 50 schools, creating new educational opportunity for 21,000 students. PSP also works to create the conditions that enable great schools to grow and thrive, including a strong pipeline of qualified teachers and principals, resources and initiatives to empower parents and families, and policies that enable entrepreneurial school leadership and create opportunity for high-performing schools to grow. Additionally, PSP invests to catalyze collaboration, facilitating the sharing of best practices among schools and support organizations. Nonpartisan and data-driven, we work with government officials, business leaders, education leaders and practitioners, and community groups to pursue the promise of a great school for every child.

PSP believes that in a city as large as Philadelphia, there is not one best or right kind of school. Two hundred forty thousand children need a wide variety of schools from which to choose. The city has numerous examples of high-performing schools, and they span all three primary sectors: charter schools, district schools and private/Catholic schools. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of quality options in all three sectors. More than 35,000 students sit on waiting lists for the city’s best schools—which include private, charter, district magnet, and district neighborhood schools. Our work centers on leveraging philanthropic capital to attract entrepreneurial leadership and overcome inertia and financial and political barriers so that Philadelphia can have more great schools.

Like all cities, Philadelphia has finite resources for K-12 education. PSP believes the route to effectively educating all of the city’s children lies in fomenting and sustaining an educational ecosystem that steers resources toward effective schools, regardless of sector or type of school, so they can grow; increases equity of access to all school choices for families; and utilizes multiple measures of school performance to hold schools accountable for outcomes, thus ensuring support and—if necessary—intervention for struggling schools.

POSITION SUMMARY
Join a mission-driven education nonprofit—a growth fund for great schools—as a member of the school investment team. The investment team solicits and reviews applications from schools, school leaders, and school networks (as well as encourages potential schools, networks, and leaders to apply for funding), determines and structures investments, manages relationships with investees, and monitors academic and other outcomes. When results lag at a portfolio school or network, the investment team works closely with the school or network to provide direct service support, guidance, and accountability. This support comes in many forms either directly from the investment team and or through partnerships/vendors. Ultimately, our goals are aligned with the schools and networks goals – for the students to achieve at extraordinarily high levels.

The Manager will manage a portion of the portfolio, work with the team to identify opportunities for investment, and work closely with school teams to support school teams as they strive to deliver high quality academic programs through direct service and other methods.

The Manager will report to the Director of School Investments and work very closely with the School Investment Team, and the entire PSP team.

PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with good benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Manage relationships with schools in the portfolio including managing the grants, vendors, politics, and assisting in improving outcomes for students in the school, including diagnosing the strengths and areas of growth for school leaders and connecting resources for improvement.
• Lead thorough due diligence processes that include gathering and analyzing data, interviewing staff, assessing financial soundness, and identifying risks.
• Work closely with other team members to identify risks and to ultimately make investment decisions.
• Create and present memorandums for board review and approval or denial.
• Conduct school reviews with portfolio schools to identify potential opportunities for growth and meet regularly with school leaders to review action plans towards the school’s grant benchmarks.
• Use professional networks to cultivate potential investment opportunities aligned to the organization’s mission.
• Work closely with schools and the investment team to identify gaps in programming and provide guidance and resources to increase success rates for students.
• Keep abreast of emerging education issues in Philadelphia and nationally.
• Identify, create, and maintain relationships with partner organizations and resources that could be useful to portfolio schools.
• Work with the Philadelphia School Partnership team on research and strategic projects.
• Actively engage in the strategic planning and thinking of the team and organization, including creating targeted action plans for city-wide and portfolio impact.
• Write and present various reports including annual plans, school reports, board memorandums, etc.
• Continuously assess current organizational practices on the investment team and improve services.
• Lead Communities of Practice and other initiatives to provide opportunities for our schools to collaborate and grow.
• Manage the development and execution of citywide convenings and conferences alongside the Investment Team.
• Additional duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS
• Knowledge of and commitment to K-12 education reform, including a willingness to work on behalf of schools of all types – including District, charter, and private – in the face of organized resistance to reform
• Ability to assess a school’s areas of strength and weakness
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to lead and motivate others
• A self-motivated and entrepreneurial approach; confidence in high-pressure tight deadline situations and willingness to work as part of a team
• Experience leading and executing projects
• Strong communication skills – comfortable representing the organization in board meetings, other meetings, and larger venues
• Flexible attitude, ability to work independently and with urgency
• Strong problem solving and strategic thinking skills
• Willingness and desire to participate in unexpected projects

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
• Bachelor’s degree required, graduate degree preferred
• Minimum of three years’ relevant work experience in a relevant role
• Experience teaching and leading in a school
• Experience working in education reform preferred, but not required
• Experience as a high performing School Leader, Assistant Principal, Instructional or Academic Dean, or a Dean of Students a plus
• Experience teaching and leading in high school a plus

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:
• Traveling to schools – valid driver’s license and/or access to transportation when necessary
• Functioning in office space – reaching file cabinets, filing, faxing, scanning, coping, typing, mailing, making phone calls
• Must be able to sit for up to two hours looking at a computer monitor, using a keyboard/mouse and typing
• Must be able to lift up to 25lbs on a frequent basis

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Email resume and cover letter to Molly Farley, Human Resources Consultant, at [email protected].

Salary commensurate with experience, along with excellent benefits.
A modest relocation package may also be available for out-of-state candidates.