Job Description

Executive Director

About the Great Schools Partnership

We are a dedicated and dynamic group of individuals who have joined together to create a high quality, more equitable, and just education system in the United States. Working with educators, administrators, state agencies, community members, parents, and business leaders, we partner with schools to create learning environments where students own their learning, engage in deep work, and prepare themselves for their chosen futures. We believe that each of us needs to be empowered to be creative, take initiative, think outside the box, work collaboratively, and assume leadership roles in our organization.

Our mission is to support, challenge, and collaborate with educators and communities to achieve educational excellence and equity. We envision thriving schools & communities where every student develops the skills and habits necessary to engage in deep learning, pursue their aspirations, and contribute actively toward an equitable society.

Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion

At the Great Schools Partnership (GSP), we’re not just committed to diversity—we’re actively building an anti-racist, equitable organization reflective of the intersecting identities of the communities we serve. We believe that every voice, background, and identity enriches our work and strengthens our collective impact. That’s why we celebrate the unique tapestry of race, ethnicity, language, ability, gender, and all the other ways we define ourselves.

This is the bedrock of everything we do. We actively advocate for and support schools, districts, and communities on their journeys toward educational equity. We also invest our time and resources in ongoing internal efforts to dismantle racism and bias, and foster a culture of inclusivity and belonging. Our goal is to collectively create a space where every member of our staff feels welcomed, valued, empowered, and equipped to contribute their full brilliance.

What’s the big plan for this job?

The executive director sets the strategic direction for the organization to undertake our mission and realize our vision. In this role, the executive director engages with and supports the GSP board, coordinates with directors on an individual and collective basis, monitors the quality of programming and services, networks with external organizations, and ensures organizational financial viability. The person in this position is the key external-facing advocate for the organization.

What will I be doing?

• Implementing the strategic direction of the organization. While GSP’s Board of Directors establishes and endorses a long-term strategic plan, you are responsible for bringing this to life working in close collaboration with all staff at the organization. You ensure that this plan is implemented including problem solving when inevitable struggles arise, redesigning actions to ensure success, and implementing staffing roles and responsibilities to ensure achievement of the plan.
• Supporting and engaging GSP’s Board of Directors. GSP has deliberately created by-laws that provide significant authority to the executive director to fully lead the organization. Still, the Board of Directors has legal responsibilities that depend upon support from the executive director. You help the Board of Directors carry out these responsibilities by deepening their own learning and understanding of this work.
• Serving as a thought leader. What new areas of work must GSP engage in? What new skills and understanding must staff learn? How can GSP be prepared to engage in new conversations on deepening learning for students? You engage in developing, collaborating on, and finding answers to all of these questions and more. You are always searching for growth opportunities for yourself, colleagues, and the organization. You get to imagine what may seem impossible and then get to work on achieving it.
• Helping to position GSP with emerging and ongoing work. Our marketing strategy is focused on figuring out what work we can do well and making sure our colleagues in the field and foundation offices know this. You collaborate closely with the managing director of engagement and networking to identify school and district opportunities and support GSP’s response to these various needs through written contracts or proposals.
  Leading and supporting colleagues. You engage with colleagues at GSP, helping them understand their work and strategies to employ. In addition, you have direct supervision with colleagues helping guide their work including identifying areas of growth and learning.
• Networking with other non-profit organizations, state education agencies, foundations, and professional organizations. You are the leading public face for the organization, meeting with state education agencies to help with policy and practice, with other non-profit organizations to identify areas of mutual collaboration, and with various professional organizations to help address their needs and concerns. You have strong relationships with various foundations and program officers, and support and collaborate with the managing director of learning and strategy and various project leads to develop proposals and deepen relationships.
• Ensuring the financial viability of the organization. In collaboration with the managing directors and the director of finance, you are responsible for ensuring financial revenues that will enable GSP to enact our mission and realize our vision. You work closely with the director of finance to monitor revenue and expenses. You are responsible for decisions on the investment of GSP financial resources to build financial reserves.
• Ensuring quality staff support through salaries, benefits, and working conditions. You collaborate with the director of people operations who oversees support for the staff, ensuring that the organization retains its commitment to supporting and enhancing all staff as a key to our collective success.
• Overseeing state and federal policy positions for the organization. GSP is not an advocacy organization, but we are active in supporting state policy when it impacts our beliefs on best practice. You are responsible for finalizing any positions GSP takes regarding state or federal policy.
• Supporting activities across GSP to help schools implement the following high-leverage approaches:
  • Anti-racist, inclusive, and equitable practices, policies, and cultures
  • Proficiency-based teaching and learning
  • Multiple and flexible pathways that promote deep learning as well as student voice and choice
  • Shared, data-informed decision-making among educators, students, families, and community members
  • Trusting relationships between and among students, families, and educators
  • Professional learning groups

What qualities do I need to succeed in this role?

• You share our commitment to equitable education for every student. You have the bravery to challenge inequities in our educational systems and the strategic acumen to gain results.
• You have leadership experience and strong leadership skills. You are comfortable leading efforts and building the leadership capacity of your colleagues. You see great value in sharing leadership roles while recognizing the importance of setting a clear vision and direction for the organization.
• You are confident in the face of ambiguity. This role will often require decision-making with limited information.  Not only can you make a quick decision, but you can also support it with qualitative reasoning.
• You are a clear strategic thinker. This capacity plays out both internally in strategically leading and positioning the organization and externally recognizing how to engage in work that promotes the organization’s mission. You can view complex educational systems like large urban school districts or entire states and map out strategic and tactical steps to achieve success.
• You are a clear, concise, and confident communicator. This enables you to openly and transparently communicate internally and externally while utilizing language that is catered to your audience. You have strong writing and speaking skills that enable you to engage in small and large groups in person, to collaborate with external partners, and write for multiple audiences.
• You bring expertise and experience in facilitating, teaching, learning, and leading in K-12 education.
• You are comfortable creating budgets. While you are not responsible for tracking revenue and expenditures on a daily basis, you will work closely with the director of finance to monitor revenue and expenditures, and make necessary adjustments as the fiscal year progresses.
• You have public confidence and conviction. You enjoy exploring and developing ideas extemporaneously, in collaboration with others and in public settings. You view disagreements as opportunities to explore new ideas and develop better results.
• You have experience leading and working on a racially diverse team. You view diversity as an asset that makes everyone in the organization stronger.
• You get stuff done. You can prioritize among competing demands to manage multiple projects and identify strategic priorities. When problems arise, you figure out ways to push through to solutions.

Our process strives to screen in rather than out. We welcome your application even if you feel you are not strong in every qualification outlined above.

An additional consideration

We are especially interested in candidates who speak multiple languages, recognizing that many of the communities we work with have significant language diversity. Speaking a language in addition to English is not required but is a beneficial additional skill.

Location

Our offices are located in Portland, Maine. The executive director is not required to live in the greater Portland area but will be expected to be in the office on a weekly basis. Historically, this role included regular travel across New England and the country; recently, this travel has been reduced significantly. We are unsure of the exact nature of travel in the future, although we do expect this role will require some level of regular travel.

Compensation

The starting salary range for this position is $152,800 to $191,000 and is based on experience. GSP covers the full cost of health insurance for each staff member, 50% of costs of family health insurance, an additional 2.5% of salary contributed to a 403(b) retirement plan, an additional 4.5% of salary into a flex fund for health care or retirement, four weeks of vacation, five personal days, six sick days, eight holidays, tuition reimbursement, and eight weeks of paid parental leave.

GSP is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against candidates on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, and local laws. Women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and members of other minority or marginalized groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

How to Apply

• How has a commitment to educational equity driven your thinking, your commitment, and your actions over the last five years?
• What insights, experiences, or commitments—professionally and in your personal life—will you bring to the GSP team that will either enhance or challenge our understanding of our work?
• What skills, experiences, and approaches would you bring that will grow business opportunities and enhance our organizational sustainability?

Job Categories: Equal Opportunities. Job Types: Full-Time. Salaries: 100,000 and above.

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