Job Description

ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW

About Us and Our Philosophy

Breakthrough Greater Boston (BTGB) is a transformative college access and teacher training program. BTGB offers six years of academic enrichment and college preparation to middle school and high school students with high potential but limited opportunities. Simultaneously, BTGB recruits, trains and inspires a diverse cohort of high achieving college students to become the next generation of urban teachers. Leveraging a Students Teaching Students model, BTGB provides engaging, tuition-free academic programming during the summer and after school. Our students gain the skills and motivation to succeed in rigorous high school courses and, ultimately, in college. Meanwhile, our teachers gain hands-on experience, research-based training and coaching from professional educators.

Over the past eight years, 97% of our graduating students have matriculated to college, and 82% of them have persisted through their undergraduate years. On average, more than 70% of our graduating teachers have gone on to pursue careers in education. After two decades of success at our original Cambridge site, BTGB embarked upon a significant program expansion and opened a second site in Boston in the summer of 2013 and a third site in Somerville in 2018. As an independent 501c3 nonprofit, Breakthrough Greater Boston is part of The Breakthrough Collaborative, a national educational movement working to improve educational outcomes for youth across 25 U.S. cities.

With a deep commitment to our mission, BTGB operates with the highest standards of integrity and best practices, while also enjoying the ability to be innovative and flexible to meet the evolving needs of our students, families and teachers.  Our team is diverse, high-performing and dedicated.  We continue to build an organizational culture that emphasizes our core values for every member of our community:

• Spirit: We cherish and embody the youthful energy and spirit of our students and teachers
• Continual Learning: Everyone in our community has something to learn and something to teach
• Team Together: We all chip in to accomplish whatever is needed for our teammates and the broader organization
• Student Centered: Our students are our first priority and our decisions center around what benefits our students
• Equity and Opportunity: We value diversity of identity, background and thought. We treat everyone with dignity and respect
• Excellence in Everything: We maintain high expectations for ourselves

Breakthrough Greater Boston encourages individuals of all backgrounds to apply for this position, and we do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by applicable law. We celebrate the diversity of our world and our community, and we seek to build a team that reflects that diversity in every way. We welcome and encourage all qualified applicants who share that same vision, as we wish to engage all those who can contribute to our work and this mission.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Breakthrough Greater Boston is currently seeking a highly motivated and talented Managing Director of Student Services (MDSS) to oversee all aspects of Student Services programming at its three campuses in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.  The MDSS will be responsible for programmatic planning, management and evaluation as well as program staff hiring, training, and supervision.  The MDSS will work to develop systems and an organizational culture that ensure sustainable, high quality programming.  The Managing Director of Student Services reports directly to Breakthrough Greater Boston’s Executive Director, sits on the organization’s Management Team and works closely with the Managing Directors of Curriculum and Instruction and Managing Director of College Access and Success.

POSITION OUTCOMES

A successful Managing Director of Student Services will:

• Ensure BTGB’s positive relationships with its students, families and teachers through direct relationship building and advisement to the program team at a site level.
• Develop programming that is aligned across both grade levels and sites to ensure a high quality and cohesive experience for students and teachers.
• Foster strong partnerships within the district and city, including with district schools, local universities, and other key collaborators.
• Ensure each member of the Student Services team is well trained, supported in their role and provided with opportunities for growth.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION

In this exciting role you will be responsible for a variety of critical leadership responsibilities including:

Site Leadership

• Build vision and collaboration among site-based team members
• Build awareness of BTGB’s mission and clearly articulate program impact to stakeholders
• Maintain regular contact through bi-annual meetings with key administrators and district leaders
• Create and share regular program reports, highlights and updates with school and district administrators
• Ensure site-based staff develop and maintain strong partnerships with school-based teachers, counselors, administrators and support staff
• Ensure school and district communications are tracked in salesforce
• Build and maintain strong partnerships with local colleges and universities
• Represent BTGB at key events within the district and city
• Foster strong partnerships with community-based organizations
• Ensure strong school partnerships, including oversight of key operational components (space, tech, data access, etc.)
• Manage and support with time-sensitive crises at a particular campus
• Collaborate with other Managing Directors to ensure aligned and high-quality programming across sites

Student Services Team Supervision

• Hire program staff on the Student Services team, including permanent full-time employees, as well as oversee the hiring of part-time and seasonal staff and regular programmatic volunteers
• Ensure all program staff on the Student Services team receive high quality onboarding and training to set them up for long term success in their roles, as well as oversee onboarding and training of part-time and seasonal staff and regular programmatic volunteers
• Conduct weekly supervision, professional development planning, and regular performance evaluations for program staff on the Student Services team
• Oversee staff succession planning and transition oversight for the department

Program Oversight

• Maintain up-to-date field knowledge within Student Services area
• Manage partnerships with external organizations for the Student Services department
• Observe programming within Student Services across sites on a consistent basis
• Oversee departmental expenditures against budget on a monthly basis
• Strengthen internal operations and infrastructure for effective program delivery
• Write or update any programmatic policies needed to ensure safe, ethical, and effective operation of BTGB programming

Program Design and Evaluation

• Oversee the development and tracking of goals within Student Services
• Set standards for accountability and measurements of success for program delivery as well as student and teacher success
• Oversee BTGB’s evaluation activities including data collection systems and evaluation reporting
• Communicate Breakthrough’s data and successes both internally (Board, ED, development team) and externally (School partners, Breakthrough Collaborative, education field)

Program Growth, Strategy and Sustainability

• With expansion, aid in new staff identification, hiring and training; site start-up efforts; and building strategic partnerships
• Ensure the consistent high quality of programming across campuses
• Maintain Breakthrough’s culture of collaboration; create effective and efficient cross-site communication and collaboration processes
• Develop a knowledge management system that supports information sharing and ensures Breakthrough remains a best-in-class learning organization
• Lead programmatic special projects and initiatives, as they arise

Program Leadership

• Ensure the consistent high quality of programming across campuses
• Serve as a thought leader in Student Services area for external audiences
• Collaborate with other Managing directors to lead, support and grow the program team
• Plan and lead regular program team meetings and retreats
• Regularly reporting to the Board of Directors; staffing a Board committee (Program Committee, School Partnership Committee or Family Advisory Committee)

YOUR BACKGROUND AND QUALIFICATIONS

As the incoming Managing Director, you will possess many, though perhaps not all, of the following characteristics and qualifications:

• Eight years of experience within the student services area and leading educational programs with significant experience in supervising staff and working directly with students, ideally students who will be first generation to college
• Experience with student recruitment
• Experience leading school-wide/program-wide family engagement initiatives
• Expertise within the field of Social Emotional Learning
• Experience managing and fostering positive relationships with schools and school districts
• Ability to hold others to high standards while also offering support and maintaining positive relationships
• An unwavering commitment to equity, in deepening your personal understanding and in advancing our collective work
• Outstanding interpersonal and communication skills with students, families and educators
• Superior organization and project management skills
• Ability to work on multiple projects, adjust quickly to shifting priorities, meet deadlines, exercise good judgment and handle high-pressure situations
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with a variety of audiences
• Team player who demonstrates a positive attitude, sense of humor, energy, entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to collaboration
• Prior experience with Breakthrough model highly desirable; familiarity with partner schools or districts a plus
• Flexibility that allows for periodic work on Saturdays and evenings
• Candidates of color and those from low-income backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply as are those with fluency in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Somali, Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Tigrinya or Urdu
• Bachelor’s degree

COMPENSATION

Breakthrough Greater Boston offers a competitive compensation package and is deeply committed to pay equity and transparency. The salary range for this position is $84,816-127,224; Breakthrough Greater Boston makes an offer based on relevant years of experience and does not negotiate salaries.

HOW TO JOIN OUR TEAM

If you are interested in learning more about how your passion and experience can help Breakthrough meet its mission and grow its impact, please submit your resume and a thoughtful and targeted cover letter outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity. Applications can be submitted to Elissa Spelman, Executive Director, at jo**@bt******.org

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Learn more about Breakthrough Greater Boston at www.breakthroughgreaterboston.org.

How to Apply

Job Types: Full-Time. Job Tags: administration and Education. Salaries: 100,000 and above.

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