Director, Strategy & Innovation
Company: AERDF
Location: Oakland
Posted on: May 18, 2023
Job Description:
Organization -The Advanced Education Research and Development
Fund (AERDF) is a national nonprofit initiative that supports
ambitious Inclusive R&D programs designed to tackle intractable
teaching and learning challenges that disproportionately affect
Black and Latino students and students of all races experiencing
poverty. The AERDF team identifies compelling leaders with
ambitious goals for improving student learning to serve as
Executive Program Directors. To reach those goals, ExecutiveProgram
Directors build on existing evidence from learning science to
design multi-year Inclusive R&D programs to translate
fundamental insights into more useful practices, approaches and
tools. -Assessment for Good (AFG), which sits within AERDF, is an
Inclusive R&D program focused on dramatically improving
conditions for the academic, emotional, and social wellbeing social
and emotional wellbeing and positive academic outcomes of learners
aged 8 through 13, with a special focus on Black and Latinx
populations. By leveraging an asset-based approach to assessment,
relevant information that values the diversity of student and
educator experiences can be used to create an environment that is
rich in opportunities to thrive. -Opportunity for ImpactWith new
scientific data emerging constantly in the world of student
assessment, AFG is agile and responsive, committed to making
data-based decisions across its dynamic research and development
effort. The Director of Strategy and Innovation (DSI) is a senior
member of the AFG team, reporting directly to the Executive
Director (ED). This critical role will work collaboratively with
the ED and broader members of the AFG team to design and execute
the core program operations across key functional areas:
evaluation, implementation, investment, and community engagement.
Serving as the operational glue across AFG's work, the DSI will
play a unique role in leading strategic visioning across the
program. This is an ideal role for operationally-minded, strategic
product leader who is passionate about conducting community-engaged
research and development in service of creating better ecosystems
(e.g., learning spaces; teaching and learning practices, positive
emotional, academic, and social development trajectories, etc.)
that support Black and Latinx learners aged 8 - 13 years of age.
Role and ResponsibilitiesAs AFG continues to execute an inclusive
R&D program and prepare it for transition in late 2026, this
person will have the opportunity to contribute to the program's
core research and development strategy. This includes: - -
Manage the operational infrastructure
at Assessment for Good, with special attention on creating
structures for the ease of transition planning and
sustainabilityResponsibilities may include:
Partnering with the Executive
Director to develop AFG's strategic roadmap, inclusive of intended
outcomes and interim milestones, a multi-year financial and
capacity plan, and the plan for post-AERDF transition.Help design,
adopt, and continually improve operational solutions that meet
current and future needs, balancing simplicity, flexibility, and
risk mitigation. Work collaboratively with AERDF and operational
contractors and partners to ensure AFG has structures, systems and
policies that meet its needs for IT, HR, finance, operations, and
data storage and security. Oversee operational execution of these
systems.Manage a diverse set of team members involved in
cross-functional work and ensure their individual and collective
ongoing learning, development and growth. Manage vendor and
consultant arrangements as they relate to cross-functional work or
operations, including legal and communications.Help manage
financial resources, developing and managing AFG's multi-year
budget aligned to its strategic plan and ensuring it is allocating
investments in accordance with its strategic priorities. Lead an
annual budgeting process for the program and support regular
reporting to guide ongoing financial decisions.Ensure AFG is
getting stronger as a team every day and continuing to live its
core values as the organization grows. Lead the design, build and
improvement of internal collaboration structures such as meetings,
retreats, and planning and communication systems. Lead the
program's human capital work, including hiring, onboarding, and
professional development and evaluation. -
Develop and lead the strategy for
AFG's implementation work, with particular focus on creating the
program-level ecosystem needed for full-scale prototype design and
trailing initiativesResponsibilities may include: -
Create and manage internal progress
monitoring structures and systems to ensure AFG is working as one
team toward shared outcomes. Work closely and collaboratively with
other senior team leaders to ensure content and product development
strands are tracking toward critical milestones. Help manage the
integrated prototyping work, where the content, research, UX and
tech strands come together, including setting and sequencing
priorities to deliver on AFG's strategic and operational roadmap.
Be consulted as a key contributor to major decisions across
workstreams to ensure alignment and cohesion, and that the sum of
decisions is greater than the parts.Co-develop and co-implement the
comprehensive evaluation model that will be used to trial multiple
AFG prototypes through a rich set of experimental designs, ensuring
that key insights are able to be distilled into the field, through
peer reviewed publications, practitioner and policy white papers,
reports, and other media outlets. -Overseeing, in collaboration
with others on the AFG team, a multi-tiered evaluation strategy
that will accompany AFG's trialing track of investment.
-Collaborate with leadership across AERDF to drive improvements to
AFG's awardee management approach.Contribute to the development of
a strong, inclusive program team. -
Building and maintaining positive and
productive relationships with stakeholders who are diverse in their
identities, roles, expectations, and needs.Support a transformative
investment portfolio focused on the development of new measurement
models and assessment prototypes. -Communicating effectively with a
wide variety of people at all levels, both internally and
externally.Effectively manage external operational and investment
contracts to ensure clear expectations, accountability for
deliverables, and a positive working culture. -Professional
Qualifications
Deep experience in strategy and
operations (10+ years) within a R&D setting, ideally with a
focus on K-12 education.Track record of leading the strategic
vision of previous organizations, developing the strategic plans
and managing implementation of time and resources toward
goals.Ability to critically analyze an emerging research strategy,
leading new approaches and supplying information to stakeholders
that can support a more refined understanding of research and
development objectives.Experience designing and implementing
organizational systems, ideally in a startup environment, building
budgets, staff, and executing operations in a context of high
ambiguity.A demonstrated knowledge of and evidence of success with
research and evaluation processes: research project management,
complex data analysis within mixed-method designs, academic
writing, and research team management.Demonstrated track record of
leading in a fast-paced environment, managing a team to high
performance, and collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders to
achieve shared goals.Familiarity with equity-forward R&D
frameworks that intersect the home and places of education (e.g.,
school buildings, out of school time orgs, etc) is preferred.
-Experience using and building systems across Google applications,
Slack, Asana, Airtable, Notion, Jira, and the like. Not intimidated
by new products and systems, but instead energized by them as a key
element of project implementation. -Comfort in a working style
suited to a hybrid office setting where teamwork and
resourcefulness are highly valued.Ability to travel up to 30% in
support of in-person research team meetings, program-based meetings
and retreats, research site visits, convenings and conferences when
it is safe to do so. -Personal Characteristics
A demonstrated commitment to
embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in daily work
and research priorities.Passion for supporting innovation and
pursuing excellence with Black and Latinx students in traditional
and non-traditional education spaces.A high degree of
self-awareness and a relationship orientation that inspires and
motivates others.A demonstrated commitment to learning and
continuous improvement -Comfort working independently and
consistently in an agile, fast-paced environment; managing multiple
priorities through leveraging creative thinking and
resourcefulnessAn ability to navigate uncertainty and ambiguity,
while embracing the ever-evolving nature of a founding
team.---------------------Additional InfoAERDF offers a competitive
compensation package including base salary and comprehensive
benefits. AERDF is a remote and flexible work environment and base
compensation levels vary depending on location, experience, and
qualifications. The starting salary range for this Level 5 -
Director position is $141,000 - $203,000 (based on location). AERDF
is deeply committed to the diversity of its workforce. People of
all backgrounds, particularly those with the lived experience of
the students and communities AERDF serves, are encouraged to apply.
- Please do not hesitate to apply even if all of the qualifications
are not met. Candidates of all backgrounds and identities are
encouraged to apply. -Learn More
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Keywords: AERDF, Oakland , Director, Strategy & Innovation, Accounting, Auditing , Oakland, California
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