[Hiring] Chief of Staff @UnboundEd

ABOUT UNBOUNDED

UnboundEd recently joined with two other professional learning organizations, Pivot Learning and CORE Learning. Together as one entity, we are now the largest equity-focused professional learning organization in the nation. We provide evidenced-based, comprehensive instructional and curriculum support to educators and school systems leaders in over 40 states across the country.

UnboundEd empowers educators to transform teaching and learning. We work with classroom teachers, school leaders and district executives to ensure engaging, affirming and meaningful grade-level instruction, so that we eliminate the predictability of student outcomes by race and socioeconomic status. We focus on the needs of students of color and those who have historically been at the margins, because when we do that, all students benefit.

ROLE SUMMARY

The Chief of Staff is a critical and trusted leadership position reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), that helps the CEO increase productivity and results by handling complex assignments that make time, flow of information and decision making more effective. The Chief of Staff will work autonomously to create systems that allow the CEO to stay focused on their day-to-day work, and is critical to increasing the operational capacity of the executive leadership (C-Suite) function. The ideal candidate is someone who is energized by leaning heavily on a robust skill set of project management expertise, strong high-level communication, effective organization and successfully navigating through ambiguity.

UnboundEd is a virtual organization in which all employees work remotely with core business hours from 9am to 5pm local time; this employee can be based anywhere in the United States, but note that the CEO is based in the Eastern time zone. Travel of up to 25% may be required.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential responsibilities for this position include, but are not limited to:

Organizational Initiatives, Operations and Culture Support: Manage the “office of the CEO”, including the executive support function, emerging ideas/projects and culture-building organizational practices.

• Directly supervise the three-person Executive Support Team that provides executive assistant and administrative support to the organization’s Executive Team, leads and facilitates weekly organization-wide virtual calls, and provides logistical planning for organization-wide, in-person meetings
• Lead and provide oversight of high-stakes special projects and initiatives
• Support the overall planning and delivery of all organization-wide meetings (virtual and in-person)
• Support and/or lead other organizational initiatives as assigned by the CEO

Executive Team Support: Create, organize and maintain systems that allow the CEO to effectively manage the organization’s executive leadership function in alignment with its strategic priorities and vision.

• Plan and facilitate weekly executive team meetings, including mechanisms used to cascade information, progress and decisions organization-wide, and track and support follow-through of next steps
• Regularly meet 1:1 with executive leaders to surface interdependencies across organizational priorities/strategic initiatives, and escalate and resolve potential issues
• Plan and facilitate senior leadership team meetings to ensure a cohesive approach to organizational priorities/strategic initiatives that includes communications planning and stakeholder engagement
• Become a trusted advisor to the CEO, providing independent, informed and unbiased insight on a host of issues from strategic initiatives/priorities to operations and programs/services

Board and Governance Support: Provide advanced preparation to ensure Board meetings and retreats are effective and efficient, and that the board successfully serves its purpose.

• Work closely with the CEO and Board Chair to map out the annual cadence of board meetings and retreats, and create a cohesive content arc for Board meetings and retreats
• Work with the CEO’s Executive Assistant to ensure board materials and logistics are prepared and communicated to Board members in advance
• When needed, and as directed by the CEO, prepare Board members in advance for strategic meeting content and votes
• Collaborate with the Board Chair, Executive Team and the CEO to prepare the Board’s annual performance review of the CEO

APPLICATION PROCESS

Interested candidates should submit their résumé and cover letter here. Questions regarding this position should be directed to [email protected].

Requirements

THE STRONGEST CANDIDATES WILL HAVE/BE:

• Commitment to UnboundEd’s vision and core values
• Learning orientation and commitment toward diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Facility with grasping and adding value to the CEO’s vision
• Demonstrated record of effective, complex project management and problem-solving skills; can simplify complexity, manage ideation to execution, and anticipate and avert problems
• Ability to work independently and build strong relationships with colleagues and partners; accurately assess and respond to situational, political and organizational dynamics
• Strong writing and organizational skills; attention to detail
• Entrepreneurial spirit and ability to thrive in a fast-paced and changing environment
• Proficient use of Microsoft Office, Google-based applications, and online collaboration tools such as Slack

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university; advanced degree preferred
• Ten (10) years of progressive leadership experience with at least three (3) years leading teams and complex organizational projects, and two (2) years as a Chief of Staff or equivalent position
• Equivalent combination of experience and training will also be considered

Benefits

BENEFITS AND COMPENSATION

UnboundEd offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience and education and a generous benefits package that includes take-as-you-need vacation time, group medical, dental and vision plans, disability and life insurance plans, and an employer-sponsored 401K retirement plan with a 5% employer contribution with no vesting period or salary cap. This is an exempt, full-time position with an annual salary range of $175,000 - $262,000. A compensation offer is based on relevant years of experience in relation to the position. Because of our strong commitment to equity and growth, UnboundEd does not negotiate or place compensation offers at the top of the range.