Chief Strategy Officer Jobs

Note: The salary range for this role begins at $142,563 - $186,158

The School District of Philadelphia is committed to becoming the fastest improving District in the country and transforming the educational opportunities it offers to our city’s more than 200,000 students. The District seeks leaders who have a passion for working with schools and communities who are committed to ensuring all students achieve. Serving a population as diverse as ours requires creativity, commitment and vision. Will you join us?

Job Summary

Strategic Plan Implementation

Leads and manages plan development, project management, and progress monitoring systems and processes for all strategic actions listed in the District’s five-year strategic plan. Serves as primary advisor to the Deputy Superintendent of Talent, Strategy, and Culture and the Cabinet on strategy implementation and project management. Develops, implements, monitors, and adjusts tools and procedures for managing and monitoring the District’s progress in implementing the strategic plan. Provides direction to senior leaders and their designees for the development, tracking, and evaluation of goals, key performance indicators, and progress. Establishes and manages systems for coordinated project management. Leads efforts to build and maintain coherence of strategies, programs, and activities across offices and advises members of the senior management team.

Interdepartmental Coordination and Coherence

Serves as Chief of Staff for the Deputy Superintendent of Talent, Strategy, and Culture, supporting effective leadership, management, and engagement, and collaboration systems and practices for a team of 400-500 central office employees. Leads efforts to build and maintain coherence across Talent, Strategy, and Culture offices, including Equity, Information Technology, Professional Learning, Strategic Planning, and Talent. Serves on and/or facilitates executive leadership teams. Engages with external partners who do or may support the Deputy Superintendent’s priorities, including but not limited to governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations including foundations, and institutions of higher education. Stimulates and/or coordinates the incubation of emerging and/or innovative strategies. Coordinates decision-making, information-sharing, and team-building activities for cross-functional teams supervised by the Deputy Superintendent, and serves as a conduit of information to and from the Deputy Superintendent. As directed, provides leadership and direction for special projects, coordinates activities that involve multiple senior leaders, and/or represents the Deputy Superintendent internally and externally.

Essential Functions

• Serves as an intermediary for the primary Talent, Strategy, and Culture functional areas fostering synergy through ongoing communication and partnership in the implementation of policies, processes, and systems.
• Acts as Chief of Staff for the Deputy Superintendent of Talent, Strategy, and Culture.
• Leads the collaborative development and execution of protocols for gathering input and feedback from a broad range of stakeholders (e.g., students, families, staff, community organizations).
• Monitors and tracks business process performance and ensures operational excellence through the continuous evaluation and implementation of process improvement efforts.
• Designs and utilizes tools to ensure key questions are answered at each phase of stakeholder implementation, including plans for stakeholder engagement, theories of change, and budgeting.
• Works across teams to define and implement system solutions, including technical system solutions in collaboration with the Information Technology Office.
• Ensures quality service and operational efficiency through continuous assessments and evaluations of functional areas and staffing plans.
• Supports the assignment of key roles to define who will oversee planning, funding, and monitoring of initiative progress.
• Directs the development and implementation of performance metrics, standards, and information systems to support effective business decisions.
• Develops and/or identifies guidelines for launching initiatives based on strategic priorities, funding availability, and existing system initiatives.
• Provides ongoing coaching and partnership to support skill-building and sustainability.
• Collaborates on the planning and implementation of key initiatives in the Offices of Equity, Information Technology, Professional Learning, Strategic Planning, and Talent.
• Determines, defines and outlines procedures for developing, implementing, and monitoring strategic plans across all areas of the District’s work; develops and oversees the execution of strategic planning procedures among Cabinet members, department leaders, and other strategic action owners; ensures that departmental functions comply with District policies.
• Develops partnerships with external organizations in support of the District’s strategic plan and other work supervised by the Deputy Superintendent of Talent, Strategy, and Culture.
• Adopts a standard cadence to monitor progress, celebrate successes, and ensure benefits reach all student populations.
• Directs the strategic planning team to ensure that processes are in place to support strategic action owners in their implementation activities.
• Defines clear phases for initiative approval to ensure investments are efficient and directed to the most powerful programs and initiatives.

Minimum Requirements

• Master’s degree from an accredited college or university is preferred.
• All work experience related to the position must be included on the resume.
• Ten years of full-time, paid, professional experience in education, strategy, business operations, or human resources, five of which have been in an administrative or supervisory capacity and have included responsibility for multiple functions.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Demonstrated knowledge of:

• Supervisory methods and techniques.
• Best practices in at least two functional work areas aligned with the District’s Equity, Information Technology, Professional Learning, Strategic Planning, and Talent Offices.
• Large scale project management systems, tools, and practices.
• Effective leadership and management practices in large public organizations.
• The current practices, methods, and techniques utilized in the comprehensive development, implementation, and monitoring of strategic plans.
• The principles and practices of instruction and operations in large urban school districts.
• Budgetary practices and procedures.

Demonstrated skill in:

• The use of Microsoft Office and Google suite applications.

Demonstrated ability to:

• Effectively lead and manage a work team.
• Plan and direct departmental operations.
• Manage and interpret data.

Ability to:

• Communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Interpret all relevant District and local, state and federal regulations concerning strategic planning, progress monitoring, and project management.
• Evaluate and assess the effectiveness and efficiency of operations.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships.

Disclaimer

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Nondiscrimination

The School District of Philadelphia provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, age, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, national origin, disability, pregnancy, marital status, gender identity, or genetic information. Please refer to Board Policy 348 for further information regarding the District's commitment to Nondiscrimination in Employment Practices.