Improvement Specialist Jobs

About WestEd

As a community of over 900 researchers, practitioners, consultants, and administrative professionals from all backgrounds and life experiences, we are committed to making a qualitative difference in the lives of youth, children, and adults. We conduct and apply research, develop evidence-based solutions, and provide consulting services across the country in both rural and urban communities to improve equitable outcomes for individuals from infancy through adulthood. Serving as trusted partners in the areas of education, health, and justice, our teams enhance capacity within communities and school districts to prioritize impact — asking the right questions, customizing methodologies, developing relevant tools, and implementing best practices specific to a diverse range of stakeholder needs.

Furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion is core to who we are and how we work. We are committed to working with our clients to illuminate and address disparities, value and elevate diverse voices, and ensure equitable access to our resources and services. Please review our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion on our Careers page at wested.org. Come and join us!

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING THE WORK LOCATION OF THIS POSITION—Although WestEd provides the option of working at one of its facilities for employees, many roles allow employees to choose to work remotely for their own convenience. The decision to allow remote work at the employee's convenience is based on the requirements of the position or project in question.

Content Area Description

The Improvement Specialist will work on the Improvement Science Team, a growing team of over 20 members, who are all dedicated lifelong learners with a commitment to advancing educational equity. The team develops the capacity of partners to transform systems in ways that improve educational outcomes for underserved and underrepresented communities. Our body of work covers a wide range of educational spaces, from early grade literacy and middle school math to educator preparation and postsecondary success. We take a learning orientation to our work and are committed to “walking the walk” by using improvement methodologies to organize and manage our team. New team members should share our passion and have a desire to pursue improvement as a career.

The Opportunity

The Improvement Specialist will collaborate with other team members and clients to develop the capacity of partners to transform systems in ways that improve educational outcomes and advance equity. The team integrates quality improvement methods, content expertise, and practitioner knowledge to guide educators in the design and management of more effective and just systems. The Improvement Specialist will work with WestEd staff, partner organizations, and network affiliates to investigate problems of practice, develop theories of improvement, and test promising change ideas.

We seek candidates with cultural competency and a passion for fostering racial justice and equity through improvement work. Candidates should have significant experience leading improvement projects and coaching improvement teams in educational contexts. This experience should be close to the work of teachers and schools, either in K-12 or higher education spaces. The ideal candidate will be able to effectively manage complex projects, competing priorities, and fast-paced timelines, plan and implement improvement projects, and provide outstanding client services.

The Improvement Science team takes on a wide range of projects. Our ideal candidate will have expertise in education practice, policy, and research associated with one or more content areas relevant to our current portfolio of work. Our immediate content areas of need are:

• Special education
• Middle, high school, and/or college mathematics
• School and district leadership
• University-based educator preparation
• Postsecondary success
• Higher education leadership

While our work happens across many states, we have large partnerships in California, Texas, and New York. The ideal candidate will be familiar with education policy in these states and be willing to be on site, in-person (when safe) up to once a month.

Our approach to improvement pulls from many different quality improvement methodologies and associated theories. We are looking for candidates with experience in one or more of the following improvement approaches: The Model for Improvement; Lean, Six Sigma; Total Quality Management; Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge; Carnegie’s Six Principles.

Core Focus Areas

• Contributing to the ongoing professional learning and growth of the team
• Designing and delivering high-quality improvement science-based trainings
• Working with clients to name and confront issues related to equity and racial justice
• Developing and honoring the trust our partners place in our work
• Production of written materials including training materials, blog posts, documentation of improvement efforts, and research-based articles.
• Communicating and collaborating with diverse, multi-functional teams inside and outside of WestEd
• Leading and coaching of improvement project teams
• Facilitating design and prototyping processes, including user-centered design and rapid scanning processes (e.g., 90-Day Cycles)
• Project management, including developing and managing project plans, timelines, and budgets

What We’re Looking For

The most competitive candidates for this role will have many of the following skills and qualifications:

• 4-5 years of experience supporting improvement work in an educational context is preferred.
• Comfort working in contexts of ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Experience incorporating the perspectives of people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds in the consideration of impacts and outcomes of a decision-making process.
• An understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities in education.
• Experience thoughtfully coaching client improvement teams to outcomes that advance educational equity.
• Ability to work on a flexible schedule and travel up to 25% (3-4 days/month).
• Willingness to collaborate and learn on-the-job with a growing team of lifelong learners, give and receive constructive feedback, and grow into new roles and responsibilities as the work demands.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and ability to flex communication style to address the diverse perspectives of stakeholders and work with them to resolve differences.
• Ability to navigate complex projects, manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Bachelor’s degree in education or equivalent area required; Master’s degree or specialized experience reading research articles with a critical lens, digesting key learnings, and translating important insights for non-research audiences is preferred.

• Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Successful candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.

SALARY AND BENEFITS:

The full salary range for this position, WestEd level H, is $99,360 to $149,000 but WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of the salary range. The typical hiring range for this role is $99,360 to $124,200. The actual offer takes into account multiple factors including but not limited to education; experience; internal equity, and other organizational needs.

In addition to the base salary, benefits include:

• 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment

• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts

• All health/welfare benefits are effective first of the month following hire date

• PTO: 3 weeks vacation (increases to 4 weeks beginning the 4th year of employment), paid holidays, and 12 days paid sick leave per year

• Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary

• Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases + annual incentives

• Professional development opportunities & mentorship program

For more detail about our benefits, go to: https://www.wested.org/work-at-wested/benefits/

Committed to the diversity of race, ethnicities, perspectives, and opportunities, WestEd offers a variety of social and professional learning communities, such as Employee Resource groups, the Data Intelligence, Insights, and Innovation PLC, and the WestEd Parent Community, just to name a few. We hope you’ll consider joining us to build better schools, communities, learning pathways, and more! #LI-Remote #LI-Hybrid

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities

The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)