Senior 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 Or Department Brief Description

The Senior Improvement Specialist will join WestEd’s Improvement Science Team, which currently has 20 members. Our work focuses on complex, collaborative projects that develop the capacity of partners to transform systems in ways that improve educational outcomes for historically underserved communities. Our work covers a variety of educational spaces, from early grade literacy to middle school math and teacher preparation. Team members are lifelong learners with a commitment to advancing educational equity. And we strive to “walk the walk” of improvement by applying improvement principles and methods to the way we operate as a team. New team members should share our passion for improvement and see it as their vocation.

The Opportunity

The Senior Improvement Specialist will have significant team leadership responsibility, including growing client relationships, developing new lines of work, writing proposals, and managing budgets. This role will also be responsible for co-developing the team’s overarching strategy for systems transformation, and for the hiring, supervision, and development of staff. Candidates should be able to effectively manage complex projects, competing priorities, and fast-paced timelines, plan and implement improvement projects, and provide outstanding client services.

We seek candidates with cultural competency and a passion for fostering racial justice and equity through improvement work. Central to this work is experience integrating quality improvement methods, content expertise, and practitioner knowledge to guide educators in the design and management of more effective and just systems. This experience should be close to the work of educators, either in K-12 or higher education.

Candidates should be familiar with education practice, policy, and research associated with educator workforce and any of the following areas: chronic absenteeism; early grade literacy; English learners; special education; middle or high school mathematics; academic advising; school leadership; and/or instructional coaching. A significant portion of our K-12 work takes place in California, so knowledge of the California education policy context is also desirable, though not required. This includes the implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS); A-G subject requirements; the Differentiated Assistance (DA) process; the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), and/or the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) process.

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; Collective Impact; Implementation Science; Idealized Design; and Targeted Universalism.

Core Focus Areas

• Supervising and developing team members
• Leading and coaching of improvement project teams
• Writing proposals
• 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, especially the development of close, trusting relationships.
• Project management, including developing and managing budgets, milestones, and timelines
• Facilitating design and prototyping processes, including user-centered design and rapid scanning processes (e.g., 90-Day Cycles)
• Designing and delivering high-quality improvement science-based trainings
• Growing new business relationships with potential partners

What We’re Looking For

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

• Note: Visa sponsorship is not available for this position. Successful candidates must be authorized to work in the United States.
• Bachelor’s degree 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 preferred.
• Ability to work on a flexible schedule and travel up to 25% (3-4 days/month).
• 7+ years of experience supporting improvement work in a variety of educational contexts preferred.
• Experience taking vague, partially developed problems and reframing them in ways that make them clear, concrete, and amenable to improvement.
• 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.
• Experience navigating complex projects, managing multiple tasks, and meeting deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and the ability to flex communication style to address the diverse perspectives of stakeholders and work with them to resolve differences.
• 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.
• Experience thoughtfully coaching client improvement teams to outcomes that advance educational equity.
• Experience directly supervising and developing staff
• An understanding of the concepts of institutional and structural racism and bias and their impact on underserved and underrepresented communities in education.

Salary And Benefits

The full salary range for this position, WestEd level I, is min $116,700 to $200,000 but WestEd does not typically hire at or near the top of the salary range. The typical hiring range for this role is $133,360 to $166,700. 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

• Opportunities for annual merit-based performance increases + annual incentives
• Pre-tax Flexible Spending Accounts
• Life Insurance: value of 3x gross salary (Example: Based on annual salary of $100K x 3 = $300,000 Life Insurance value)
• PTO: 3 weeks vacation (increases to 4 weeks beginning the 4th year of employment), paid holidays, and 12 days paid sick leave per year
• All health/welfare benefits are effective first of the month following hire date
• Professional development opportunities & mentorship program
• 15% contribution toward retirement effective day 1 of employment (Example: Total Cash Compensation based on $100K annual salary + 15% ($15,000) = $115,000/yr with WestEd retirement contribution)

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!