Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing charter public schools that are closing the academic achievement gap and preparing students from historically underserved communities for success in college and beyond. Uncommon currently manages 54 schools serving more than 20,000 students in six cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark, Rochester, and Troy. Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at rates far higher than their peers. We believe that every child deserves an outstanding education, and we are committed to working beyond the walls of our schools to achieve that goal through our professional development workshops, books, and district partnerships. 

About the Role

We are looking for a dynamic people leader to serve as our Chief Talent Officer (CTO) and lead the strategic vision to build an outstanding talent function to support Uncommon’s mission! As a change management leader, adept at building upon foundational human capital systems, the CTO will play a pivotal role in the next era of Uncommon’s growth by setting the vision and direction to nurture a strong, inclusive, and people-focused culture. This position represents an outstanding opportunity to impact the way the organization develops people and subsequently impacts the experience of every Uncommon employee. The CTO is directly responsible for the strategic and tactical oversight of all aspects of talent work and will lead a five-person leadership team:

• Senior Director, Recruitment
• Senior Director, HR Operations
• Director, Talent Development
• Director, Employee/Employer Relations and HR Counsel
• Senior Project Manager, Talent Teams

Duties and responsibilities

1.  Sets a strategic vision for and leads all talent work within Uncommon:

• Strengthens and aligns Uncommon’s talent teams, including recruitment, HR operations and talent development.
• Drives the development and management against, a 5-year strategic plan that will ensure Uncommon:
• Attracts, develops, and retains diverse school, regional, and Home Office talent necessary to run excellent schools
• Continues to develop best in class people development systems for Uncommon staff
• Develops, implements and continuously evaluates the efficiency of its talent management systems, and acts on the results
• Develops and leads a high-performing team of leaders to continuously innovate and improve talent systems

2. Provides organization-wide leadership:

• Develop and implement a cohesive strategy to build a strong organizational culture and employee engagement
• Collaborates at the executive level to lead the execution of Uncommon’s strategic priorities and plan
• Works closely with the executive team to figure out appropriate role for Uncommon’s talent management teams to play in service of Uncommon’s schools and regions

3. Provide technical subject-matter expertise:

• Provide talent and human resources expertise to ensure that Uncommon has outstanding systems to hire, onboard, evaluate, nurture, train, and reward staff.
• Lead the implementation of initiatives to improve human resource management functions and build and support internal systems crafted to support equity and minimize risk.

• Dedication to the mission of Uncommon Schools
• Experience managing multiple high-performing individuals or teams
• A minimum of 7 years of experience working in talent management in the education sector or leading multiple high-performing schools and 15 years of general work experience
• Outstanding strategic, analytical and critical thinking skills
• A track record of leading for equity and social justice
• Excellent communication, able to influence and facilitate decision-making among multiple, diverse parties
• Ability to present effectively and persuasively to diverse audiences
• Demonstrated ability to be proactive and take initiative
• Ability to learn quickly and to be effective in a fast-paced, complex, entrepreneurial environment
• Demonstrated results building organizational culture

Uncommon Schools offers salaries commensurate with experience and a very generous benefits and vacation package. All staff members receive extensive professional development, and are equipped with a laptop computer and all necessary supplies.

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. At the same time, we work to ensure an inclusive community through creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students.  As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.