Uncommon Schools  is a nonprofit network of high-performing, public charter schools providing an outstanding K-12 education in historically under-resourced communities. We have proudly built schools that reflect our student population, with more than 60% of our teachers and staff across our network identifying as a person of color. Uncommon currently manages 53 schools serving more than 20,000 students in five cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark and Rochester. We are proud that Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at five times the rate of their peers nationally. We achieve this by offering strong academic, co-curricular, and social-emotional learning that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

As the Director you will own and drive all strategic plan aspects related to Internships and Summer Programs in line with our organizational priority.  This role will conduct outreach, pave partnerships and build programming with organizations and businesses to develop strong student programming within internships, summer programs and workforce exposure experiences.  You will own the creation of student and family-facing resources to broadcast opportunities through school-based staff.  You will be responsible for managing school staff to participation goals and benchmarks, including weekly data progress monitoring and interventions and supports to ensure success. 

As the Director, you will own all aspects of engagement with partner organizations, as well as data, reporting, and quality of experiences data both internally and for external grant reporting.  

 Vision and Strategy:

• Influence key collaborators (Executive Team, external partners, regional and school leaders) to engage in internships, workforce exposure programs and summer programs work as a core tenant of growing our students’ experiential learning and improving their college options upon high school graduation

Partnerships:

• Development of a replicable programmatic model and collaboration with host organizations to implement a viable internship program for each school
• This model should be based on a goal of annual experiences for a sizable group of students (15+) to have a comprehensive, professional internship experience across departments within the company
• Identify, approach and solidify new partners, prioritizing regions that don't have stable and consistent partnerships
• Visit employers to promote Uncommon Students and our mission
• Tour current and potential internship sites to assess relevancy and student experience
• Maintain a partnership database to supervise engagement and outreach and pitch strong partners to the Senior Director and Executive Team
• Collaborate with current partnerships to ensure their on-going engagement and support in future programming; monitor these internship partnerships for quality of student experience, engagement and learning

Enhance and expand current summer program:

• Develop vision and systems for documenting and enhancing current summer programs and expanding substantial summer offerings for all Uncommon students across fields and experiences
• Conduct site visits to evaluate the quality and experience of summer programming for students
• Collect data to progress monitor enrollment and student engagement in summer programs through school-based Program Managers, with interventions and supports as needed to address data gaps

Amplify high school students’ talent and voice:

• Explore and use all avenues of communication and promotion of our students’ talent and voice as developed through internship and summer experiences, including development with Media, Development and External Affairs teams
• Influence school-based staff and leaders to market the opportunities, experiences and program offerings to our students and families through the development of promotional materials for summer programs and internships

Management & Enrollment:

• Manage 9 Program Managers to target enrollment benchmarks for internship and summer program opportunities

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Masters preferred

Experience Requirements:

• 5+ years of professional experience
• 5-6 of directly related experience
• 3+ years managing partnerships or strategic initiatives

Travel Requirements:

• 3 days in person work at Uncommon Home Office (NYC) or school campus
• Visits to partner organizations and internship sites as necessary
• Travel to Uncommon’s schools across all regions (NJ, NY, MA)

Physical Requirements:

• This role will require both periods of desk work, and significant walking during school and site visits.

Our people are what make us uncommon. It’s important to us that our compensation practices align with our values and enhance our ability to attract and retain talent.  Our compensation philosophy is focused on equity and fairness, retaining our talented staff and valuing their expertise, and transparency and clarity.

Compensation for this position: Candidates who meet all job description requirements will likely receive an offer of $117,000.  The starting compensation for this role is between $104,000 to $130,000.  The starting pay will depend on various factors including but not limited to relevant professional experience, education, certifications, and tenure with Uncommon Schools.   To receive an offer at the top of the range, candidates will need significant experience beyond the job description  requirements.  Because we value staff tenure in a role, we do not currently cap salary ranges for current staff members. 

Other Benefits:

• 19 days of paid time off in addition to three weeks of paid winter and summer org-wide holidays
• Extensive, best-in-class training and development  
• Choice of 3 comprehensive health insurance plans
• Pre-tax flexible spending and health saving accounts
• Financial planning & wellness
  • 403(b) retirement savings program + employer match
  • 529 college savings program
  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness application assistance
  • Financial  planning tools and assistance
• Dependent Care FSA, back up childcare and daycare discounts, pet care insurance
• Paid leave of absence 
  • Fully paid parental leave
  • Fully paid medical leave
  • Additional paid Short Term and Long Term Disability insurance 
• Mental health and counseling support + wellness benefits

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 an exceptional team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. We also strive to ensure an inclusive community by creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students. As an equal opportunity employer, Uncommon provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. We also ensure that individuals with disabilities receive all privileges and benefits associated with employment and are provided reasonable accommodations for the interview process and to perform core job functions. If you would like to request an accommodation, please email [email protected].