The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) works to give every child in America’s fifth largest city the opportunity to attend a great school. We invest philanthropic funds and support in high-impact schools so they can serve more low-income students—whether they be in the traditional public, public charter or private sectors. Our aim is to catalyze the creation or transformation of enough schools to ensure better options for 50,000 students, or nearly one in four of all Philadelphia schoolchildren. Since 2011 PSP has invested in more than 60 schools, creating new educational opportunity for more than 30,000 students. PSP also works to create the conditions that enable great schools to grow and thrive, including a strong pipeline of qualified teachers and principals, resources and initiatives to empower parents and families, and policies that enable entrepreneurial school leadership. Nonpartisan and data-driven, we work with government officials, business leaders, education leaders and practitioners, and community groups to pursue the promise of a great school for every child.
PSP believes that in a city as large as Philadelphia, there is not one best or right kind of school. Two hundred forty thousand children need a wide variety of schools from which to choose. The city has numerous examples of high-performing schools, and they span all three primary sectors: charter schools, district schools and private/Catholic schools. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of quality options in all three sectors. More than 35,000 students sit on waiting lists for the city’s best schools—which include private, charter, district magnet, and district neighborhood schools. Our work centers on leveraging philanthropic capital to attract entrepreneurial leadership and overcome inertia and financial and political barriers so that Philadelphia can have more great schools
Position Summary
Join a mission-driven education nonprofit—a growth fund for great schools—as a member of the Investment Team (Schools and Talent). The Investment Team solicits and reviews applications from schools, school leaders, and school networks (as well as encourages potential schools, networks, and leaders to apply for funding), determines and structures investments, manages relationships with investees, and closely monitors academic and other outcomes. When results lag at a portfolio school or network, the Investment Team works closely with the school or network to provide direct service support, guidance, and accountability. This support comes in many forms either directly from the Investment Team and or through partnerships/vendors. Ultimately, our goals are aligned with the schools and networks goals – for the students to achieve at extraordinarily high levels.
The Investment Team also invests in talent opportunities that support the schools we have invested in (Portfolio Schools). Those investments include Teach for America, Relay NPAF, as well as various leadership opportunities for leaders of Portfolio Schools. The Investment Team determines and structures talent investments, manages relationships with investees, and closely monitors outcomes.
The Manager will work closely with school teams and talent organizations as they strive to deliver high quality academic programs through direct service and other methods.
The Manager will report to the Managing Director of School Investments and will work very closely with the Investment Team, and the entire PSP team.
PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with good benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.
Duties and Responsibilities
· Manage relationships with schools in the portfolio including managing the grants, vendors, politics, and assisting in improving outcomes for students in the school, including diagnosing the strengths and areas of growth for school leaders and connecting resources for improvement.
· Manage relationships with talent organizations, tracking outcomes, and providing support.
· Lead thorough due diligence processes that include gathering and analyzing data, interviewing staff, assessing financial soundness, and identifying risks.
· Work closely with other team members to identify risks and to ultimately make investment decisions.
· Create and present memorandums for board review and approval or denial.
· Conduct school reviews with portfolio schools to identify potential opportunities for growth and meet regularly with school leaders to review action plans towards the school’s grant benchmarks.
· Use professional networks to cultivate potential investment opportunities aligned to the organization’s mission.
· Work closely with schools and the investment team to identify gaps in programming and provide guidance and resources to increase success rates for students.
· Keep abreast of emerging education issues in Philadelphia and nationally.
· Identify, create, and maintain relationships with partner organizations and resources that could be useful to portfolio schools.
· Work with the Philadelphia School Partnership team on research and strategic projects.
· Actively engage in the strategic planning and thinking of the team and organization, including creating targeted action plans for city-wide and portfolio impact.
· Write and present various reports including annual plans, school reports, board memorandums, etc.
· Continuously assess current organizational practices on the investment team and improve services.
· Lead Communities of Practice and other initiatives to provide opportunities for our schools to collaborate and grow.
· Manage the development and execution of citywide convenings and conferences alongside the Investment Team.
· Clerical work including inputting grants, tracking data, managing grant tracking system.
· Additional duties as assigned.
Qualifications
· Knowledge of and commitment to K-12 education reform, including a willingness to work on behalf of schools of all types – including District, charter, and private – in the face of organized resistance to reform
· Ability to assess a school’s and talent programs areas of strength and weakness
· Strong interpersonal and communication skills and ability to lead and motivate others
· A self-motivated and entrepreneurial approach; confidence in high-pressure tight deadline situations and willingness to work as part of a team
· Experience leading and executing projects
· Strong communication skills – comfortable representing the organization in board meetings, other meetings, and larger venues
· Flexible attitude, ability to work independently and with urgency
· Strong problem solving and strategic thinking skills
· Willingness and desire to participate in unexpected projects
· Demonstrates proficiency in excel, data analysis, and is adept at learning and using data systems, such as Salesforce
Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required, graduate degree preferred
- Minimum of three years’ relevant work experience in a relevant role
- Experience teaching and leading in a school
- Experience with analyzing data, and nimbly using data to determine trends
- Experience working in education reform preferred, but not required
- Experience as a school leader (Dean, Assistant Principal, Grade Level Chair, etc) in some capacity a plus
- Experience teaching and leading in high school a plus
Physical Requirements
Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:
· Traveling to schools – valid driver’s license and/or access to transportation when necessary
· Functioning in office space – reaching file cabinets, filing, faxing, scanning, coping, typing, mailing, making phone calls
· Must be able to sit for up to two hours looking at a computer monitor, using a keyboard/mouse and typing
· Must be able to lift up to 25lbs on a frequent basis
Application Instructions
Email cover letter and resume to Molly Farley, Human Resources Consultant, at Molly@mfconsultantsllc.com.