Vice President of Program & Innovation

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

Black Teacher Collaborative (BTC) invests in Black teachers who believe in the genius, power, and beauty of Black children. As a social entrepreneurial venture, BTC provides professional development, products, and services for Black educators working with Black students. BTC’s work centers around our Black Liberatory Pedagogical Framework that seeks to represent the ideological and instructional manifestations of education as a vehicle for liberation for Black people as represented across the Black teaching tradition translated into a 21st-century context. 

BTC’s work and pedagogical framework are grounded in the socio-political theory of Black Self-Identity and Self-Determination. We marry our pedagogical framework with a critical interrogation of mainstream best practices and emerging innovations in teaching and learning, Black child development, and the spectrum of disciplines that intersect with Black children and Black educators' educational experiences. BTC aspires to be the leading expert and service provider for supporting the success of Black K-12 public schools while expanding our impact across the American South and to urban centers serving high concentrations of Black students.  

THE ROLE

The Vice President of Program & Innovation (VP of P&I) will provide vision, leadership, strategic direction, and enabling conditions to accelerate BTC’s innovation, design, and implementation work with an eye toward impact, efficiency, and broad expansion in the future. The VP of P&I will create strategic alignment between the organization’s mission, vision, strategic plan, existing work, and innovations to define a path forward to drive continuous improvements and expand BTC’s impact and footprint by serving more teachers, working in more regions, and offering an increasing variety of meaningful tools and resources.   

The VP of P&I will lead the translation of our pedagogical framework into content-specific offerings, targeted interventions, and 21st-century solutions that are responsive to the unique needs and opportunities that present themselves when you have Black teachers serving Black students. They will also be responsible for staying abreast of happenings in the broader public education ecosystem and current professional development, educational innovation, and curriculum to ensure that BTC’s work is both relevant and rigorous. Ultimately the VP of P&I is charged with building great Black educators for Black students. Success will come from leveraging a combination of systems thinking, research, innovation, design, fundraising, product and business development, and strategic partnerships to deliver on our promise to Black teachers and students. 

Reporting to the Founder & CEO, the VP of P&I will lead a team that includes the Senior Director of Innovation, Senior Managing/Director of Implementation, and a team of designers, support staff, and consultants across multiple work streams and locations. The VP of P&I will foster an empowering environment of curiosity, creativity, bold ideation, collaboration, and high performance while innovating across an expanded and diverse portfolio of programs, products, and service offerings. 

THE CANDIDATE

We are looking for a strong systems-level strategist with senior-level nonprofit experience inspired by the opportunity to dream big, lead, define, and manage work to strengthen the number of great Black teachers teaching Black students. The ideal candidate is excited by an opportunity to challenge the status quo and think expansively about liberatory solutions for Black students, Black teachers, Black classrooms, and the Black community.  

BTC staff is concentrated in the American South. We have a hiring preference for candidates in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, where our programmatic work is focused over the next two years.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES 

Vision & Systems-Level Strategy (50%)
Program Innovation & Implementation 

• Refine the P&I theory of action and lead strategic planning and execution with an eye towards impact, efficiency, innovation, continuous improvement, and scale into the future
• Lead the production and delivery of programmatic products and service offerings 
• Establish and drive the strategic vision and direction for BTC’s P&I team and work in alignment with and to advance the broader organizational vision, mission, strategic plan, and goals through strategic coherence, clarity, and celerity  
• Set the direction for and guide the ideation, creation, testing, and piloting of a set of tools, strategies, programs, and training engagements informed by the theoretical and practical approaches to effectively building Black teachers’ skills, mindsets, and knowledge in service to Black children
• Guide the development of a uniquely BTC approach to key workstreams, processes, and functions of P&I, including product and program design and innovation, implementation, coaching, and scaling grounded in the principles of Black Liberation and BTC’s values and pedagogical framework   
• Seek, listen to, and discern diverse perspectives internally and from across the spectrum of educational thought to formulate informed opinions and strategic opportunities and approach 

Program Portfolio Management, Development, & Scale

• Build and scale a diverse portfolio of programmatic, product, and services offerings to advance BTC’s mission across differentiated geographical regions and context
• Guide the development of a uniquely BTC approach to product development and key product components 
• Work with the CEO to cultivate a diverse community of Black education practitioners and theorists across the Black identity spectrum to help inform and support BTC’s P&I work
• Manage system-based partnerships in support of the expansion and proliferation of BTC’s programmatic work emphasizing the American South  
• Manage relationships and secure partnerships with peer organizations and nonprofit and for-profit service providers working in the areas of education, teacher development, professionalism, diversity, and Black child development 

Fundraising & Funder Management (30%)

• In partnership with the Founder & CEO and the Fund Development Partner, support and lead fundraising and funder engagement strategies 
• Actively participate in building and maintaining funder relationships by attending funder meetings and events (up to 60% during busy fundraising season)
• Articulate BTC’s mission and work to funders and other key stakeholders in a way that is compelling and exciting and inspires sustainable and long-term investment, partnerships, and collaboration
• Think expansively about highly differentiated business development and growth solutions and opportunities to scale and sustain BTC’s impact over time  

Team Leadership & Development and Empowering Culture (20%)

• Hire, manage, lead, retain, and empower a diverse and high-performing team enabled by a culture rooted in BTC’s Values, Vision, Philosophy, & Mission, and Pedagogical Framework and ideologies of Black Liberation 
• Lead collaboratively and cooperatively as a partner; make strategic and sound decisions;  identify and remove barriers, align resources, and lead at all levels to advance BTC’s mission and work and ensure success and impact 
• Can operate as a senior leader, peer, support, and/or guide high-performing internal and/or external leaders and teams, as needed

Senior & Collaborative Leader & Thought Partner to Founder & CEO (Always)

• Senior-level experience, confidence, and passion for Black Liberatory Pedagogy with an ability to inspire and collaborate with a diverse group of internal and external audiences/stakeholders (e.g., senior leaders, funders, peers,  teachers, leaders, vendors/contractors, academicians, political, opinion leaders, advocates, skeptics, etc.)
• Deeply collaborative and experimental in leadership and management as evidenced by a desire to bring a variety of voices and perspectives along the journey of P&I’s work
• As thought partner to the Founder & CEO, translate and craft the strategic vision for the long-term P&I scope of work, goals, expansion, and impact of the organization 
• Identify, secure, and manage the necessary supports, partnerships, knowledge, resources, and other enabling conditions to help build and sustain the P&I vision
• As a member of the leadership team, build and actively contribute to a thriving organizational culture and contribute to key decisions 

EXPERIENCE, SKILLS, & QUALIFICATIONS

Experience

• 10+ years with increasing responsibility within the nonprofit sector, including 5+ years at the senior leadership level 
• Experience leading, developing, and empowering high-performing teams of at least 5 people 
• At least 3 years of experience designing and executing the strategic direction at the organizational level 
• Experience building, leading, and scaling programs, products, and services across multiple sites, regions, and/or states 
• Experience engaging funders and leading fundraising efforts to scale and advance the organizational mission 
• Lived and/or professional experience in K-12 education (e.g., school/district, policy, philanthropy, etc.) in the South/Southeast region of the U.S.
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred

Skills

• Strategy & Systems-Level Thinking 
• Fundraising & Funder Management
• Strategic Business Development
• Project & Program Management 
• Team Leadership & Talent Development
• Internal & External Stakeholder Engagement 

Mindsets & Characteristics

• Strong alignment, personal, and professional commitment with BTC’s Values, Vision,  Philosophy, & Mission, and Pedagogical Framework
• Revolutionary Change Agent with Social Entrepreneurial Spirit
• Deep and unwavering belief and commitment to Black ideology of Self-Identity and Self-Determination and Black children
• High Level of Intellectual Curiosity
• Courageous, Agile,  & Adaptive 
• Brings strong ideas and beliefs about the challenge we are facing but recognizes the limits of their view; welcomes, deeply values, and skilled at integrating other thoughts and ideas
• Excited about and highly motivated by the opportunity to a build Black institution grounded in Black liberatory principles 

Thrives In/Under

• Exploring solutions to complex challenges with limited context where you must quickly assess, analyze and develop possible solutions from which to move work forward   
• Creating and leading toward results in a creative environment where bold, visionary, and innovative thinking is necessary, encouraged, and valued 
• Collaborative environments where the best solutions require input from various perspectives can result in unstructured ideation where you guide towards strategic workable solutions and innovations
• Re-envisioning work for themselves and their team and sound decision-making in times of ambiguity 

LOCATION, SALARY, & BENEFITS

Location: This is a remote position. (BTC staff is concentrated in the American South. We have a hiring preference for candidates in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, where our programmatic work is focused over the next two years.)

Travel: Up to 35% during normal periods and up to 60% during busy program implementation and fundraising periods.

Start Date: This role is available for immediate start. 

Salary: The salary range for this role is $130,000 to $180,000. We take internal and external equity seriously and believe in compensating team members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their organizational impact. Given our commitment to equity, Black Teacher Collaborative does not negotiate salary offers but carefully determines each salary offer using internal and external benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail in the hiring process.

Benefits: The Black Teacher Collaborative offers a benefits package that includes medical,
dental, vision, holidays, paid time off, and retirement.

Equal Opportunity Employer
The Black Teacher Collaborative is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information, or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Interested applicants may submit their application here: bit.ly/BTC-VPofPI-2023. In place of a cover letter, applicants will complete a few short (150 words or less) application questions. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.