Regional Superintendent

Job description

Regional Superintendent

About the Organization

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 278 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and 175,000 students and alumni.

Our mission: Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Our vision: Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities.

KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP schools nationwide. The KIPP Foundation trains and develops outstanding educators to lead KIPP public schools, provides tools, resources, and training for excellent teaching and learning, promotes innovation, and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations.

About Our Values:

Excellent Results for Students: We value results over effort and know that our work is not finished until all students thrive. We maintain high expectations for self, team, and students. We drive outcomes by operating with agility, removing barriers, differentiating support, and prioritizing student-centered solutions - especially for those at the margins.

Collective Impact: We are one team. We win together. We embody a one-team mindset by working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, and leveraging the strengths of all teammates. We build trust-based relationships and ensure inclusive decision-making by engaging those closest to the work. We provide clarity through simple, repeatable systems and goals that enable transformational outcomes.

Courageous Action: Our belief in what we can achieve is unwavering, fueling our optimism and commitment to overcome any challenge. We demonstrate an unwavering belief in students’ potential and a commitment to addressing systemic inequities. We approach challenges with resilience, a solutions-focused mindset, and adaptability. We foster a psychologically safe environment centered on trust and accountability where feedback is encouraged. We leverage data to reflect on progress, own setbacks, celebrate successes, and continuously improve to maximize impact.

Position Overview

As a regional superintendent supporting a portfolio of regions, this individual(s) will partner with Executive Directors to run the best school system in the country through support, strategic development, and driving accountability of regions to our outcomes.  In this role, you will oversee the Executive Directors of regions in your portfolio by providing the leadership support, development, and accountability necessary for all our regions to thrive, ensuring year-over-year improvements in anchor metrics. Anchor Metrics are annual targets that represent the quantifiable success of our Network One KIPP strategy. These metrics align to our ultimate goal of supporting all KIPPsters to be on track for positive college and career outcomes.

Working under the direction of the President, the regional superintendent will partner closely with the Chief Schools Officer, other Chiefs, Executive Directors, and regional board chairs to ensure alignment of expectations, implementation of our model with excellence.

Key Responsibilities and Duties:

Vision Setting and Org Stewardship:

• Collaborate with the President, other Regional Superintendents, Executive Directors, and the One KIPP Program team to ensure a clear and aligned vision for academic excellence across all our schools through implementation of our programmatic model with excellence and enthusiasm in service of achieving the highest student outcomes
• Engage in progress monitoring with KIPP Foundation leaders through internal reporting, taking part in anchor metric dashboard meetings, and contributing to annual planning to drive multi-year progress and results.
• Serve as a key member of the Office of the President by providing regular updates to the President, CEO, Chief Schools Officer, and KF Board as needed, offering perspective, making recommendations, and demonstrating the integrity and fiduciary responsibility we expect from all our staff.

Leadership Coaching

• Provide coaching through monthly O3s and on-site visits through observation and feedback, problem-solving, and support.
• Create professional development and design convenings to build a thriving ED community, highlight data-based best practices, and match the needs of the community with relevant supports through in-person and virtual convenings, learning visits, and more.
• Monitor aligned dashboards to identify gaps and deployment of strategies and resources to support EDs in achieving our goals
• Differentiate supports for EDs based on data and regional diagnostic while ensuring all EDs receive support in key areas related to our shared network priorities.

Systems & Design:

• Collaborate with the Schools Team to set the bar, build capacity, and hold regions accountable for areas of instructional focus. This includes engaging in the design process, differentiating for regional needs and scale, and incorporating regional needs and voices into the process.
• Design and build enabling systems to support areas of national focus or priority in relation to the network strategic plan.  Provide clear direction, cohesive support, and effective tools to ensure regions effectively meet goals and benchmarks in areas of focus.

Stakeholder Management:

• Ensure effective communication, information cascading, and coordination across and within regions through regular operating mechanisms and appropriate channels.
• Collaborate with other national teams to ensure all non-academic responsibilities and goals are met, including but not limited to operations, technology, finances, human resources, and advancement.
• Collaborate with regions across the network, identify emerging needs, and, as appropriate, participate in the delivery of potential solutions.
• Facilitate sharing and strong relationship management by connecting regions with one another, the Foundation, and key other resources.

Key Skills & Mindsets

• Mission & Student Focus - Demonstrates passion and commitment to KIPP’s mission and possesses the desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s core values (Focus on Excellent Results, Collective Impact, and Courageous Action)
• Achievement & Outcomes Orientation - Demonstrated record of setting and achieving ambitious goals for their departments in complex or ambiguous environment; uses data, research, and analysis to set a high bar of excellence for goal setting; effectively distributes and redistributes work among direct reports, teammates, and teams to optimizes goal attainments; effectively sets and fosters a culture that enables and celebrates teammates’ achievements and goals attainment.
• Vision Setting and Work Management- Sets a clear vision that ensures the team’s work aligns with organizational goals.  Effectively prioritizes and delivers on work products that ensure the sustainability and scalability of work.  Develops and implements agile project plans that ensure cross-functional collaboration and resource sharing to achieve organizational goals; creates and ensures systems are in place for knowledge management.
• Strategic Decision Making & Problem Solving- Effectively uses data to shape teamwide decisions and the learning agenda or evaluation of a function or significant initiative.  Able to generate, implement, and evaluate solutions with a focus on scalability and sustainability.
• Effective Teaming & Stakeholder Management: Identifies and leverages opportunities with both internal and external stakeholders to increase impact; leads successful collaboration across functions and evolves/adapts plans to get to strong results; has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationships building and communication skills to connect and compel teammates across different functions to collaborate effectively toward shared goals.
• Process Management- Systems level thinker who can build and align goals and plans with organization priorities; Develops and codifies processes that promote coordination, efficiency and efficacy across KF and the Network; Prioritizes processes that ensure sustainability and scalability; ensures team is finding efficiencies through process implementation and improvement, resource sharing, or other methods
• Change Management and Communications- Able to set a compelling organizational directive for change efforts, catalyzing teams to achieve change at scale. Effectively navigates internal and external political dynamics and stakeholders to drive change efforts at the systems level; Champions KF and network-wide change and recruits internal and external sponsors

Experience & Qualifications

• At least 5 years of experience as an Executive Director, CEO, or Superintendent of a school operating organization, school system, charter network, or public school district.
• Proven experience and record of success in interfacing with, managing, and reporting to a Board of Directors
• Change leadership experience, ideally at a systems level experience managing significant change toward successful outcomes (such as, but not limited to, restructuring and strategic pivots) while maintaining a strong focus on team culture.
• Budget management experience overseeing and managing a complex budget that allows teams to achieve both short and long-term success.
• Bachelor’s degree required; an advanced degree (e.g., Education, Business, Policy, Law) is highly preferred.

Work Conditions

• Travel requirements: 30-40%
• This position can be offered as a regular full-time, exempt position or as a regular part-time (50% or more), exempt position.  Employees working at a 50% or more schedule at KIPP Foundation receive benefits.

Location

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office.  This role also offers the option of working from a remote office full-time.  KIPP Foundation offices are in NYC and Chicago.

Compensation and Benefits.

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience.  The salary range for this position is $300,000-$335,000.  In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:

• 25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+).
• 100% paid parental leave
• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans.
• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program
• Finance Security benefits include a 401K retirement plan with a 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts

KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world that around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.