Project Manager

PROJECT MANAGER
Overview & Position Description

Background
For the past 8 years, The Center for Research on Equity and Innovation (CREI) at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education has brought together practitioners, researchers and youth to create more equitable, engaging learning environments for all students. Specifically, we lead improvement networks and support districts, schools and organizations to disrupt predictable patterns of success and failure by embracing an equity-focused, user-centered approach to continuous improvement.

In Fall 2024, in collaboration with our partners at Improvement Collective, CREI will transition to become a national center for the advancement of improvement for equity (formal name TBD). The hub’s aim is to nurture an enduring and coherent ecosystem of organizations supporting the use of improvement methods in schools and school systems to address persistent problems of practice and achieve more equitable outcomes for students who are Black, Latinx, Indigenous or experiencing poverty. In service of advancing the field of improvement in education, the center will collaborate with partners across the state and the nation to:

accelerate results on important and pressing problems in education, such as reducing chronic absenteeism, ensuring equitable access to college, and improving math teaching and learning.

• support and cultivate the growing community of educational improvers through cross-sector convenings, capacity building, and communications that link people to the resources and opportunities they need to grow as improvers and change agents.
• reduce fragmentation and coordinate an aligned strategy to expand and sustain the field of improvement in education across a diverse set of actors.

Mission & Values
Our mission is to create more equitable systems where young people and adults thrive. We do this by embracing the below core values and supporting educators to embrace them as well:

• Do the self work needed to liberate ourselves, those we serve, and the systems in which we live and work
• Build authentic relationships that nurture belonging, encourage risk-taking and accelerate learning
• Use data for equity to understand what works for whom under what conditions
• See our systems as they are and how they could be, building a clear bridge between our reality and our aspirations
• Expand our collective agency to take radical ownership, involve those closest to the problem, and make change that lasts

We are seeking colleagues who share these values, and who challenge us to continually improve our approaches and effectiveness.

Project Manager Role

We are currently seeking two (2) full-time project manager roles. Each will support 2-3 strands of work, which may include: launching a California learning network to reduce chronic absenteeism statewide; launching a national meta network to connect organizations working to reduce chronic absenteeism across the country; supporting our existing CARPE college access network and CARE 8th grade on-track network; hosting field-building events and communications; developing and implementing a marcomms strategy; bringing field leaders together to align strategy. Desired candidates will work closely with project leads and teams, co-design and implement structures to facilitate communication and workflow, and lead process improvement efforts to help us improve.

Responsibilities

• Project Management & Process Improvement:
  • Co-develop initial project timelines, plans and resources needed (such as information, expertise, personnel, materials, etc.) with project leads and teams
  • Manage project teams towards deadlines and deliverables, with a solid understanding of the tasks, key milestones, and workflow needed to execute well; monitor and document information and next steps
  • Identify, develop, and implement systems to support key processes to improve our work, refining them over time to streamline and improve effectiveness
  • Assist with developing key deliverables for projects (e.g., measures, theories of change, consolidation of learning, change packages, agendas, etc.)
  • Prepare agendas and materials for team meetings/routines and facilitate meetings/routines (internal and external) in collaboration with project leads
  • Determine and effectively delegate logistical tasks related to meetings, events, processes, etc.
• Communications & Relationship Management:
  • Manage, maintain, and initiate effective communications and routines within teams, across teams, and with external stakeholders; problem-solve to improve communication flow
  • Compose, edit and deliver clear and concise written and verbal communications with key stakeholders
• Data Analysis/Reporting:
  • Conduct and/or support analysis of project and process data, summarize findings, draw appropriate conclusions and communicate results to team and stakeholders
  • Manage and direct reporting activities related to projects (i.e. updates/reports to funders, data-sharing agreements, invoicing, etc.)
  • Work with the center director or project lead on grant reporting management; coordinate and manage grant reporting efforts and deliverables
• Strategic Planning:
  • Strategize with center/project leaders to develop plans and advance objectives
  • Foster critical thinking about top priorities, anticipate potential obstacles, and recommend possible solutions, infrastructure or resources to execute well

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Significant project management experience with complex projects involving multiple internal and external partners and dynamic environments; project management experience in the area of education is a plus, but not required.
• Strong collaborative, team player who is self-reflective and treats challenging or uncertain situations as opportunities to learn and grow. Able to juggle competing demands and prioritize without sacrificing quality.
• Excellent at organizing, attending to detail, meeting deadlines, and taking a task or project from concept to completion, while also being flexible and adaptable. Consults with others frequently, but also proposes creative solutions to problems and gets things rolling without much guidance.
• Excellent relationship management and communication skills (written and verbal) across lines of difference, such as race or other identities. Truly welcomes viewpoints that differ from their own, and is able to “sit with” discomfort when people express themselves in ways that aren’t familiar to them.
• Familiarity with systems thinking and quality improvement approaches, including the use of data for improvement, is desired.
• PMP certification is preferred.

Logistics

This is a full time position with competitive salary and benefits (medical, dental, retirement). Salary range $85,000-$95,000.

Start date: August 1, 2024

Location: San Diego, though remote may be considered for one of the project manager roles.
Reporting Structure: Each project manager will report directly to the project leads for their assigned strands of work, and be supported by our Lead Project Manager, Betty Hua.

Hiring Process

Phase 1: Submission - To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to Caroline Koontz at ckoontz@hthgse.edu by May 5th. We are hiring for multiple positions right now, so please specify the role you are applying for.

Phase 2: Initial Round of Interviews (May 15-31) - Potential candidates will be invited for an interview with faculty. If you are selected for an interview, we will reach out in the first two weeks of May to schedule.

Phase 3: Case Studies & Final Round of Interviews (June 6-20) - Final candidates will be invited to respond to several case studies and submit their responses prior to a second interview with institutional leadership and stakeholders. If you are selected for this final round interview, we will reach out during the first week of June to schedule.