Manager of Charter Initiatives - State Collaborative on Reforming Education

OVERVIEW OF THE POSITION
Supporting high-quality public charter schools is an important strategy to accelerate student learning in Tennessee. High-quality charter schools have shown promising growth in student achievement, especially for students from historically underserved student groups, and the state has made significant investments and policy changes to support high-quality models. To ensure that students and families have access to high-quality public-school options, the state, local communities, policymakers, and many other partners must focus support to ensure high-quality charter schools can launch, operate, and thrive. The Manager of Charter Initiatives will support SCORE’s efforts to advance this vision.

The Manager of Charter Initiatives will support the Senior Director of Charter Initiatives in driving SCORE’s strategy to improve the conditions for high-quality public charter schools to launch, operate, and thrive  across Tennessee. This role will involve managing a portfolio of charter-related projects, collaborating with stakeholders  — including school leaders, charter advocacy partners, and SCORE staff — and ensuring the successful implementation of initiatives aimed at enhancing the charter school ecosystem.

ABOUT SCORE
“The progress that our students have made in recent years is inspiring — there is no doubt that they are capable of achieving at high levels and leading Tennessee into a bright future. While education stakeholders are already working together in exciting ways in Tennessee, it is our responsibility to redouble our innovative efforts to ensure that we are supporting our students to truly excel and thrive. The future of our state depends on it.”At the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), our mission is to catalyze transformative change in Tennessee education so that all students can achieve success. SCORE is an independent, nonprofit, and nonpartisan institution founded in 2009 by Sen. Bill Frist, M.D., former U.S. Senate Majority Leader. Striving to be a durable partner and trusted advisor on Tennessee education, SCORE is focused on advancing change for students from kindergarten to career through policy and practice — and taking it to scale.

SCORE has three goals that guide the organization’s work to drive success for all students in Tennessee:

• All students receive an excellent public K-12 education.
• All students earn a credential or postsecondary degree of value that prepares them for a career enabling economic independence.
• Economically disadvantaged students, students of color, and rural students see improved success across all goals relative to their peers.

SCORE is based at 1801 West End Ave. in downtown Nashville. This role is eligible for hybrid work with the expectation of at least 20 hours per week across at least three days in the office and the balance of the time at their choosing unless otherwise notified by their manager. For more information on SCORE, please visit www.tnscore.org.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Support Strategy Implementation: Assist in the design, implementation, and monitoring of SCORE’s strategy to support high-quality charter school growth.
• Project Management: Manage a portfolio of charter-related projects  ensuring timely and successful completion. Charter-related projects will span across advocacy, communications, data and research, strategic practice, and strategic investments.
• Strategic Investments: Provide support in managing SCORE’s charter-related strategic investment portfolio.
• Data Analysis and Research: Support data analysis and research requests from charter sector and individual charter leaders. Update and expand SCORE’s charter-focused public resources with each new release of publicly available data.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: Build and maintain effective relationships with national, state, and local leaders, including school leaders, charter school policy leaders, support organizations, community leaders, philanthropic partners, and advocacy partners.
• Policy and Advocacy Support: Work with the Senior Director of Charter Initiatives and SCORE’s policy team to advance SCORE’s charter school policy agenda and identify new opportunities for policy and practice improvements.
• Communication: Clearly communicate project progress and outcomes to internal team members and external stakeholders.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

• Experience: Three to five years working in or supporting high-quality public charter schools. Tennessee-based charter school experience is preferred.
• Knowledge: Understanding of effective charter school policy and practice, including authorizing, governance, funding, and facilities.
• Collaboration: Demonstrated experience collaborating with key stakeholders, including policymakers, state leaders, charter operators, education leaders, philanthropic partners, and community partners.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strategic thinking, detail oriented, and the ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Competencies: Proactive and flexible, comfortable with ambiguity.
• Passion for SCORE’s mission and deep alignment with SCORE’s core values of student focus, collaboration, optimism, excellence, and innovation.

SCORE focuses on creating a culture of growth through feedback and collaboration as well as various professional development options and support. If your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the noted aspects of an ideal candidate but you are excited about this role, we encourage you to apply. You may be a great candidate for this or other roles on our team.

COMPENSATION
SCORE offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience.

BENEFITS
SCORE deeply values team members and their well-being and is proud to offer a comprehensive benefits plan. All full-time SCORE employees are eligible for benefits, including:

• Medical insurance: including access to a high-quality network with SCORE paying the full medical premiums for employee-only plans and 80% or more of premiums for plans including eligible dependents
• Vision and dental insurance: including access to a high-quality network with SCORE paying 50% of premiums for employee-only plans and plans including eligible dependents
• Employer-paid disability, life insurance, and EAP benefits
• Access to Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA) for medical and child care expenses and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) benefits
• Immediate eligibility for participation in a 401(k) program with employer match
• Paid parental leave time, including paternity, maternity, and adoption leave
• Paid time off:
  • 15 days per year for years one through four, 20 days per year after five years
  • Holiday office closures (15 days total in 2024)
  • Six paid sick days per year
  • Teamwide mental health day office closures (two total in 2024)
  • Paid floating holidays (three per calendar year, prorated for new hires depending on start date)
• Free on-site parking
• Free on-site gym

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
SCORE’s mission is to drive transformative change in education so that all Tennessee students can achieve success in college, career, and life. From its founding in 2009, SCORE has been grounded in the belief that diverse perspectives are required to identify solutions that will best serve Tennessee students, so we seek to bring as many viewpoints as possible into our daily work and live out collaboration as a core value. 

Within our organization, we believe it is important for our team to reflect the rich diversity of Tennesseans and Tennessee students, and we aspire for our team to understand varied viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds. We strive to build an inclusive organization where each team member feels respected and supported, knowing that when team members are empowered to use their individual gifts, we become more effective in advancing our mission. 

SCORE is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.

TO APPLY
Please apply through the application portal. SCORE will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We recommend interested applicants apply as soon as possible.