Description
National Director of Leader Development
Mission:
At IDEA, we believe excellent school leaders are the key to ensuring scholars receive a world-class education. Driven by this belief, in this role, you will partner with regional and national teams to develop launching school leaders so that every new IDEA school has a successful launch and achieves strong outcomes for students in their first year. In addition, you will provide leadership coaching for new and aspiring principals in high-need regions and regions without their own leadership coach to ensure that school leaders in all IDEA regions have access to the coaching they need to be successful in their roles.
Supervisory Responsibilities:
This role does not directly manage school leaders or any other staff.
Location:
National role: This is a full-time hybrid (remote/on-site) position based in Texas, with preference given to candidates who live in Austin, El Paso, Houston, Permian Basin (Midland/Odessa), Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), or who are willing to relocate.
Travel Expectations: Travel to campuses and across regions is required; candidates must be willing and able to travel across regions at least twice a month.
What You’ll Do – Accountabilities
Essential Duties:
- Lead the Rhodes Fellowship Program to provide high-quality training, coaching and resources for new launching principals and launching Assistant Principals of Operations (APOs).
- Design Rhodes training content in partnership with subject matter experts, especially those on the Operations team and facilitate virtual trainings for launching principals and APOs. Partner with regional leaders to provide follow up coaching and feedback for Rhodes participants to ensure they successfully apply training content and are on track for a successful school launch.
- Partner with regional leaders to provide coaching and support as needed for launching principals in their first year.
- Partner with the VP of Schools to provide high-quality leader coaching for new and/or high-priority principals in portfolio regions; portfolio regions will be decided in partnership with national Schools Team leaders, and priority will be given to high-need regions and regions without a regional Director of Leader Development.
- Coach a portfolio of aspiring principals enrolled in Cadre of Aspiring Principals (CAP) and/or Successor Principal Academy (SPA) to ensure regions without a regional DLD have a consistent pipeline of internal leaders ready to fill principal vacancies.
- Hold regular partnership meetings and maintain ongoing communication with regional leaders in portfolio regions to ensure alignment on coaching priorities for portfolio leaders.
Additional Duties and Responsibilities:
- Support or lead the design and facilitation of professional development for portfolio leaders.
- Support regional leaders to develop coaching plans for school leaders.
- Track and respond to data to improve outcomes for portfolio leaders and their schools.
- Build strong relationships with regional leaders and school leaders in portfolio.
- Collaborate and share resources with other regional and national team members.
- Facilitate other nationally designed trainings if requested, such as Org Priority trainings, Staff Experience sessions, and trainings for regional coaches.
Knowledge and Skills - Competencies
- Build a Culture of Trust: This team member fosters a team culture where individuals genuinely care for one another both personally and professionally. They lead with transparency, encourage open communication, including healthy conflict—and promote reliability and consistency, while regularly seeking and responding to team feedback to enhance the collective experience.
- Communicate Deliberately: This team member communicates a clear and compelling vision that aligns team efforts with organizational goals. They proactively identify and address communication gaps across workstreams, implementing solutions to enhance coordination, while anticipating and resolving stakeholder concerns before they surface.
- Grow Self and Others: This team member identifies development needs across multiple groups and integrates them into broader strategic plans. They create structures that support ongoing growth, engage in succession planning, and continuously refine development strategies based on outcomes and data. Through this work, they foster a culture where continuous learning is a core part of daily work and leadership.
- Make Strategic Decisions: This team member fosters an inclusive decision-making environment by encouraging diverse perspectives, managing disagreements constructively, and creating space for all voices to be heard. They clearly communicate final decisions, providing context and anticipated impact—even when choices are difficult or unpopular.
- Manage Work and Teams: This team member leads cross-functional coordination to align efforts with strategic goals, optimizing resource use and minimizing silos. They build accountability frameworks, monitor key performance indicators to guide adjustments, and mentor emerging leaders, while implementing scalable systems that enhance efficiency and team effectiveness.
Additional Skills: n/a
Required experience:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree is required. Master’s degree is preferred.
- Certifications: None are required. Principal certificate is preferred.
- Experience: Minimum of 5 years of experience in education, including 2 years as a school leader or regional leader, is required. Experience coaching school leaders is preferred.
Preferred experience:
- Education: Bachelor’s degree is required. Master’s degree is preferred.
- Certifications: None are required. Principal certificate is preferred.
- Experience: Minimum of 5 years of experience in education, including 2 years as a school leader or regional leader, is required. Experience coaching school leaders is preferred.
Physical Requirements:
- The ability to travel between campuses and regions
- The ability to move throughout a school building, including outdoor spaces, shared indoor spaces, and classrooms
- The ability to engage in virtual meetings and work remotely
What We Offer:
Compensation & Benefits:
Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $98,200 and $115,900, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for performance pay based on organizational performance and goal attainment.
Additionally, we offer medical, dental, and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, flexible spending account options, generous vacation time, referral bonuses, professional development, and a 403(b) plan. You can find more information about our benefits at https://ideapublicschools.org/careers/benefits/.
IDEA may offer a relocation stipend to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.
Application process:
Submit your application online through Jobvite. Please note that applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until the position is filled. Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
Learn more about IDEA
At IDEA the Staff Experience Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values
