Director at Watershed Advisors – New Orleans, Louisiana

Watershed Advisors is looking for a Director specializing in Strategic Finance to join our team supporting a portfolio of work with state education agencies, school districts, and other partners to design and implement coherent education finance systems at scale. This includes supporting states in executing ambitious strategies to align funding priorities, streamline planning processes, maximize resource allocation, and build data-driven improvement cycles — with a focus on implementation and impact.

About Watershed Advisors

Watershed Advisors is an education consulting firm that powers leaders with the vision, talent, and insight to conceive of high-value education and workforce ideas, and then to make those visions an enduring reality for children, families, and workers across entire geographies. Learn more about the Watershed Way at watershed-advisors.com.

The Opportunity

At Watershed, Directors are core members of the team, who lead projects, manage analysts, and engage with clients on solutions that matter for students. Directors’ day-to-day work varies by project, but responsibilities include:

• Contribute original thinking to build, shape, and evolve strategy and goals for Watershed projects
• Partner with senior leaders to define project goals
• Lead project teams to build workplans and manage the day-to-day workflow of projects ensuring that goals are met
• Work collaboratively with analysts and senior leaders to draft deliverables (reports, presentations, briefing material, and other written communications) that communicate clear recommendations for clients
• Facilitate internal team and client meetings that have clear objectives, value the insights of all participants, and lead to actionable steps that support the project goals
• Build relationships and collaborate with clients, subcontractors, and other external stakeholders
• Work closely with other members of the Watershed team to review work, provide feedback, and exchange ideas
• Actively shape and support the growth of a newly established organization

Skills and Characteristics

We are looking for people who care deeply about education and its role in society, and who are eager to learn about approaches to improving the United States’ system of public education, from birth to postsecondary to the workforce. At Watershed, we work with a wide variety of clients and are seeking team members with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We encourage people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, and others with diverse experiences to apply for this role.

Directors must have:

• Strong people and project management skills. Directors are able to manage internal and client facing teams to ensure that all the goals of multi-faceted projects are achieved.
• Facilitation acumen. Directors must be able to facilitate diverse groups, both internal and client facing, to solve complicated problems.

• Relationship building. Directors are the day-to-day contact for clients and are in regular communication with all levels of the Watershed organization. Their ability to build meaningful relationships with all individuals is critical to their success.
• A growth orientation, including curiosity about new ideas and approaches to work, and openness to feedback and to learning new skills.

• An entrepreneurial mindset that leads to flexibility and creativity in pursuit of goals and resilience in the face of setbacks.
• A focus on outcomes, with a history of achieving goals despite challenges.
• Strong organizational skills, including time-management systems and the ability to manage multiple projects and priorities.
• Collegiality. At Watershed, we work collaboratively, engaging others in decisions, exchanging and challenging one another’s ideas and assumptions, and providing deep feedback on all written material. We expect every member of the team to embrace this approach, and to operate with transparency, integrity, and a sense of humor.
• A personal commitment to social justice. At Watershed, we believe that systemic, longstanding bias within our nation’s institutions has too often harmed Black and brown Americans, low-income individuals and families, people with disabilities, and immigrants. Our work aims to build systems that serve all people and that bolster the prosperity and rights of those who have been excluded from educational and economic opportunities.

The ideal candidate will have deep, demonstrated expertise in education finance, public policy, or a related field, and will have laterally and/or vertically managed a group to achieve significant results. Candidates should also have at least four years of experience in a finance, policy, or operational leadership role at the district, state, or federal level — or equivalent experience leading resource alignment or planning reform efforts in education systems. In-depth knowledge of federal education funding requirements, state budget processes, and/or unified planning systems is strongly preferred.

Compensation

The $120,000 salary for this position includes a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, short-term disability, life and AD&D insurance, paid sick and personal leave, and stipends for work-from-home expenses and professional development. We also offer a 401(k) plan and match up to 4% of employee contributions. All employees are eligible for end-of-year bonus pay. We utilize a tenure system that allows for equitable, consistent, and predictable salary growth over time, so that you can grow within a role that you love. The final salary within this range will be determined based on experience and qualifications.

Location

This position is fully remote. Travel is required for 3-4 staff events per year, and potentially in-person client meetings and/or conferences.

To Apply

Please submit your application through our careers page linked here. In addition to submitting your information and resume, please submit brief (no more than 1-2 paragraphs for each question) responses to the questions on the application. Your answers will help us to better understand your interests, experiences, and perspectives in addition to our review of your resume.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Watershed is an equal-opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.