Director of Innovation School in California, Maryland at Rocketship Public Schools

The Director of Innovation School is a founding leader responsible for designing, launching, leading and scaling Rocketship's Innovation School, a first-of-its-kind lab school opening in Fall 2026 within an existing Rocketship campus. The Innovation School serves as a learning laboratory for Rocketship, providing a unique opportunity to design and pilot new instructional models that leverage fresh approaches to optimize instruction, AI-enabled learning, staffing, and school day structure while ensuring a rigorous, joyful, and equitable experience for students. These new models and the lessons learned from this program will drive future system-wide innovation.

This role encompasses two ongoing, interconnected bodies of work: design and planning, focused on translating a bold instructional vision into a coherent, executable school model; and implementation and iteration, leading high-quality execution while stewarding disciplined learning as the school grows. Over time, a third dimension of the work emerges: scaling, translating the lessons and practices developed in the Innovation School into guidance and models that can inform Rocketship's broader network. The Director operates at the intersection of instruction, talent, operations, and technology, partnering closely with cross-functional teams while leading in high ambiguity.

School Model Design and Planning Translate the Innovation School blueprint into a fully executable school model, ready for Day 1.

• Design instructional structures (grade levels, rotations, schedules, learning environments) aligned to Rocketship best practices, with a focus on high-quality implementation across learning spaces

• Draw from a range of instructional innovations including play-based learning, project-based learning, AI-enabled learning and more to drive high quality learning experiences for students

• Define adult roles and responsibilities, including how instructional work is intentionally unbundled across teachers, instructional support staff, and systems

• Identify required systems, tools, and workflows and partner with central teams to prepare them for launch

• Make disciplined design tradeoffs to balance ambition, feasibility, and instructional quality

Talent Strategy and Adult Readiness Build and prepare a high-performing team for the demands of an innovative school model.

• Partner with Talent and Regional teams to define role profiles, hiring criteria, and onboarding plans for Innovation School staff

• Design professional learning experiences that prepare adults for new roles and mindsets, particularly around specialization, student ownership, and AI-supported instruction

• Build adult culture rooted in clarity, trust, and shared ownership

Project Management Serve as the central integrator across teams to ensure full readiness for launch.

• Own the Innovation School launch plan, including milestones, dependencies, risks, and decision points

• Coordinate across Academic Program, Innovation, Technology, Operations, Talent, and Regional teams

• Proactively identify and resolve design and implementation risks prior to Day 1

Program Leadership and Instructional Excellence Lead high-quality implementation in order to ensure a rigorous, joyful student experience.

• Lead implementation of the Innovation School model across classrooms and other learning spaces, ensuring adult roles are enacted as designed

• Monitor student mastery, engagement, executive function development, and overall experience; partner with instructional leaders to identify strengths and gaps

• Coach, supervise, and develop program staffing including the AP of Innovation and instructional staff

• Support staff in navigating new practices, tools, and expectations during early implementation

• Build trusting relationships with students and families, recognizing parents as their child's first teacher and essential partners in student success; create a school community that proactively communicates with families and involves them in student achievement through multiple outlets

Continuous Learning and Improvement Drive disciplined learning and iteration.

• Use student achievement data and a structured learning agenda to identify what is working, what is not, and why; translate findings into targeted adjustments while preserving core design intent

• Analyze qualitative and quantitative data from classroom observation, assessments, and family and staff feedback to prioritize areas for improvement

• Foster an adult learning culture that embraces experimentation, reflection, and improvement; support staff through ambiguity and early challenges with empathy and clarity

• Develop internal leaders who can model and sustain Innovation School practices

Program Growth and Scalability Translate Innovation School learning into insight and guidance for the broader Rocketship network.

• Document insights, lessons learned, and emerging best practices from implementation into a cohesive and detailed playbook

• Partner with central teams to translate learning into artifacts, guidance, and implications for broader Rocketship innovation

• Support site visits and learning sessions that responsibly showcase the Innovation School

Experience

• 7+ years in education, school leadership, or system-level instructional leadership

• Demonstrated success leading complex initiatives in ambiguous, build-from-scratch environments

• Deep understanding of elementary instruction and mastery-based learning

• Experience launching a new school, program, or major instructional model (preferred)

• Familiarity with innovative instructional approaches such as personalized, project-based, or competency-based learning (preferred)

• Comfort working alongside technology, product, or data teams (preferred)

Skills

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional work and influence without direct authority

• Expertise in using student achievement data to drive decision making

• Strong systems thinker who can move from vision to execution

• Track record of leading adults through significant role or practice shifts

Leadership competencies Successful candidates will demonstrate the following in their leadership and instructional practice:

• Builder's mindset: Thrives in ambiguity; creates clarity where none exists

• Instructional judgment: Protects rigor, coherence, and student learning above all

• Change leadership: Leads adults through uncertainty with trust and urgency

• Systems thinking: Anticipates downstream impacts of decisions

• Execution excellence: Turns complex plans into operational reality

• Learning orientation: Uses data and feedback to continuously improve