Senior Director, Policy & Program

PIE Network is seeking a full-time Senior Director for its Policy & Program team. These positions are an exciting opportunity for an exceptional leader with a passion for and experience in advocacy, policy, and politics who is ready to leverage their professional expertise to support leaders across the country. Reporting to the Vice President of Policy & Program, the ideal candidate will possess a strong track record of excellent leadership skills, boundless energy, creativity, and optimism, a great sense of humor, superb strategic judgment, a strong passion for the Network’s mission, a command of and connections to the national education reform movement, and a high tolerance for the ever-evolving nature of advocacy efforts. The Senior Director must be an action- and service-oriented leader, a natural “connector,” a strong communicator, and a skilled advocate.

Each of these two positions will be responsible for two of the following policy priorities (learn more about our Policy Pillars here). These topics will be assigned based on the candidates’ knowledge and experience. To be considered, you must have deep expertise in at least one of these areas:

• Assessment & Accountability
• College & Career Pathways
• Education Funding
• Innovative Options

All PIE Network team members work remotely, so the right person for this role must have the ability to travel up to 10 times a year and be a self-starter who is comfortable managing and working on a collaborative team via virtual platforms.

Organization

The PIE Network connects, strengthens, and catalyzes the work of education advocates across communities, states, and ideological lines. Our members are powerful and diverse champions for students whose organizations lead efforts to transform education so that every learner can succeed. The PIE Network represents more than 180 local, state, and national education advocacy organizations in 38 states and D.C.

If the following sounds like you...

• You are passionate about the PIE Network’s mission and have a strong understanding of the field.
• You are a service-oriented leader who loves helping others. You are comfortable not being on the front lines or getting public recognition. You thrive on giving support and acting as a catalyst.
  • You approach everything with a positive, proactive, problem-solving outlook.
  • You enjoy learning, seeking new ideas, and applying those ideas and tools to improve your work or the team’s work.
  • You show great discretion and ethics in handling sensitive information and contribute thoughtfully and with sound judgment to a range of evolving opportunities and challenges.
  • You know that “good enough” isn’t enough, and you do whatever it takes to get a job done well, making event guests feel welcome and ensuring their needs are met.
• You have a strong ability to develop and manage relationships among diverse stakeholders, including the PIE Network team, members, leaders, funders, vendors, and others with whom you regularly work.
  • You thrive working in a community of diverse professionals and hosting inclusive and impactful events, and are experienced at working across lines of difference to move work forward.
  • You are excited about opportunities to travel up to 10 times per year across the U.S. to support Network events.
  • You are a passionate champion of improving education for every student, in every community, and are comfortable with the dissent that sometimes accompanies efforts to help deliver on that promise.
• You have excellent project management skills to manage cross-functional projects from idea to execution. You know when to ask for clarity or help on a key project.
  • You have experience in managing people and projects effectively and communicating clearly and regularly with contractors, supervisors, and colleagues about all aspects of project management and achieving your goals.
  • You are a doer who is action-oriented and enjoys working as part of a small, “all-hands-on-deck” team.
• You have sharp analytical skills and the ability to simplify complexity.
  • You’re a strategic thinker who anticipates needs, challenges, and opportunities and initiates problem-solving. People often tell you you’re a great listener, and you somehow knew what they needed before they did.
  • You’re able to adapt to a constantly shifting environment and identify themes that enable you to respond strategically and advance your and our members’ work.
  • You are an excellent and clear communicator, verbally and in writing.
  • You pay keen attention to detail and are extremely organized. You are a self-starter with excellent time-management skills and a strong ability to prioritize.

...then you might want to work to build a growing Network!

Responsibilities

• Connect education policy and advocacy leaders through shared learning opportunities, convenings, role-alike affinity groups, and skill-building trainings.
• Support advocates with relevant and timely content to inform their work, elevating best practices from around the country, synthesizing data and materials, and offering 1:1 rapid response support when requested.
• Analyze emerging research and policy developments related to the PIE Network’s policy pillars, particularly related to the policy topics outlined above.
• Build trusting and productive relationships with Network leaders and partners.
• Track local, state, and federal legislation and policy developments to anticipate PIE Network members’ and partners’ opportunities and threats.
• Support the development of smaller “hubs” – communities of practice and leaders’ councils within the Network to preserve and strengthen member connections and learning as the Network expands.
• Plan and facilitate adult learning opportunities both virtually and in-person on topics related to the Senior Director’s portfolio.
• Communicate effectively, via writing and speaking, with Network staff, members, advisors, and partners.
• Partner with members to develop generative resources, including case studies, field guides, and resources that elevate advocacy best practices and successful strategy outcomes.
• Represent the Network externally as needed.

Ideal Qualifications

All candidates should have experience in a leadership role in advocacy or education policy. Demonstrable experience and other qualifications include:

• At least five years of direct leadership and management experience in advocacy, policy, and politics. Experience working on related initiatives at the state or federal level preferred.
• Insatiable curiosity about “what works, where, and why” to advance changes in public policy and advocacy.
• Judgment, wisdom, and discretion in managing relationships within a diverse network.
• Commitment to the cross-ideological pursuit of solutions and creating inclusive, impactful, and interactive spaces for Network members to connect; a pragmatist who stays focused on crossing the finish line. Responsiveness and adaptability to a Network culture with changing priorities and political challenges.
• A self-starter who is comfortable working on virtual platforms, given that the PIE Network works remotely and supports advocates across the country.
• Experience using artificial intelligence (AI) to support your work, including automating tasks, enhancing efficiency, etc.
• Ability to travel to host Network events and engage in events hosted by key partners (roughly 25-30% of the year).
• College degree; master’s degree a plus.

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Location: Remote, US-based.

Compensation: Base compensation for this role is $130,000 - $150,000 annually and is commensurate with experience. Additionally, a discretionary year-end bonus is available based on individual and organizational performance. Please note that the top end of our compensation range is reserved for candidates who fully meet the required skills, qualifications, and experience. Benefits include a full suite of Health, Life, and Supplemental Insurance offerings, a 401(k) match of up to 5%, 10 paid holidays, a week-long shutdown at the end of the calendar year and during the summer, and unlimited vacation days.

PIE Network is an equal opportunity employer. PIE Network has a strong commitment to diversity and actively encourages candidates with experience working in diverse communities to apply.