Start Date: Immediate
Team: Team Talent Operations
Location: Brooklyn, NY or New Haven, CT or Providence, RI
About Achievement First:
Achievement First, a non-profit 501(c)3 charter school management organization, operates 37 public charter schools in Brooklyn, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The mission of Achievement First is to deliver on the promise of equal educational opportunity for all of America’s children. We know that every child—regardless of race, zip code, or economic status—deserves access to great schools. Achievement First currently educates more than 14,000 students in historically underserved neighborhoods, with over 90% of our students identifying as Black or Latinx. For more information about the Achievement First mission, model, our schools and team, please visit our website at www.achievementfirst.org.
Summary:
Achievement First exists to close the opportunity gap and address inequity facing the communities that we are honored to serve. We have a two-pronged approach: people and program. In terms of program, we know that our curriculum, assessments, and school design are key to our success. But they are not enough – and they will not have impact without the right highly talented teams in place to execute, innovate, and make our network a place of excellence. Therefore, our ability to attract and keep the right (extremely talented) people is equally mission critical. While our school leaders work to create school environments that allow our teachers and deans to meet their full potential, we must also build network-wide structures, policy, strategy, and ethos that drives culture across AF.
Achievement First’s Talent Operations team ensures strong talent practices are effectively and consistently implemented across the AF network as the organization adapts to scale. The team also seeks to create a world-class employee experience such that all employees feel valued and want to stay at AF to relentlessly support student success. The team accomplishes this by:
● Overseeing comprehensive performance evaluation systems
● Offering competitive total rewards package
● Fueling people leadership practices with strong talent data, clear guidance, and efficient processes
● Creating avenues for employee input and feedback through various talent management surveys
At AF, we believe that having great people on our team is the key to our ability to close the achievement gap for our scholars. Too often, organizations hurt themselves through poorly conceived and executed talent management policies, and end up de-motivating the very staff members they are designed to support. AF believes that compassionate, consistent and fairly implemented talent practices is critical to our success at building a network of high performing schools. To that end, we are seeking a Talent Management Associate who can join our team, execute on existing practices, yet innovate the way we think about and support talent. The Talent Management Associate will be responsible for several projects such as the Teacher Career Pathway, AF’s groundbreaking multi-measured teacher evaluation and recognition program; the redesign and implementation of our senior leader and school leader evaluation process; establishing new career advancement pipelines; and general cross-team project management, as needed. Reporting to the Director of Talent Management, the Talent Management Associate will play a critical role in partnering across the organization to provide an outstanding talent program for teachers, leaders, staff, and ultimately our scholars.
Responsibilities of the Talent Management Associate will include but are not limited to:
Performance Management
● Collaborate with the Director of Talent Management to effectively lead Teacher Career Pathways (TCP), AF’s teacher evaluation, recognition and career advancement program designed to retain the best teachers in the classroom.
● Build supportive documentation (e.g., decks and analytical reports) for school leaders to review important performance data.
● Partner with the Systems and Data team to ensure data quality and integrity.
● Create/update and communicate key policy decisions to the TCP program.
● Maintain and update performance management content on organization-wide knowledge portal.
● Develop and streamline processes that reduce the operational lift for school teams without reducing the overall quality of the TCP program.
● Design and implement training programs for teachers and school leaders on various components of the performance evaluation process.
● Partner with the Director of Talent Management to redesign the TCP program and the current performance evaluation for non-teaching staff and school leaders to drive results, increase equity, and more closely align with our core values.
● Analyze historical TCP and other performance evaluation data to identify strengths and areas for improvements.
● Conduct research on talent best practices and analyze trends in performance management to inform redesign efforts and engage in continuous improvement.
Employee Recognition and Engagement
● Plan and execute annual teacher recognition dinners held in 3 regions (CT, RI and NY) to honor high performing teachers. During COVID-19 pandemic, plan and execute teacher recognition videos and supplemental activities.
● Lead and coordinate opportunities to gain teacher and school leadership perspective on various aspects of talent practices.
● Support Director of Talent Management, Vice President of Talent Operations and other teammates on additional projects as requested.
Skills and Characteristics
● Strong operational mindsets and skills: ability to keep lots of simultaneous trains running on time with an attention to detail and execution
● Advanced proficiency with Excel (advanced formulas and pivot tables) is required; Ability to translate raw data into a compelling narrative for stakeholders
● Friendly customer service mindset: responding to and partnering with others to solve challenges
● Ability to explain complex processes at both detailed and high levels, in writing and in conversation
● Ability to thrive in a fast‐paced, entrepreneurial environment.
● Belief in the Achievement First mission and educational model
● Demonstrated commitment to education, low income communities, and communities of color
● Humility, strong work ethic, sense of humor, and “roll-up-my-sleeves” attitude
● Strong sense of discretion and empathetic outlook
Educational Background and Work Experience
● Bachelor’s and 2+ years of work experience required
● Prior experience with employee evaluation systems preferred
● Prior experience with Tableau preferred (but also open to someone who is interested in learning on the job)
Compensation
Salary for this position is competitive and commensurate with experience. Additionally, Achievement First offers a comprehensive benefits package.
To Apply, click here. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.
Please visit the Achievement First careers site at http://www.achievementfirst.org/careers/.
Achievement First is an equal opportunity employer and an organization that values diversity. People from all diverse backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply. Spanish language proficiency is a plus. You can learn more about diversity at Achievement First here: http://www.achievementfirst.org/about-us/diversity/.