PENCIL – Senior Director of Connected Literacy

Position Summary

The Senior Director of Connected Literacy at PENCIL is responsible for guiding the full team to success by meeting the requirements of the Connected Literacy grant provided by the State of Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE), which supports literacy growth in elementary school students at Metro Nashville Public Schools. A critical element will be to quickly identify all outstanding grant requirements and deadlines and create a workplan to assure success at those elements within the required timeframe.

This leader will work very closely and collaboratively with MNPS leadership and staff, TDOE staff, and the PENCIL team to assure program implementation, tracking the number of students served, and quickly working to resolve challenges to connecting qualified tutors with students. Also, this leader will identify the key elements necessary to successfully continue providing tutoring or other academic supports to students once the TDOE grant ends.

This leader will build relationships with key community partners in order to recruit as many highly qualified tutor candidates as possible, with a particular focus on education partners training future teachers who need service/classroom hours as part of their certification program.

Essential Functions

• Engage collaboratively and frequently with MNPS and TDOE leadership staff to understand programmatic demands and implementation objectives
• Problem solve quickly in order to connect as many students as possible to qualified tutors
• Understand and creatively solve the challenge of getting students fully enrolled in the TDOE system to document their participation in the program
• Track tutor completion of required literacy training
• Review service delivery data regularly to assure tracking toward identified service targets
• Weekly share a dashboard with key leaders (MNPS, TDOE, PENCIL) outlining volunteer and teacher enrollment and student match statistics; outline key activities to grow the numbers of students served
• Build successful relationships within the community to grow a pipeline of tutor candidates with a specific focus on teacher prep and education programs
• Create accessible documentation of all program process, points of contact, and best practices in order to assure the program can continue to grow and evolve
• Document all external communications in the designated customer relationship management tool (Salesforce) in a timely, accurate, and complete manner to assure a full picture of all partnerships, ensuring that data is kept current at all times
• Manage grant budget in collaboration with the Chief Administrative Officer

Qualifications

Education

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree, but a Master’s degree is a plus

SKILLS

• Proven ability to quickly process data and make decisions
• Outstanding organizational and leadership abilities
• Has demonstrated the ability to thoroughly document workflows and timelines
• Working knowledge of data analysis and performance/operation metrics
• Demonstrable competency in strategic planning and business development
• Excellent interpersonal skills

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of seven years’ experience as an executive with strategic thinking and problem-solving responsibilities
• Minimum of five years’ experience in creating, documenting, and managing key business functions so all stakeholders can operate at their highest capacity

CONFIDENTIALITY

• Ability to manage sensitive information in a professional and confidential manner as outlined in PENCIL’s Confidentiality Policy
• Strong customer service and interpersonal skills are necessary.
• Able to work independently and proactively without daily instruction is critical but must work in a team environment as well.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS AND PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Moderate physical activity performing somewhat strenuous activity during volunteer shifts.
• Manual dexterity sufficient to reach/handle items, works with the fingers, and perceives attributes of objects and materials.
• The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• The employee is required to stand, walk, climb and balance.

WORK SCHEDULE & HOURS

This is a part time, seasonal position. Work hours and location can be flexible as long as objectives are met.

DISCLAIMERS

This job profile is not intended to be all inclusive of tasks required; it is to provide a general description of essential job responsibilities. PENCIL is an affirmative action and equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer

Supervises: Connected Literacy staff, volunteers, AmeriCorps

Schedule: Part time, seasonal; average 20 hours per week January through June 2023

Wage Scale: $55 – $70 per hour

FLSA Status: Non-exempt