Assistant Director

Education Commission of the States; United States; Remote; USD 100,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Life insurance

Long term disability

Vision insurance

Flexible spending account

403b retirement plan

Job summary

Education Commission of the States is a national nonpartisan organization that partners with education policy leaders to share resources and expertise. The Assistant Director will coordinate learning networks, align state priorities with evidence-based plans, and support implementation and continuous improvement.

This remote role involves collaborating with state leaders and external partners, managing workplans and budgets, and advising the Executive Director on governance and strategy.

Qualifications

• Ability to build partnerships and align organizations around shared priorities.
• Translate state and local education priorities into practical plans.
• Apply research, data, and improvement processes to strengthen decisions.
• Lead collaborative planning and peer learning with diverse education leaders.
• Manage complex workstreams, budgets, deliverables, and partner relationships.

Responsibilities

• Build and facilitate collaboration among state leaders and partners.
• Coordinate state-team planning connecting priorities with local realities and milestones.
• Design improvement cycles including needs assessment and measurement.
• Design and facilitate communities of practice and cross-state exchanges.
• Manage assigned workplans, budgets, and represent ECS at venues.
• Support the Executive Director's governance work.

Tools

Microsoft Office

Virtual collaboration platforms

Databases

Project management tools

Job description

Education Commission of the States partners with education policy leaders nationwide to address issues by sharing resources and expertise. We are proud toserve both the people who develop and implement education policy and thestudents who directly benefit from effective policy change. Every day, we provide education leaders with unbiased information and opportunities for collaborationbecause informed policymakers create better education policy. We are an equal opportunity employer offering competitive salaries and anoutstanding benefits package. Education Commission of the States provides anexciting intellectual environment, a collegial workplace, flexible hours and anorganizational structure that encourages teamwork.

Who You Are

The Assistant Director will facilitate an effective learning network that helps stateand local education leaders move from priorities and learning frameworks toevidence-based plans, implementation and continuous improvement. The AssistantDirector facilitates learning and collaboration among state leaders and externalpartners, aligning expertise and resources with state-defined priorities to strengthencoordination and reduce duplication of efforts.

Reporting

May supervise other team members. Receives direct supervision from an ExecutiveDirector of the Education Commission of the States (ECS).

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

National coordination: Build and facilitate collaboration among state leaders and other partnersaround state-defined needs. Establish routines for joint planning, shared learning and clearhandoffs that reduce duplication and strengthen coordinated support.

State and local planning: Facilitate state-team planning sessions that connect state priorities with

local implementation realities, clear learning questions, measurable milestones and appropriate

technical assistance. Support states’ ownership of their learning frameworks and plans.

Continuous improvement: Design and facilitate practical improvement cycles for network and

state/local teams, including needs assessment, root-cause inquiry, measurable aims,

implementation testing, feedback and adjustment. Translate learnings into improved support

plans and shared practice.

Peer learning and convening: Design and facilitate communities of practice, cross-stateexchanges and network workshops that advance state-team planning, cross-sector learningand the sharing of promising practices.

State Advisory Fellows: Coordinate with contracted personnel, the Executive Directorand State Relations to match former state-leader experience with state planning andimplementation needs and ensure actionable follow-through

Knowledge and performance: Capture practical lessons, promising practices, common barriersand implementation milestones; collaborate with Policy, Communications and designatedpartner performance teams to turn learning into useful resources and assess the use of networksupport.

Project and relationship management: Manage assigned workplans, partner relations,deliverables and budgets; represent ECS in national and state venues; and support theExecutive Director’s strategic and governance work.

Other Duties: Perform other duties as required to support the mission and priorities of ECS.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Demonstrated ability to build partnerships, align organizations around shared priorities, and

facilitate coordinated action.

Ability to translate state and local education priorities into practical plans, implementation

support, and measurable progress.

Ability to apply research, data, and improvement processes to strengthen decisions,

implementation, and results.

Strong skills in leading collaborative planning, peer learning, and discussions with diverse

education leaders and partners.

Ability to manage complex workstreams, budgets, deliverables, and partner relationships

with accountability and follow-through.

EDUCATION

We do not require candidates to demonstrate a specific degree or level of academiccertification. We encourage candidates with the professional experiences and skills outlinedin this position specification to apply.

EXPERIENCE

• Demonstrated success leading statewide, multi-state or national education initiativesinvolving public agencies, education leaders and cross-sector partners.
• Experience designing and implementing technical assistance, capacity-building orimprovement initiatives across multiple organizations or sites, with evidence of strengthenedpractices, systems or outcomes.
• Demonstrated accomplishments translating education priorities, research and evidence intoactionable plans, implementation strategies and measurable results.
• Experience coordinating collaborative initiatives involving multiple partners, sharedresponsibilities and collective decision-making.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex, publicly funded initiatives, including budgets,deliverables, performance measures and reporting.

PREFFERED EXPERIENCE

• Supporting state learning frameworks, strategic planning or comparable evidence-to-action processes.
• Working with state education agencies, statewide or cross-state education networks, ornational technical-assistance partnerships.
• Managing federally funded education initiatives, including grant compliance, reporting andperformance accountability.
• Applying Results-Based Accountability, Lean Six Sigma or comparable continuous improvement methodologies; certification is valued but not required.

OTHER PROFICIENCIES

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, virtual collaboration platforms, databases and project management tools, with the ability to learn and apply emerging technologies that supportdistributed teams and national networks.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $100,000-$110,000 annually. Compensation isdetermined in accordance with ECS’s established salary structure, benchmarkedto the Denver, Colorado, labor market, with consideration for internal payconsistency across comparable roles.

ECS offers competitive benefits, as detailed in our organizational policies includinghealth, dental, life, long term disability, vision insurance, a flexible spendingaccount, a health reimbursement account and a yearly contribution to your 403bretirement plan.

Location and Working Conditions

This position is remote, with a physical residence in the United States. Education Commission of the States is a remote workplace that requires employeesto have a physical residence with address within the U.S. This position operates in aremote, collaborative work environment and requires regular virtual engagement,meeting facilitation, and the co-design and delivery of in-person convenings. Thisrole may require up to 30% travel monthly, the ability to work effectively in varied meeting environments, and proficiency with standard business and virtualcollaboration technologies.

Disclaimer

This is not necessarily an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, skills, efforts, requirements or working conditions associated with the job. While this is intended to bean accurate reflection of the current job, management reserves the right to revise thejob or to require that other or different tasks be performed as assigned. Education Commission of the States is an equal opportunity employer.