Director of External Affairs, Stealth Educational Startup (Remote) - $400,000/year USD

Alpha School; Dallas (TX); Remote; USD 227,000 - 324,000; Full time

Job summary

Stealth Educational Startup in Austin, TX (remote) is seeking a Director of External Affairs to be the public voice for gifted education. You will build the external engine that turns credibility into donations through media, partnerships and campaigns.

You set the agenda, negotiate agreements, and activate partners to drive donor campaigns. You’ll be evaluated by attribution results and must maintain accuracy across policies, tax rules and messaging.

Qualifications

• Has 2+ years in gifted education or related advocacy, or equivalent experience in policy/education communications.
• Experience pitching reporters and engaging policymakers on behalf of an organization.
• Sourced and signed partnerships with companies, associations or organizations leading to donor support.
• Ability to explain tax-credit policies and nonprofit fundraising concepts to varied audiences.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the principal spokesperson for gifted education across media and events.
• Set messaging, review public materials for factual accuracy, and coordinate with legal when needed.
• Build and manage a portfolio of partnerships with companies, associations and media influencers.
• Negotiate and close agreements including influencer arrangements to drive donor campaigns.
• Track partnerships, reach, donations, and media exposure, and optimize efforts based on results.

Skills

Public speaking

Partnerships

Media outreach

Negotiation

Clear communication

Job description

Scholarship funding follows trust. Donors give to people they believe, and partners open their audiences only to leaders they'd vouch for. This role is that leader: the public voice of gifted education, accountable for turning that credibility into donations.

Gifted and Talented Scholarships is a nonprofit Scholarship Granting Organization funding K-12 scholarships for gifted and talented students. Starting January 1, 2027, individuals can claim a federal tax credit for cash donations to approved Scholarship Granting Organizations in participating states. As Director of External Affairs, you will build the external engine that turns that opening into funding: a credible media presence, speaking platforms and partnerships with companies, associations, organizations and content creators.

You set the agenda and own the result. You decide which partners to pursue and which stages to take, negotiate and sign the agreements, and activate them into donor campaigns. Then you read the attribution data and put your effort where it raises money. Accuracy is part of the job. Every public claim you make or approve about gifted identification, school options and tax treatment has to hold up, and anything that needs legal review gets it.

An operations partner runs scholarship awards, compliance and finances, so your attention stays external. This is full-time remote work in the United States, 40 hours per week.

What You Will Be Doing

• Serve as the principal spokesperson for gifted education: pitch reporters, lead TV, radio, print, podcast and online interviews, and headline conferences, member meetings, webinars and community events.
• Set the message: produce video and social content, review public materials for factual accuracy, and answer live questions from approved messaging, bringing in legal review when a question calls for it.
• Build the partnership portfolio: identify, approach and win companies, associations, organizations and media influencers whose audiences include gifted students, families and educators.
• Negotiate and close the agreements, including paid influencer arrangements, that commit partners to asking their members, employees, customers and followers to donate, then activate them into live campaigns.
• Run the results: track active partners, reach, attributable donations, and media and speaking engagements, report them honestly, and redirect effort to what produces donations.

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Running scholarship award decisions, compliance administration or day-to-day finances. An operations partner owns that work.
• Selling enterprise payroll benefits or managing payroll integrations.
• A ceremonial spokesperson role judged by appearances and impressions. You are judged by the donations you can attribute.
• Giving individual tax advice or publishing unverified tax-credit claims.

Director Of External Affairs Key Responsibilities

Increase donations for K-12 gifted and talented scholarships by owning the organization's public credibility and the partnerships that convert it into funding.

Basic Requirements

• You know gifted education from the inside. You've spent 2+ years in the field as a teacher, coordinator, testing specialist, admissions lead or advocate. Or you're the parent or guardian of a formally identified gifted child and handled their testing and school or program choice yourself. Either way, families trust you because you've lived the problem.
• You're at ease in front of a microphone or camera. You've given live and on-camera interviews as an official spokesperson, and you've pitched journalists, fielded press inquiries or engaged policymakers on an organization's behalf. You stay accurate when the questions get hard.
• You close. You've personally sourced and signed partnerships with companies, associations or membership organizations, each ending in a signed agreement or MOU. You know the difference between a warm intro and a deal.
• You know how to work with creators. You've negotiated or managed paid influencer or content-creator agreements and know how to keep a partner's audience engaged and the messaging on point.
• You make complex topics clear. You've explained tax or public policy to the public in plain language, through articles, explainers, op-eds, testimony or interviews. You're ready to master federal scholarship tax-credit and SGO rules within your first 30 days.
• You work well on your own. You're based in the United States, available 40 hours a week, and used to driving results in a remote setting without needing someone to set your agenda.

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Experience as an educator or leader in gifted education.
• Existing relationships with gifted-education associations, enrichment providers or education media.
• Experience in school choice, scholarships or nonprofit fundraising.

About Stealth Educational Startup

We are a stealth educational startup in Austin, TX (center of educational innovation in US). We are building an online community focusing on the most underserved customer base in US education - gifted and talented kids. We are a remote first company who hires globally via Crossover.

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $200 USD/hour, which equates to $400,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.