Executive Director

Hawaii Teacher Standards Board; Honolulu (HI); On-site; USD 135,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board seeks an Executive Director to lead and oversee licensing standards and professional teaching standards. The role partners with educators, legislators, and schools to advance teacher quality and board governance.

The Executive Director will supervise staff, manage budgets, and communicate with all stakeholders while upholding high professional standards and public accountability.

Qualifications

• Master’s or Law degree from an accredited institution in Education, Educational Leadership, Public Administration, Business Administration, Educational Policy, or related field.
• Minimum of eight (8) years in administrative or executive-level roles in education or regulatory bodies, including at least four (4) years in licensing or government.
• Experience with budgeting, staff supervision, and policy/legislative engagement.

Responsibilities

• Provides leadership to the HTSB Board and organization; develops and communicates vision and mission.
• Maintains professional communications with teachers, board members, staff, and stakeholders; fosters partnerships.
• Manages administrative responsibilities including budgeting, staff supervision, and policy implementation.
• Represents HTSB to legislature and the public; supports licensing standards and program approvals.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Policy knowledge

Stakeholder engagement

Budgeting

Education

Master’s or Law degree (Education/Leadership/Policy)

Doctorate (Ed.D./Ph.D.) in Educational Leadership / Policy

Job description

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board

650 Iwilei Road, Suite 268

Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board seeks to fill the vacancy of the Executive Director. The Executive Director provides executive staff services to the members of the Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board as assigned by the Chairperson; directs the effective operations of the Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board office; assists and advises Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board members in the direction of operations and activities of the Board as a whole; partners with stakeholders including educator preparation programs, legislators, and public schools; and performs other related duties as required.

* NOTE: Criminal background check will be required prior to employment.

Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board’s Mission & Vision

The HTSB envisions a highly esteemed Hawaiʻi public education system with rigorous professional teacher standards that foster student success. Starting salary range: $135,000 - $155,000 commensurate with experience. Our mission is to collaboratively set high teacher licensing and credentialing standards to:

Provide every child in Hawaiʻi with qualified teachers. Promote professionalism and teaching excellence. Build public confidence in the teaching profession. Provide more accountability to the public. The HSTB is established by Hawai‘i Revised Statutes 302A-801 to 302A-808, is led by an Executive Director and is governed by a Board that is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate.

Position Summary

The Executive Director of the Hawaiʻi Teacher Standards Board (HTSB) serves as the chief executive officer responsible for awarding licenses based on standards for quality teachers and advancing teacher professionalism. The Executive Director fulfills duties associated with four standards for the Executive Director (see a detailed list of responsibilities below):

1. Provides leadership to the HTSB Board and organization
2. Promotes positive and effective communications with teachers, members of the Board and staff, and stakeholders
3. Maintains high levels of professionalism and communications.
4. Manages the full scope of the HTSB’s administrative responsibilities for teacher licensing and related functions (e.g., approving educator preparation programs).

Reporting Relationship & Governance

Reporting directly to the Board, the Executive Director leads strategic visioning, manages daily administrative and fiscal operations, advocates for policies, and fosters key partnerships with stakeholders including the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (HIDOE), local university teacher preparation programs, union leadership, and national credentialing bodies.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Master’s or Law degree from an accredited institution in Education, Educational Leadership, Public Administration, Business Administration, Educational Policy, or a closely related field.
• Administrative & Leadership Experience: Minimum of eight (8) years of progressively responsible administrative or executive-level experience in education, regulatory bodies, or state/public agencies, including at least four (4) years in education, licensing, a regulatory field, or government.
• Budget & Operations Management: Demonstrated experience overseeing organizational budgets, managing public records/statutory compliance, and a minimum of two (2) years supervising professional staff.
• Policy & Legislative Engagement: Direct experience working with board governance, interpreting state/federal administrative rules, or interacting with legislative bodies and government agencies.
• Knowledge Base: Strong foundational understanding of teacher licensing, educator preparation program accreditation, and professional teaching standards.
• Professionalism: Able to work collaboratively with a track record of stakeholder coalition building, for example, building consensus and maintaining collaborative relationships across diverse groups—including teachers, union leadership, university deans, legislators, and community partners.
• Communication: Able to communicate effectively with Board, staff, Educator Preparation Providers, and stakeholders to build consensus on shared goals.
• Equivalent combination of training and experience will be considered.

Desired Qualifications

• Advanced Degree: Doctorate (Ed.D. Ph.D.) in Educational Leadership, Curriculum and Instruction, Education Policy, Law, Public Administration or other closely related fields.
• Licensure: Has held a teaching credential in a P-12 public school setting and/or National Board Certification.
• Hawaii Educational Context: Understanding of Hawaii’s unique educational landscape, including the Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE), local higher educator preparation program, state legislative processes, and Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) governing HTSB.
• National Standards Leadership: Experience with national credentialing bodies, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) candidate support, or national teacher quality policy trends.
• Licensing Professional: Prior service in a leadership role for a state licensing board or educational commission.

STANDARD 1:

PROVIDES LEADERSHIP TO THE BOARD AND THE HTSB ORGANIZATION

• Develops, communicates and implements the vision and mission of the HTSB.
• Advocates highexpectations for teaching.
• Demonstrates commitment to attain optimal performance of the Board.
• Utilizes multiple resources to support the priorities of theHTSB.
• Fosters the board’s reflection on decisions and provides feedback for adjustment of HTSB’s goals.
• Promotes the advancement of the teaching profession through state approval of teacher education, the licensing and license renewal process, and National Board Certification.
• Monitors government relations affairs; initiates action and involvement with federal and state agencies; informs members as to the implications of and recommended responses to government affairs issues. Enables HTSB to play a leadership role in public policy by maintaining effective relations with other organizations, both public and private, and providing leadership in these settings in accordance with Board policies and objectives.
• Represents and advocates for the interests and positions of the Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board to the Legislature, the general public, and other public agencies and private organizations.
• Introduces research, trends, initiatives to inform the Board’s discussions and development of policy.

STANDARD 2:

PROMOTES POSITIVE AND EFFECTIVE COMMINICATIONS WITH TEACHERS, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, AND STAFF

• Develops effective public relations with teachers, board members, staff, students, and partners in the community.
• Communicates and interacts effectively with staff, board, teachers and partners.
• Seeks input from stakeholders for improvements in communication, efficiency of the organization, and development of policies.
• Encourages and establishes open, effective communication.
• Utilizes effective strategies in setting performance expectations, planning, decision-making, problem-solving and conflict resolution to provide service and assistance to teachers, members of the board, and various agencies.
• Encourages the development of community partnerships and utilizes resources effectively.
• Ensures that the officers and members of the Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board are kept fully informed on the conditions and operations of the Board office, and are provided with all relevant information affecting Board operations.
• Maintains a collaborative working relationship with Hawai`i teacher education institutions and other education stakeholders on current issues relating to teacher quality.
• Confers with the Board of Education, high level administrative officials and professional staff of the Department of Education, teacher education institutions, relevant national organizations, and state and federal agencies to facilitate the accomplishment of Board policies, objectives, and goals.

STANDARD 3:

MAINTAINS HIGH STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONALISM

• Demonstrates and promotes high standards of ethics, honesty, and integrity.
• Pursues professional improvement activities to strengthen own leadership performance.
• Demonstrates professionalism in interactions with stakeholders.
• Demonstrates ability to self-assess and to reflect on administrative practices.
• Keeps abreast of current national trends in teacher standards and licensing and other issues relating to teacher quality.

STANDARD 4:

MANAGES THE FULL SCOPE OF BOARD ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Complies with applicable State statutes, federal laws, regulations, procedures, contractual provisions and other governance parameters.
• Attends to required administrative functions such as hiring, supervision, and evaluation of staff; maintenance of a well-functioning organization; sound fiscal operations and accounting of HTSB property; timely completion of reports; adherence to DOE and State policies.
• Manages available resources for optimum benefit to teachers, board and staff.
• Manages problems and solutions as they arise in the office and with staff, and board.
• Secures and uses resources to attain HTSB’s goals and objectives.
• Maintains standards for a safe, orderly, effective working environment and strives to maintain the security of HTSB files, data and operations.
• Assists Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board members in the development and recommendation of policies and programs and administers and implements policies, procedures and programs of the Board.
• Evaluates current programs in terms of identified goals and objectives.
• Provides staff services to and assists the Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board in the establishment and review of teacher licensing standards.
• Develops the Hawai`i Teacher Standards Board operating budget and implements the approved operating budget.
• Oversees the implementation of Act 314 SLH 2001 in developing National Board Candidate Support.
• Maintains public records of the Board, including written minutes of all Board meetings.