Manager, Strategic Initiatives

The University of Chicago; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a Strategic Initiatives Manager to lead national efforts in advancing data science education within K-12 schools. This role involves strategic coordination, project management, and collaboration with education leaders to modernize curriculum and ensure students are data literate. The Manager will also serve as a spokesperson to raise awareness and build partnerships. This position, funded for a minimum of four years, offers a unique opportunity to impact education across the nation, making it an exciting prospect for those passionate about educational reform and data science.

Benefits

Health Benefits

Retirement Plans

Paid Time Off

Flexible Work Hours

Qualifications

• 5-7 years of experience in a related job discipline.
• Knowledge of U.S. K-12 math education and data science.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic coordination for national data science education efforts.
• Develop messaging strategies for large-scale reform in U.S. math education.

Skills

Project Management

Data Literacy

Communication Skills

Research Synthesis

Networking

Education

College or University Degree in a Related Field

Job description

Department

AI Data Science 4 Everyone

About the Department

Data Science 4 Everyone is a national initiative working to catalyze the adoption of data science and data literacy as a fundamental component of K-12 education. DS4E facilitates a broad and growing coalition of system leaders in U.S. education, seeded by support from Steven Levitt (Freakonomics), Arne Duncan (fmr. U.S. Secretary of Education), Linda Darling-Hammond (Learning Policy Institute, California State Board of Education), Eric Schmidt (fmr. CEO Google), Ken Griffin (CEO of Citadel), Scott Cook (co-founder of Intuit), and many others. Incubated at the University of Chicago Center for RISC and popularized by the 2019 Freakonomics podcast America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up, DS4E is striving to teach students the basics of modern data across school subjects and grade-levels.

Our core focus is to raise awareness and work with stakeholders across U.S. education to ensure every student is data literate by high school graduation, and can meaningfully participate in and build a data-driven future. In just 3 years, DS4E has grown data science education programs in over 25 states, hundreds of schools, and with numerous national partners. As a field catalyst, DS4E builds awareness with local, state, and national leaders, centralizes and disseminates resources, hosts convenings and communities of practice, creates partnerships to support and train educators across the country, and helps schools and districts design new K-12 programs for all students.

Job Summary

The Strategic Initiatives Manager will provide strategic coordination and operational management for national efforts to advance data science education in K-12 education in core school subjects, particularly Mathematics. The Manager will convert the objectives of major grant projects into action, align U.S. education leaders around common goals, coordinate the work of DS4E and partner organizations, and synthesize research and impact to major philanthropic funders. The Manager will also regularly take on or develop experimental projects for the organization, identifying new opportunities and assessing their viability for sector impact and alignment with DS4E’s mission. Finally, the Manager will serve as an external spokesperson for DS4E, raising its profile both locally and nationally to develop new partnerships, recruit new ecosystem members, and spread awareness of DS4E activities and impact. This position is grant-funded for a minimum of 4 years. Additional funding may be obtained to extend the position beyond that time.

Responsibilities

• Project strategy and oversight; develops strategy and priority milestones for major grant-funded projects and activities.
• Collaborates with project advisors, philanthropic funders, and field leaders.
• Incorporates feedback on strategic objectives over time.
• Identifies new opportunities for modernizing the K-12 curriculum, with a focus on high school mathematics.
• External presentation and socialization strategy; develops a messaging and case-building strategy for large-scale reform in U.S. math education, in alignment with project goals and partner organizations.
• Represents DS4E to a wide diversity of external audiences, appearing as a spokesperson for our work and mission, and as a translator of data-driven research projects.
• Research synthesis; synthesizes project-generated research, impact data, survey research, and other outcomes.
• Generates clear and actionable briefings for an education leadership audience, including major philanthropic supporters and partner organization leaders and staff.
• Regularly identifies or takes on new project opportunities, evaluating alignment and strategic fit for DS4E. Projects may include integration of data science learning into other school subjects such as science, social studies, and English; leadership in AI literacy education; district technical assistance; research in teacher preparation; or other priorities as determined in collaboration with DS4E’s Executive Director.
• Uses in-depth knowledge and experience to administer the delivery of services to program participants and/or beneficiaries such as communicating with program sponsors and academic advising for undergraduate students.
• Is responsible for tracking progress, conducting analysis, as well as preparing for and facilitating project meetings.
• Acts as a resource for a project team and provides analytical guidance. Interprets complex project issues and provides analytical guidance to a project team.
• Performs other related work as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in a related field.

Work Experience: Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience:

• The ideal candidate for this position will be very knowledgeable about U.S. K-12 math education in a national context. This includes a deep relational network working with K-12 education policy stakeholders and U.S. education leaders and classroom educators.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex research and data into clear recommendations for busy leaders.
• Content knowledge in data science / computer science / technology education.
• Familiarity with a nonprofit or community-organizing environment.

Preferred Competencies

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to plan and communicate clear milestones, coordinate, delegate work into feasible timelines, and align external partners to common goals.
• Strong relational capacity, emotional intelligence, and empathize with multiple perspectives and backgrounds.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills.
• Self-motivated and entrepreneurial mindset.
• Capable of operating in a fast-paced environment and dealing with ambiguity.

Working Conditions

• 100% remote work.
• Occasional travel, including nights and weekends.
• Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of their job.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter (required)

When applying, the document(s) MUST be uploaded via the My Experience page, in the section titled Application Documents of the application.

Job Family

Administration & Management

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

FLSA Status

Exempt

Pay Range

$90,000.00 - $110,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the