Managing Director of Schools

Rocketship; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Rocketship Public Schools in Milwaukee seeks a Director of Schools to lead the regional team and ensure Rocketship’s model of excellence across elementary schools. You will support principals, teachers, and staff with a focus on literacy, math, SEL, inclusion, and engagement with families.

The role requires strong instructional leadership, data-driven planning, and collaboration with the Network Support Team.

Qualifications

• Proven track record in leading multi-school regions.
• Experience improving student outcomes and school culture.
• Ability to manage principals and regional leaders.
• Strong communication with families, staff, and external partners.
• Must have administrator licensure and a bachelor’s degree.

Responsibilities

• Lead a regional team to drive academic excellence across Rocketship Milwaukee schools.
• Coach principals and regional leads to achieve literacy, math, and SEL goals.
• Strengthen family engagement and community partnerships.
• Oversee operations, safety, and compliance across campuses.
• Partner with NeST and network teams to align priorities and resources.
• Design and deliver professional development aligned with strategic priorities.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Data-driven decision making

Coaching & development

Stakeholder management

Educational leadership

Communication

School operations management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Administrator license

Job description

At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential.We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non-profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential.

Position Description

This individual will be a key strategic leader on the Milwaukee regional team and will directly manage all facets of our transformational schools. In this role the Director of Schools (DOS) will ensure that Rocketship schools remain a model for excellence both in regards to student outcomes on multiple measures (literacy, math, science, social-emotional, parent engagement, etc.) as well as continuing to serve all students and families through a culture rooted in meaningful inclusion of special education students, rigorous support of a Positive Behavior Interventions & Support structure, excellent operations and school environment, and enabling a personalized learning model rooted in culturally responsive pedagogy. The successful candidate will ensure that Rocketship maintains a culture that puts our Rocketeers and families first and ensures outstanding support to our schools, school leaders (Principal, Assistant Principal, Business Operation Manager, Office Manager), teachers, and entire school team while also ensuring a strong partnership with the Network Support Team (NeST). He or she will combine a capacity for systems-level and strategic thinking, deep instructional knowledge, careful attention to detail, and strong interpersonal skills in building relationships with critical internal and external stakeholders. The following are essential functions related to the role:

• Achieve ambitious academic performance goals while engaging and inspiring teams through alignment, strong communication, and ongoing feedback/coaching
• Analyze and action plan around student achievement data and observation to continuously improve, drive results, and increase impact
• Work with principals to ensure that they continue to implement rituals and practices that deepen parent engagement and investment while also creating/sustaining a welcoming school culture for families
• Ensure that goals are met in regards to parent engagement, especially in parents realizing goals around volunteer hours, parent conferences, and home visits
• Continuously drive a culture rooted in inclusion of special education students and rigorous support of a Positive Behavior Interventions & Support structure
• Supervise school operations to ensure safety, efficiency, and compliance
• Directly manage and coach 3 elementary school principals
• Directly manage and coach a regional Associate Director of STEM / Enrichment, a regional Associate Director of Humanities / MLL, and a regional Associate Director of Student Services.
• Foster a rigorous culture of excellence in every interaction with stakeholders, community members, partners, and team membersIncrease accountability and empower all teams to ensure success against goals
• Improve school performance through effective coaching, mentoring, recruitment, retention strategies, and team engagementLead strategy, planning, and execution related to family recruitment and enrollment, and parent leadership, organizing, and engagement
• Lead strategy, planning, and execution related to family recruitment and enrollment, and parent leadership, organizing, and engagement
• Cultivate and maintaining strong relationships with neighborhood stakeholders and community/neighborhood associations at each school
• Work with principals to align teacher professional development to strategic priorities and school data and track performance improvement across the team
• Design and deliver professional development to drive school outcomes
• Build a strong organizational culture in the region and in each school that is aligned with the Rocketship organization and ensures school success and impact
• Engage internal and external stakeholders for input, alignment, and support
• Drive strong collaboration with the network teams to ensure that schools are receiving necessary instructional and other supports and that priorities are being fully executed across the region Rocketship
• Lead the strategy and execution of all regional business projects, including vendor contracts, vendor management, state and local authorizer audits, and other reporting requirements
• Identify and manage new operations initiatives to meet the changing needs of the region and our schools (e.g. transportation, co-location, etc.)
• Provide consistent, high-quality behavior coaching and support to all local BOMs, focusing on school systems, Operations Specialist team management, and school leadership collaboration
• Partner with school Principals and network Operations Team to ensure that schools function at a high level
• Uphold a high standard of excellence for school operations and provide meaningful evaluations of school operations and BOM performance
• Serve as point of escalation for school-based operational issues
• Partner with new BOMs to lead the strategy, planning, and execution for the operational requirements for new schools in the region
• Design and implement tools to drive operational excellence
• Exhibit a high level of honest and humble self-reflection owning good and bad outcomes.
• Effectively respond to and implement constructive feedbackCreate a healthy, high-achieving environment where team and peers feel challenged, and also fully supported and valued
• Promote and participate in collaborative opportunities across the network to share practice, problem solve, and gather feedback
• 2 or more years of experience serving as a principal in a high-performing charter school
• 2 or more years of additional years of successful teaching/instructional expertise with a record of strong achievement results
• Elementary or middle school teaching or leadership experience required
• Bachelor’s degree
• Administrator license required
• Experience and demonstrated track record in managing principals/schools towards high student achievement outcomes preferred

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, and communicate with both adults and children. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally climb ladders. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to high.

Compensation

Commensurate with qualifications and experience, plus excellent health and wellness benefits, 403b retirement plan, flexible spending account (FSA), and generous paid time off.

Rocketship Public Schools provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Rocketship Public Schools complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Rocketship Public Schools expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Rocketship Public Schools’ employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated. Click here for our Sexual Harassment Policy. For questions, concerns, or complaints, please contact Human Resources.