Youth Development Director, Alpha - $200,000/year USD

Alpha School; Florida; On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation support

Job summary

Alpha is seeking a Youth Development Director to lead a cohort of K-3 Guides and students at a New York City or Miami campus. The role centers on coaching, performance data, and developing a coaching culture that raises outcomes while maintaining high standards.

You will document successful approaches, build playbooks, and help shape how Alpha scales its coaching model with measurable results for both children and Guides.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Education, Psychology, Business, Organizational Leadership, or related field.
• At least 5 years of experience working with elementary-aged children (approx. ages 5-9).
• Experience leading teams of five or more people, including performance management and hiring decisions.
• Proven track record building or growing a program, school, or initiative.
• Demonstrated use of data and measurable outcomes to improve performance.
• Excellent storytelling and facilitation to engage young children and coach adults.

Responsibilities

• Coach Guides and students using performance data, observations, and feedback to drive improvements.
• Facilitate workshops for K-3 students on communication, resilience, collaboration, accountability, focus.
• Lead coaching sessions connecting motivation to academic growth and independence.
• Build and refine repeatable coaching playbooks to raise performance across teams.
• Train and mentor Guides, modeling exceptional coaching and facilitation daily.

Skills

Team leadership

Coaching adults

Data-driven coaching

Performance management

Public speaking

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor's degree in Education, Psychology, Business, Organizational Leadership, or related field

Tools

Dashboards

Analytics

Job description

"We are never going to lower the standard for any kid — instead we're going to raise the support to help them get there."

— Braden, Head Guide, Alpha Austin

Alpha is hiring.

• In person at an Alpha campus in New York City, NY or Miami, FL; relocation support provided
• $200,000/year
• Full-time

Most youth development programs respond to struggling kids by lowering expectations. You don't.

You believe young children are capable of far more than traditional programs ask of them, and you've built teams that prove it with measurable results. You know that motivation, accountability, and high standards change lives more than another worksheet ever will.

At Alpha, academics happen in just two hours each morning through adaptive learning technology. That frees you to focus on the work that has the biggest long-term impact: coaching students to become independent learners while developing the Guides who make that growth possible. You will own outcomes for a cohort of K-3 students, using data, observation, and coaching to ensure every child loves school, learns twice as fast, and develops exceptional life skills.

This is not an instructional coach role, nor a principal role. You won't spend your days buried in meetings or paperwork. You'll be in classrooms, analyzing student and Guide performance, delivering workshops on communication, resilience, focus, and accountability, and coaching both children and adults toward measurable improvement.

Your influence won't stop with your own cohort. You'll document what works, build playbooks that raise the standard across the school, and help shape how Alpha develops future Guides. If you're energized by building people, scaling excellence, and proving that extraordinary outcomes are possible when expectations stay high, we'd love to meet you.

What You Will Be Doing

• Coach Guides and students using performance data, classroom observations, and direct feedback to achieve measurable improvements.
• Facilitate engaging workshops for K-3 students focused on communication, resilience, collaboration, accountability, focus, and other life skills.
• Lead one-on-one and small-group coaching sessions that connect student motivation to academic growth and independence.
• Build and refine repeatable coaching playbooks that raise performance across the Guide team.
• Train and mentor Guides while modeling exceptional coaching and facilitation every day.

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Delivering traditional classroom instruction or lecturing through academic content; adaptive technology handles core academics.
• Managing discipline through punishment or lowering expectations when students struggle.
• Leading from an office instead of working directly with students and Guides every day.
• Owning campus operations, budgets, or parent communications; your focus is developing people and improving outcomes.
• Following conventional elementary school practices simply because \"that's how schools have always done it.\"

Youth Development Director Key Responsibilities

Deliver Alpha's three promises for every K-3 student by building high-performing Guides, highly motivated students, and a coaching culture that consistently produces exceptional academic and life outcomes.

Basic Requirements

• Willing to work in person at an Alpha campus in New York City, NY or Miami, FL; relocation support is provided.
• Bachelor's degree in Education, Psychology, Business, Organizational Leadership, Child Development, or a related field.
• At least 5 years of experience working with elementary-aged children (approximately ages 5-9).
• Experience leading teams of five or more people, including performance management and hiring decisions.
• Experience building, launching, or significantly growing a program, school, team, or initiative rather than maintaining an existing one.
• Demonstrated success using data and measurable outcomes to improve team or student performance.
• Compelling storytelling and facilitation skills that engage young children, plus the ability to coach adults with clear expectations and direct feedback.
• Excited by challenging conventional education models and embracing a coaching-first approach.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States.

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Master's degree in a related field.
• Experience using dashboards, analytics, or performance metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• Track record of coaching adults toward measurable performance outcomes.
• Background in youth development, competitive coaching, enrichment programs, camps, or other high-accountability environments.
• Strong public speaking and facilitation skills with young children.

About Alpha

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time, W2 employee position with immediate access to benefits (https://support.crossover.com/article/7581-w2-benefits-u-s-paychex-paid-only). All roles are year-long positions. The compensation level for this role is $200,000 USD/year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.