Manager of Teaching Excellence ACP

POSITION: Manager of Teaching Excellence ACP REPORTS TO: Director of Teaching Excellence Certification POSITION TYPE: 12-month START DATE: Immediate Hire COMPENSATION: $60,818 – 72,981, Home Office Grade 5 At YES Prep, work for a mission that impacts the life trajectory of students and their families. YES Prep creates pathways to extraordinary opportunity through best-in-class development, competitive compensation and benefits, and recognition for your impact. Grow as an authentic leader and be part of an equity driven, team-oriented culture. Our campuses are advancing educational equity. Some quick stats about us: 19,500 Students 2,300 Team Members 15 Secondary Campuses 9 Elementary Campuses 92% Students Who Qualify for Free/Reduced-Price Lunch 96% Hispanic & African-American Students 90% Students Who Are Accepted to a 4-Year University 88% First-Generation College Students Ranked in the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation, U.S. News & World Report We serve the students of Houston, Texas, the 4th largest city across the United States. There are over 20 public-school districts and other great public charter school options within Houston’s city limits serving our increasing population. We are a rapidly growing organization, committed to creating life-changing opportunities for over 23,000 students by 2025. THE OPPORTUNITY YES Prep needs a dynamic Manager of Alternative Certification and Program Participation with a diverse set of experiences and masterful system management to make our mission a reality. As a YES Prep employee, you will achieve jaw-dropping results, create pathways to opportunity for our students, build transformative relationships, and eliminate educational inequities to advance social justice. To put it simply, this role requires a master influencer who will leverage relationships, relentless communication, and a keen eye for data and systems to accomplish mind-blowing results in teacher certification and professional development participation within Teaching Excellence. You will be an influential goal-setter, achiever, progress monitor, and project manager who collaborates with personnel at various Houston districts to ensure the 350+ Teachers going through Teaching Excellence are on the pathway to certification. THE ROLE When you join the YES Prep team, some of the exciting work and responsibilities will include: Influence, Communication, and Systems Set and drive toward audacious performance goals for Teaching Excellence in achievement of certification program completion, professional development (non-ACP) program participation from YES Prep teachers. Ensure compliance to the Texas Administrative Code and alignment to the TEA Educator Standards by leading and supporting the Teaching Excellence Certification team in planning, iterating upon, and implementing excellent processes, including annual data submissions and TEA desk audits. Leading the certification and professional development pathway participation of over 350 Houston Teachers from YES Prep and partnership districts, and standalone schools. Establishing, monitoring, and communicating certification and professional development pathway progress and participation to chase audacious teacher certification and performance goals. Identify and briskly close gaps in communication, systems, and processes to achieve incredible results in performance in certification and program participation rates. Applying expert level influence strategies to create mind-blowing results in certification accomplishments, requiring relentless empathy, communication, and progress monitoring with teachers, Home Office leaders, Directors of Academics, Assistant Principals, and campus Principals, about program participation and certification progress rates. Providing top-tier customer service support to customers (teachers and partners) and YES Prep colleagues to identify and remove barriers to achieve audacious certification and PD Pathway goals. Establishing and maintaining frequent and recurring strategic and tactical collaboration efforts with the YES Prep Talent Team to drive compliance and to influence long-term standard operating procedures regarding the iteration and execution of YES Prep’s certification policies and their impact on Teaching Excellence and TE Enrollees. Collaborating with the Manager Leadership Team (MLT) and Teaching Excellence Leadership Team (TELT) to ensure aligned execution of certification-related items across the Teaching Excellence team. Collaborating with the YES Prep Talent Finance, Payroll, and campus leadership teams regarding the certification of teachers. Using influence and professional learning opportunities to support system-level understanding and investment in Teaching Excellence programs (certification track and non-cert track) and their impact on student achievement through teacher retention and professional development. Directly managing ACP Coordinators through direct and growth-oriented feedback and goal-setting that promotes engagement and advances team productivity. Compliance, Follow-up, and Follow Through Ensuring pristine compliance to the Texas Education Code, the State Board of Educator Certification, and YES Prep policies by: Supporting Teaching Excellence stakeholders in completing action items aligned to the Texas Administrative Code to gain both Initial Certification and Standard Certification. Collaborating with school leaders, managers, directors and managing directors in Teaching Excellence, Teacher Initiatives, and Talent in making certification decisions and communicating programmatic requirements. Collaborating with HR Departments at partnership districts to streamline the Teaching Excellence onboarding and experience for partnership teachers. Developing, managing, and executing processes/systems to report all relevant data and records of certification candidates as required by Texas Administrative Code and the State Board of Educator Certification. Supporting priority school efforts to close gaps in compliance and certification at YES Prep to ensure qualified teachers are teaching and leading in YES Prep classrooms. Additional duties as assigned THE PERSON We seek staff with diverse backgrounds, talents, interests, and ideas. Certain traits consistently shine through for our most successful employees: passion for the mission, drive for results, care for students, resilience, and humility. Other traits needed and desired for this role are: THE MUST HAVES Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited four-year educational institution OR equivalent industry specific experience (in a teacher certification program) Outstanding record of organization, and attention to details Masterful communication, problem-solving, and collaboration skills 3-5 years of experience with data tracking, people- and project-management, and communication with a customer-service focus Belief in and commitment to the mission and core value of YES Prep Public Schools Openness to giving and receiving frequent feedback Ability to maintain emotional control under stress Ability to work urgently in a fast-paced and results-oriented environment Ability to juggle multiple tasks and initiatives at once Demonstrated ability to work on a team A dedication to learn, grow, and develop as a professional THE MUST HAVE BELIEFS Belief in and commitment to the mission and core values of YES Prep Public Schools Desire to disrupt systemic status quos in education Willingness to go above and beyond to disrupt said status quos Passion to develop resiliency through a relentless pursuit of jaw-dropping results Conviction that high expectations + high accountability = high performance and high growth THE NICE TO HAVES Experience managing a team Experience working in an Alternative Certification Program (ACP) Experience with compliance in a school district THE PERKS Compensation – This position is an exempt, salaried position; offers commensurate with experience. Health and Supplemental Insurance – A $0 monthly medical option that includes $600 towards a Health Savings Account, in addition to a variety of supplemental benefits including Dental, Vision, Disability, Life, etc. Employees must work 20+ hours a week to be eligible for a full spectrum of benefits, and 10 hours a week minimum for medical benefits. Retirement Plans – Participation in Teacher Retirement System of Texas and a 457b Retirement Plan. Paid Time Off – Employees working 20+ hours a week receive 15 days of Paid Time Off in addition to the system closures during the Academic Calendar. Paid Leave Programming – In the event you need to be out due to medical needs (including maternity and paternity leave), YES Prep offers paid leave, paid out at 100%, based on eligibility and tenure. Professional Development - YES Prep values longevity and performance over time. We invest in developing leaders through high-quality programs, effective coaching, and ongoing professional development. Award Winning Culture – The strong cultures of our campuses and Home Office are just one of many reasons we were named Houston’s Best Place To Work in 2018, 2019, and 2021. We won the 2012 Broad Prize for Excellence in Urban Education and were a 2016 finalist as well. WE ARE DEEPLY COMMITTED TO EQUITY & DIVERSITY YES Prep strives to recruit a diverse team of leaders. We believe there is a transformative academic and social benefit for students when their teachers and leaders reflect a diversity of backgrounds. Ninety-five percent (95%) of staff members agree that the organization provides a welcoming environment given their background and identity according to our latest system survey. YES Prep is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, pregnancy, or parenthood.