CASY-MSCCN Jobs

The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

The foundation’s US Program (USP) works to expand access to life-changing opportunities. That’s why our primary focus in education is ensuring that all students – especially Black and Latino students, and students experiencing poverty – have an opportunity to earn a degree or certificate that prepares them for a successful career and fulfilling life. But often, education isn’t enough. Factors outside of schools and the classroom have an enormous impact on a student’s success. That’s why we’re also supporting efforts by public officials and community groups to better understand and advance economic mobility, leading to permanent ladders out of poverty for families and communities, such that race, ethnicity, and income are no longer predictors of outcomes.

The Early Learning & Assessment team focuses on early learning as the foundational platform for success in elementary school and assessment solutions for students in the elementary and middle school years.

The Early Learning & Assessment team is tasked with executing against two division priorities:

The Early Learning Strategy seeks to support a meaningful increase to the quality of Pre-K systems and programs and ensure they have impact for all students, and close equitable outcome gaps for Black, Latino, and children experiencing poverty – by improving critical components needed for public PreK systems to deliver Kindergarten readiness: (1) assessments that deliver child-level outcomes data on developmental growth and (2) classroom-level data on instruction quality and classroom environment, delivered through (3) integrated PreK to K-12 data systems that enable performance monitoring to influence adoption of (4) high-quality curricula and instructional supports. These components equip policymakers, system and program leaders, and educators to improve instruction and programs, and are thus prerequisites to sustaining child outcomes from PreK to Kindergarten and subsequent grades.

The Assessment Initiative seeks to examine the plausibility of an innovation path for efficient, engaging, and useful assessments, system alignment on the right measures, and data and capabilities that drive timely action. The areas of focus are (1) Efficient, engaging, and useful assessment - Focus innovation in the market on reducing assessment burden experienced by students. Leverage next-gen tech to enhance the ability of a single product to meet the needs of teachers, school leaders and district leader; (2) System alignment on the right measures - Elevate bright spot districts/states using school conditions and post-secondary and workforce readiness metrics effectively to disseminate findings and spur effective adoption and utilization in priority geographies. In parallel, influence policy to capitalize on demand activation; and (3) Data and capabilities that drive timely action - Incentivize supply-side players to establish proof-of-concept tools that effectively aggregate and present data needed for three high-leverage use cases, while simultaneously connecting school leaders and district leaders to implementation support needed to action upon data insights.

Your Role

The Senior Program Officer, Early Learning Data and Professional Learning will partner with early learning partners and states to amplify public demand for improved data systems and build capacity to use data from assessments for research, policy, and practice with a focus on improving classroom instruction. In this role you’ll be responsible for the strategic development and management of a discrete grant portfolio and contracts requiring high-level grant management and monitoring and evaluation. Additionally, in close partnership with the team, you’ll provide research and analysis work for grant-making, strategy development, coordination, communications, and advocacy in support of the overall strategy goals.

This is a 12-month limited term position; relocation will not be provided.

What You’ll Do

· Provide analytical and technical advisory support to Early Learning Leadership and Senior Program Officers working on Early Learning assessment and instructional systems program strategies.

· Plan, manage and complete a wide range of activities in support of strategic planning, prospect and develop complex investment opportunities, grant management and external relationship management.

· Support the development and validation of new data models, tools, platforms, and solutions that advance classroom quality and student outcomes and meet key criteria of affordability, usability, and other dimensions of quality.

· Design investments to drive innovative, user-centered R&D of educational tools, including those that are AI-enabled.

· Identify gaps in current digital product availability and quality, develop and manage investment mechanisms to catalyze product development and improvement.

· Cultivate an active ecosystem of entrepreneurial product developers, ensure strong feedback loops between innovative practitioners, researchers, and the developer community.

· Help catalyze additional sources of capital, including philanthropic, public, and private funding that contribute to the scaling of innovation and the growth and the sustainability of proven solutions.

· Manage collaborative and trusting partner relationships in ways that ensure productive feedback loops between partners and the foundation around shared goals.

· Provide technical guidance and insights to colleagues cross the U.S. program on research and development related topics in education.

· Consult with grantees and other partners to improve impact and ensure grants are meeting strategy goals.

· Manage internal processes and portfolio progress while ensuring appropriate documentation, grant budgeting and reporting. Improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.

· Represent the foundation to key program-related external constituencies, as appropriate, on committees related to area of expertise and responsibilities of the position.

· Support inclusive culture through modeling behaviors and actions; advance issues promptly to appropriate partners.

Your Experience

Our ideal colleague embodies a demonstrated dedication to, and belief in, Early Learning as a powerful lever for advancing equity in opportunity and outcomes for Black, Latino and students experiencing poverty.

· An advanced degree with 5+ years of experience, or equivalent experience.

· Experience in early learning (Pre-K-3), K-12 and/or an education related field

· Knowledge and experience with education data standards, data system governance and infrastructure, and effective tools and processes that create strong incentives for data use by practitioners.

· Knowledge of strong developmentally appropriate classroom practices in PreK-3rd grade.

· Proven ability to influence others in a constructive manner and to build and sustain collaborative relationships in a complex, matrixed environment.

Additional Experience

• Adaptability: Is flexible, maintains effectiveness by adjusting behavior, work routines, and habits to meet a goal and/or changing circumstances. Is seen as balanced despite the conflicting demands of the situation. Highly self-activating and efficient; goes to where the work is; brings others along.

• Analytical Thinking: Uses facts and available information to develop logical assumptions. Discriminates between important and unimportant details, recognizes inconsistencies between facts and/or data, and draws correct inferences from information (includes differentiating, comparing, contrasting, linking, researching)

• Business Innovation / Strategic Agility: Looks for new or alternative ideas from a wide range of sources; monitors developments and looks for applications to support current and future business needs and opportunities. Anticipates future consequences and trends accurately, has broad knowledge and perspective; verbalizes and projects credible pictures and visions of possibilities.

• Collaboration / Relationship Building: Develops and maintains effective working relationships with team members, internal partners and others using strong interpersonal skills. Seeks input and benchmarking. Works effectively with people outside formal authority to accomplish goals. Solicits participation, challenges ideas and summarizes accomplishments and planned actions.

• DEI Approach: Seeks input from and values the uniqueness of people of different groups and cultures. Works effectively with individuals of diverse cultures, interpersonal styles, abilities, motivations, or backgrounds. Challenges practices or policies that may be exclusionary; Proven commitment to race and income equality; knowledge of student success strategies that close attainment gaps by race and income in education

• Subject Matter Expertise: Knowledge of tools, methods, and resources used in early learning and/or knowledge in product design, development, launch, refinement, and management.

• Problem Solving / Results Orientation: Asks good questions and probes all sources for answers; sees underlying or hidden patterns; looks beyond the obvious and doesn't stop at the first answers. Uses rigorous logic and methods to analyze and understand why problems occur; generates and implements creative, cost effective and realistic solutions.

• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills; ability to effectively facilitate, manage and summarize divergent points of view to advance the thinking of the group, synthesize and extract meaning from complex bodies of work and effectively communicate key takeaways for diverse audiences.

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

The salary range for this role is $182,600 to $283,100 USD. We recognize high-wage market differences where our offices are located, in Seattle, Washington D.C., and Boston (Cambridge). The range for this role in these locations is $199,000 to $308,400 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission and new hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidate Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (http://www.gatesfoundation.org/) works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.