The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a leading nonprofit venture philanthropy fund that identifies the nation’s best public charter schools, funds their expansion, and helps to increase their impact. Our portfolio includes 75 charter school networks that operate over 1,000 schools and serve more than 475,000 students in 31 states. We are committed to expanding the impact of schools that are closing achievement and opportunity gaps. Our investment strategy is like that of a venture capital firm for public charter schools. The diverse “portfolio” of schools and leaders that we support include single-site charter schools as well as established networks that operate schools in several states. Ultimately, we think our portfolio can serve more than one million students nationwide and in doing so, show how public schools can help students achieve excellent outcomes at scale.
THE TEAM
The Seed Team is dedicated to supporting the growth of high-performing charter school networks led by entrepreneurs who currently lead single-site or early-stage charter school networks and want to growth them into two- to five-school networks. We are deeply committed to supporting charter school networks led by entrepreneurs of color. We also prioritize supporting charter school networks operating in communities with few high-quality public-school options and those that are using innovative approaches as a core element of their model to better serve their student population.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Principal will work in collaboration with the Seed Team to source new investments, conduct diligence, propose new investments, manage on-going relationships with portfolio members, and provide outstanding counsel to senior charter leaders in the Seed portfolio.
The ideal candidate is an experienced K-12 leader who can quickly develop strong relationships across internal and external stakeholders, demonstrate creativity in solving problems, and manage complex projects. The Principal will leverage their experience with start-ups and/or scaling, and their deep functional expertise, in the areas of academics, talent, finance and/or operations.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
· Source and identify new charter school networks to join our portfolio
o Source potential investments, including meeting with entrepreneurs and attending relevant conferences and networking events
o Lead intensive due diligence on charter school networks, including visiting schools, evaluating management teams and boards, analyzing financial projections, achievement data, local market dynamics, and reviewing business plans
o Execute key activities during the selection process, including preparation and presentation of investment memos and recommendations to CSGF’s senior management and board of directors
· Provide strategic and technical support to the Seed portfolio members as they grow their organizations
o Serve as thought partner to the leadership teams of charter school networks during their strategic planning and business planning processes
o Act as ongoing strategic advisor to portfolio member management teams and support relationship management
o Connect portfolio members with resources to accelerate their network growth and expansion
· Develop and execute a support program for portfolio members
o Identify common needs throughout the portfolio and design opportunities for the leaders to learn from industry experts
o Facilitate peer interactions and sharing of best practices
· Identify, lead, and manage new strategic initiatives
· Collaborate with other CSGF teams to continuously improve internal processes
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Skills and Characteristics
· Deep commitment to CSGF’s mission and a passion for supporting entrepreneurs of color
· Leadership experience in K-12 charter schools with deep functional expertise in at least one of the following areas: academics, talent, finance or operations
· Strong understanding of an early‐stage charter network’s needs embarking on expansion
· Strong strategic thinking, analytical, and creative problem-solving skills
· Ability to shift seamlessly between high-level strategy and detail-oriented work
· Ability to build strong relationships across diverse group of internal and external stakeholders
· Capacity to work as part of a collaborative and entrepreneurial team within a dynamic and growing organization
· Willingness to travel extensively
Educational Background and Work Experience
· Bachelor’s degree required
· Eight or more years of work experience
WORKING AT CSGF
We are focused on hiring and developing great people, giving them autonomy and maintaining high expectations to help team members grow. We look for team members who will deliver on high-quality work that increases our ability to find, fund, and deepen the impact of our portfolio members. We also believe that building diverse perspectives across our team make us more effective in expanding our impact. (This is reflected in Our Commitment to Diversity Statement.) Our core values are:
· Results. We work relentlessly to create efficient, measurable, and sustainable results. We strive for excellence and pursue our mission tenaciously. Ideally, you thrive working in a self-directed manner in a fluid environment where flexibility and tenacity are required.
· Entrepreneurship. We embrace calculated risks and new approaches. We have an entrepreneurial spirit that welcomes innovation, diversity of ideas, and risk. We rely on you to question conventional wisdom and think independently.
· Integrity. We are truthful, fair, and trustworthy in all aspects of our work. We hold ourselves and our partners to the highest ethical standards. We trust you will too.
· Respect. We appreciate the challenges faced by education entrepreneurs and recognize the limits of our own knowledge. We understand that our ultimate success depends on that of our partners. Your humility will be key to building trusted and authentic relationships.
· Teamwork. We value each of our team members as individuals but believe that we achieve the greatest results by working together. We willingly sacrifice individual interests and recognition for greater collective impact. We hope having fun at work is important to you and that you are a team player.
COMPENSATION
Compensation is commensurate with experience and education. CSGF offers a very competitive compensation package and this position is eligible for a performance bonus. Work authorization required (candidate must have permanent authorization to work in the US).
If interested, please apply here.
