Director, Education

Position:  Director, Education

Reports to: Associate Vice President, Education

Organization Summary:

United Way of New York City (UWNYC) is a nonprofit mobilizing people and organizations to eradicate barriers and create opportunities that improve the lives of low-income New Yorkers.   Part of the United Way Worldwide system, one of the world's most recognized charitable brands, we envision caring communities in which all individuals and families have access to quality education and the opportunity to lead healthy and financially secure lives.  We strive to model our values in all our relationships, both internal and external: Collaboration, Compassion, Integrity, Accountability, and Superior Performance.

Position Overview: 

The Director will be responsible for implementing the collective impact strategy and operational   

 plan for ReadNYC, United Way of New York City’s Campaign for Grade-Level Reading. Reading on  

 grade level by grade three is one of the most critical milestones on the path to self-sufficiency.

 However, in New York City, home of the largest public school system in the country, less than one

 third of our students read on grade level by the third grade. UWNYC aims to increase the number

 of students reading proficiently by grade three throughout New York City. 

The primary objective of the Director, ReadNYC, will be to make this vision a reality. The Director will support other Educational Equity initiatives such as: Interdisciplinary Pre-K - 12 Black Studies Curriculum, ReadNYC, UWNYC Education Equity Cabinet, and College, Career and Civic Engagement:

Other accountabilities include:

• Strategic planning as we expand the ReadNYC initiative to new partners and communities
• Collective Action at the community level, ensuring that a cross-sector of stakeholders share a vision, develop a strategy, have the tools to execute, understand how to track progress, and are accountable to the objectives for achieving grade level reading
• Implementation of the plan, mobilizing human and material resources to do so
• Team leadership and strategic leverage of time, talent and resources of multiple partners.

 The Director will report to the Associate Vice President, Education, and work closely with a cross-functional team of internal colleagues as well as with community-based organization (CBO) partners. The Director will play a “backbone” role within those partnerships – building trust and strong relationships, facilitating planning, decisions and action, fostering constant communication, connecting and aligning strategies and resources, and leading innovation through the use of shared data, measurement and accountability.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Working across the organization, own the tracking and project management of all government funding opportunities to ensure that resources are secured to achieve growth targets for programmatic products.
• Develop and maintain feedback mechanisms to ensure that the President’s Office and relevant staff are kept current regarding all strategic government partners.
• Work with the AdvocateNYC team to build strategic relationship building plans for government agencies and elected officials.
• Oversee a portfolio of government partners and elected officials and conduct stewardship and cultivation activities that build, maintain, and strengthen relationships in partnership with UWNYC’s lobbying firm and AdvocateNYC.
• Write letters of inquiry, grant proposals, reports, and acknowledgment letters.
• Ensure compliance with all funder requirements working collaboratively with Operations, Finance, Legal, and Administration.
• Identify and research new prospective government funding opportunities in collaboration with the Manager, Prospect Research.
• Collaborate with program staff to inform proposals and reports.
• Collaborate with the Finance department to develop budgets and other financial reporting.
• Collaborate with Administration and Compliance staff to manage necessary database records, files, reports, and source materials pertinent to foundation and government activities. 
• Collaborate with Marketing & Communications to develop and share impact content.
• Maintain a grants calendar that ensures all government funding deadlines are met with sufficient time for input, develop quarterly internal reports, and facilitate regular outreach to funders.
• Co-lead relationship with UWNYC’s lobbying firm.
• Other duties as required.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

The Director requires a comprehensive knowledge of current early childhood education and youth development issues, obtained through both formal education and substantial work experience.  The Director must be able to work independently, and may be called upon to provide services, guidance and advice to others.

• Master’s Degree in Education, Early Childhood Education, or a closely related degree
• Experience in a related field (preferably early childhood education; possibly social work, organizing, youth development, or nonprofit management)
• Knowledge of the New York City childcare, early learning, and public-school systems
• Knowledge of early learning City, State, and Federal policy
• Knowledge of strategic planning processes, systems change, facilitative leadership, and collective impact approaches
• Proven commitment to social justice and racial equity
• Strong team orientation, relationship-building and negotiation skills, and ability to collaborate with diverse groups of people
• Proven ability to set priorities, work independently and take initiative, manage multiple projects, and meet deadlines
• Outcome-driven and familiarity with using data to inform programmatic decisions
• Extremely strong verbal and written communication skills
• Spanish as a second language a plus
• Excellent organizational and time-management skills.

Key competencies:

• Community Organizing
• Meeting facilitation
• Presentation
• Communication
• Coalition-building
• Consensus-building
• Data collection and use

Salary range:

• $80,875 - $ 112,522
  • The final determination of salary, within this range, will depend on the candidate’s education, skills and experience required for the particular position.

Additional Requirement:

• Fully vaccinated for Covid-19
• Background check  
• UWNYC is presently on a Hybrid/In-Person work schedule

United Way of NYC Core Competencies for All Staff

• Mission Focused: Catalyze others’ commitment to the mission to create real social change that leads to better lives and healthier communities.  This drives their performance and professional motivations.
• Relationship-Oriented: Understands that people come before processes and is astute in cultivating and managing relationships toward a common goal.
• Collaborator: Understands the roles and contributions of all sectors of the community and can mobilize resources (financial and human) through meaningful engagement
• Results Driven: Dedicated to shared and measurable goals for the common good: creating, resourcing, scaling and leveraging strategies and innovations for broad investment and impact
• Brand Steward: Steward of the brand and understands his/her role in growing and protecting the reputation and results of the greater network.

How to apply:

Please apply on our United Way of New York City career page. No phone calls or faxes accepted. No phone calls or faxes accepted.

United Way of New York City is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer