TEAM: National – Org Wide Learning and Strategy
REPORTS TO: Vice President, Internal Learning & Innovation (ILI)
LOCATION: Flexible
THE ROLE
As Director of Knowledge and Product Management you will be part of our collective effort to drive Teach for America’s transformation into being a learning organization. You are a person who has strong visual and graphic design skills with the ability to effectively communicate complex concepts, frameworks, information and data in visually compelling and user-friendly products, including but not limited to, presentations, reports, and web/visual media. In this role, you will lead the work to improve our team’s capacity to create high quality deliverables that are easy to use and easy to access. You will work with the Vice President, Internal Learning and Innovation, and key leaders across the Org-Wide Learning and Strategy Team to support our vision for enhancing learning, innovation, and collective action at TFA. More specifically, you will support and/or lead projects aimed at improving our team’s internal knowledge management capacity by leveraging and/or developing systems and processes to effectively generate, store, and disseminate insights across the team and across the organization. Critical to our work is our team’s ability to develop and share high quality insights and tools with our regional and national teams. The Director of Knowledge and Product Management will drive the work to strengthen the usability and accessibility of our products, and push out content to the organization. You will also manage and evolve our team’s existing technology (ie. google site or other platforms) to ensure we provide our regional and national teams with interactive opportunities to engage with our products and services.
The ideal candidate will be
- A creative problem-solver who leverages curiosity and takes initiative to find solutions that are impact-driven and user-centered.
- Motivated by complex challenges and not deterred by ambiguity or changing priorities.
- Excited by bringing rough ideas to life and creating new things.
- A learner, constantly building their expertise and adding new skills and tools to their repertoire.
- Highly creative and skilled at translating complex ideas into simple easy-to-digest and visually compelling products.
THE ORGANIZATION
There are more than 16 million children growing up in poverty in the U.S., and less than 10 percent of them will graduate from college. These statistics are not a reflection of our children’s potential; we know that children growing up in poverty can and do achieve at the highest levels. Rather, these statistics reflect the systemic lack of access and opportunity for children in low-income communities.
Teach For America’s (TFA) mission is to find, develop, and support a diverse network of leaders committed to expanding opportunity for children from classrooms, schools, and every sector and field that shapes the broader systems in which schools operate. We are seeking individuals who align with our mission, core values and commitment to Diversity Equity & Inclusiveness and are ready to join us in this global movement.
THE PERSON
Primary Responsibilities
Knowledge Management (35%)
- Develop and execute on knowledge management strategy across the OWLS team
- Manage and evolve the team’s knowledge management infrastructures and processes (google sites, google drive, box folder, slack, etc.)
- Work collaboratively with OWLS Knowledge Management team to adopt and standardize, across the team, key knowledge management practices including, but not limited to, after action reviews, knowledge mapping, events capture, etc..
- Serve as the OWLS representative on Org-Wide Knowledge Management Governance body
Product Management (35%)
- Develop and execute a product strategy focused on creating high quality products and leveraging push out strategies to bring awareness of products/brand
- Design visually compelling, professional, and polished products
- Develop tools and processes to improve our team’s capacity to create high quality products, for regions and national teams, that are easy to use and easy to access
- Translate the work of subject matter experts into formats that are effective with audiences at all skill levels
- Leverage existing or new technology to provide regions and national teams with opportunities to engage with our products and services
- Build strategic partnerships with the Human Assets and Marketing and Communications team to ensure alignment to TFA brand standards and org-wide communication policies
Project Support (20%)
- Provide support, as needed, to high priority team-wide projects that require knowledge and product management support
Team & Organizational Contributions (10%)
- Support org-wide initiatives and positively contribute to team culture.
- Participate in the corps member interview selection process.
- Attend professional development conferences and learning group experiences.
- Steward organizational priorities, core values, Foundations, and breakthrough results.
- Demonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.
THE MUST HAVES
Skills
- Strong visual and graphic design skills with the ability to effectively communicate complex concepts, frameworks, information and data in visually compelling and user-friendly products, including but not limited to, presentations, reports, and web/visual media
- Setting vision and strategy for managing projects
- Strong project management skills and attention to detail
- Passion for making sense of user behavior and serving as a dedicated advocate of a user-centered approach
- Experience guiding teams towards adopting new processes and tools.
- Product management experience including, but not limited do, design and launch of products and monitoring user feedback to product rollout
- Ability to thrive in a goal-oriented, fast-paced, adaptive, and entrepreneurial environment
- Ability to think big, generate ideas, and drive solutions to complex problems
- Ability to adapt and implement new technologies that advance our org-wide knowledge management strategy
- Excellent judgment and effective prioritization
- Deep commitment to Teach For America’s Foundations, including our vision, mission, core values, and our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusiveness
Prior Experience
- 5+ years work/academic experience, bachelor’s degree required, preferably in Design, Advertising, Library Sciences or Organizational Learning
- Prior experience in product development and knowledge management
- Prior experience in user experience design and/or interface design
- Prior experience leveraging tech solutions to enhance products and knowledge management capacities
- Well versed in most Adobe programs, including Adobe Creative Suite with a solid background in using InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro
Work Demands
- Moderate travel is required (~quarterly)
- Working with colleagues who are based all over the country – using remote technologies (e.g., Zoom, slack, etc.)
THE TEAM
The Internal Learning & Innovation team is a sub-team of the national Org-Wide Learning and Strategy (OWLS) team. As internal strategic consultants, we lead engagements that produce high-impact insights and solutions for regional and national teams. We establish a process for innovation and act as a catalyst and facilitator in the identification, evaluation, and sharing of innovative solutions that improve organizational performance. We build tools that grow the capabilities of our staff to engage in rigorous learning processes. Our team’s impact is measured by the extent that our network is working together collectively to enhance learning, innovation, and collective leadership to move towards our near-term priorities (e.g., breakthrough results) and long-term vision
THE PERKS
By joining staff, you join a network of individuals committed to pursuing equity for all students and developing themselves as professionals in the process. We as an organization value the longevity of our employees and offer a comprehensive and competitive benefits plan. The salary for this position is also competitive and depends on your prior work experience. Please be advised, you will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.
WE ARE DEEPLY COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
Teach For America encourages individuals of all ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic backgrounds to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we want to engage all those who can contribute to this effort.
Teach For America is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
*This job description reflects Teach For America’s assignment of essential functions and qualifications of the role. Nothing in this herein restricts management’s right to assign, reassign or eliminate duties and responsibilities to this role at any time.
NEXT STEPS
Interested in this position? Apply now! Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the link to the online application. If you still have questions regarding the role, feel free to contact our recruitment team at staffing@teachforamerica.org or visit www.teachforamerica.org/about-us/careers.