Director, College Partnerships (West)

Department: KIPP Foundation (national roles)

Company Description
About the Organization

KIPP Public Schools is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all.We are a network of 279schools,nearly 16,500educators, andnearly210,000students and alumni.

Our mission :Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Our vision: Every childgrows upfree to create the future they want for themselves and their communities.

The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPPpublic charterschools across the country. The KIPP Foundationhelps todevelop outstanding educators to lead KIPP schools; provides toolsandresources for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; andfacilitatesthe exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations.

About Our Values:

Excellent Results for Students: We value results over effort and know that our work is not finished until all students thrive. Wemaintainhigh expectationsfor self, team, and students. We drive outcomes byoperatingwith agility, removing barriers, differentiating support, and prioritizing student-centered solutions—especially for those at the margins.

Collective Impact: We are one team. Wewintogether. We embody a one-team mindset by working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, andleveragingthe strengths of all teammates. We build trust-based relationships and ensure inclusive decision-making by engaging those closest to the work. We provide clarity through simple, repeatable systems and goals that enable transformational outcomes.

Courageous Action : Our belief in what we can achieve is unwavering, fueling our optimism and commitment to overcome any challenge.Wedemonstratean unwavering belief in students' potential anda commitment toaddressingsystemic inequities. We approach challenges with resilience, a solutions-focused mindset, and adaptability. We foster a psychologically safe environment centered on trust and accountability where feedback is encouraged. Weleveragedata to reflect on progress, own setbacks, celebrate successes, and continuously improve to maximize impact.

Job Description
About The Position

The KIPP Foundation is investing heavily in resources and strategies to increase the number of KIPP alum who graduate from college. To that end, we’re hiring several new Directors of College Partnerships to identify, cultivate, and formalize college/university partnerships that position KIPP alum to enroll and persist in colleges compatible for their aspirations and needs.

Our incoming Director of College Partnerships – West will oversee this work in our Western portfolio, which comprises KIPP regions in California and Colorado + college/universities in those areas and several surrounding states. We will consider you our primary point person and expert on college partnerships across the Western terrain.

In this role, you’ll: identify and cultivate university partnerships; negotiate and formalize MOUs that capture partnership agreements, and; collaborate with our national College Advancement and regional KIPP Forward teams to ensure partnerships are leveraged and aligned to students’ needs.

This is an excellent opportunity for a mission-aligned individual who enjoys building and leveraging relationships to achieve ambitious goals. Our ideal hire will have excellent communication and enjoy leveraging them to inform and invest others in our vision and efforts. You’re someone who is comfortable working autonomously while also being invested – and skilled - in collaboration that will maximize collective opportunities and performance. You have the organizational, project management, and portfolio management skills to structure fast-paced work across a broad geographic portfolio and matrixed organization. You are invested in data-informed decision making and have the skill required to track and analyze data, at the portfolio level, that helps you make strategic partnerships decisions.

You’ll report to our VP of College Partnerships and sit, alongside a suite of Directors of College Partnerships, on our broader College Advancement and Partnerships team.

Responsibilities

1. Build and Manage a Portfolio of Partnerships

a. Identify, cultivate, and formalize university partnerships that increase college enrollment and completion for KIPP students & alum. This will require a blend of: fortifying existing partnerships, reactivating dormant partnerships, and building entirely new partnerships with national universities, regional institutions, HBCUs, and HSIs.

b. Develop, negotiate, and finalize MOUs, stewarding the development of clear commitments and measurable, symbiotic goals that fuel our path to our 2030 vision

c. Ensure we, and partnerships, maintain our MOUs, fulfilling agreements as outlined and revising commitments as needed to align with evolving context, outcomes, and needs

2. Internal Collaboration and Regional Support

a. Partner with our national College Advancement Team and regional KIPP Forward teams to integrate partnerships into student advising and match strategies

b. Exchange work & best practices with other Directors of College Partnerships , fueling cohesion, ability to reach ambitious goals, and stronger collective performance

3. Knowledge Management

a. Strengthen our institutional memory of strategies, plans, wins, and challenges with college partners

b. Support the codification of our best practices

4. Strategic Planning

a. Contribute to the development of our College Partnerships strategy, including the determination of partnerships criteria, baseline MOU structure, goals, benchmarks, and accountability structures.

Skills and Mindsets

Core Mindsets:

Strong Alignment to our Mission and Student Focus: Demonstrates passion for, and commitment to, KIPP’s mission and core values.

Exceptional Self Awareness: Practices self-awareness at work, understanding that it is foundational to leading self, leading people, and leading results; uses reflection, self-understanding, and feedback to grow, and persist through challenges, and as a result, are cognizant of the impact of their behavior on others, and intentional about the decision to adjust or not adjust their behaviors. Displays an owner’s mindset by taking ownership of successes and failure.

Commitment to Continuous Learning: Engages in the work of personal development at working, knowing that personal development is ongoing and vital to their personal and professional success; hold themselves accountable to evolving, growing, learning and unlearning in ways that improve results for students, adults, and the larger community.

Core Skills:

Partnership and Alliance Building : Can generate enthusiasm, Investment and commitments, with internal and external stakeholders, to advance KIPP's mission

Stellar, Compelling Written & Oral Communication: Effectivelytailorscommunications and engagementapproachfor different audiences to deepen investment and drive actions and behavior change that would lead toorg-widegoals.

Effective Collaboration: Has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationship building, and communications skills neededto develop successful working relationships with diverse constituents to deliverresults.Evolves and adapts plans andapproachwith diverse stakeholders to drive results.

Self-Management to Achieve Ambitious Goals: Demonstratedrecord of setting ambitious goals and achieving them with consistency.Invests in developing teammates’ skills and mindsets to address gaps in achieving team growth.Determines what quantitative and qualitative data are most relevant to their goals and supports the team in creating and monitoring systems for collecting, reviewing,and acting upon data to drive outcomes; able to monitor progress, communicating status to the right stakeholders and adjusting plans and use of time to ensure systems are yielding desired outcomes.

Strong Problem Solving :Addressesthe root of problems and removesobstacles from work.Shows initiative in generating and recommending ideas and solutions within their own workstreams. Anticipates risks and develops proactive solutions that support their team.

Qualifications
Experience and Qualifications

Experience working with and supporting students navigating economic barriers and/or first-generation college students preferred

7 or more years building & managing a portfolio of partnerships – preferably with colleges/universities or charter schools across a multi-state territory

At least 2 years building and maintaining MOUs or institutional agreements

Demonstrated experience using data to identify trends, inform decisions, and drive outcomes

Strong record of success setting and reaching ambitious goals

Record of success working cross-functionally, with a diverse array of stakeholders, to implement initiatives and reach goals

Bachelor’s Degree required

Additional Information
Work Conditions

Extensive Travel:~30-50% (65-110 days per year)

Some evening or weekend work (ex: evening events/functions; weekend conferences) occasionally required

Full-Time, Exempt

Location

Remote, with strong, but not required, preference to live in one of the states in our Western portfolio (currently California + Colorado; subject to modification).

Compensation and Benefits

In compliance with local law, we aredisclosingthe compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience. The salary range for this position is $124,800 - $150,000. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:

25 holidays for +18 daysadditionalflexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to23 daysfor years 3 and 4and to28 daysfor years 5+).

100% paid parental leave

100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans.

Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employeeassistanceprogram

Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts

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