THE OPPORTUNITY

New Schools for Baton Rouge (NSBR) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2012 with the goal of ensuring every student in Baton Rouge has access to an excellent school, inspiring all students, and preparing them for success after high school. NSBR works with families, school partners, and community leaders to identify citywide needs in education, then provides grants and develops strategic partnerships to address these needs. NSBR fundraises, nationally and locally, to enable these investments in the city. NSBR has invested $92 million to support students, families, and schools. The organization is poised to continue supporting the city at this scale in the coming years.

OUR CORE VALUES

At New Schools for Baton Rouge, our work is grounded in a shared commitment to students and to one another. Our core values shape how we show up, how we make decisions, and how we pursue our mission.

EXCELLENCE — We lead boldly, serve humbly.

INTEGRITY — We build trust through transparency.

ACCOUNTABILITY — We follow through. Every time.

EQUITY — We center all students in our decisions. Always.

COLLABORATION — We are better when we build together.

LEARNING — We learn forward.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Executive Director (ED) is a critical senior leader role for NSBR. In this role, you will be an important partner on the leadership team, responsible for driving the organization's strategic growth initiatives for Baton Rouge and Louisiana. You will be responsible for scaling the impact of our work by identifying, influencing and investing in high quality charter operators. Your objective is focused on both quality and growth in opportunity areas statewide. As the ED, you will report to Noemi Donoso, CEO, and manage at least two direct reports. While candidates are preferred to live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based candidates will be considered. This role will require frequent travel (up to 40%) and at least two days in the Baton Rouge office (weekly).

As Executive Director, you will:

Develop and implement a statewide strategic plan to grow charter share outside of Baton Rouge and New Orleans

• Oversee the development and execution of a comprehensive growth strategy and school pipeline plan for high-quality charter schools throughout the state, aligned with the organization's mission and goals

• Design and lead a process to cultivate, recruit, select, fund, support, and hold accountable new statewide operators

• Identify and cultivate strategic partnerships with Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE), Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools (LAPCS), regional and local educational institutions, community leaders, and corporate partners

• Partner with charter operators to support local policy and political context, charter authorization, facilities (as needed), school launch, and student recruitment

• Identify influential local leaders who will support community outreach and advocacy

• Oversee and manage statewide investments, including grant agreements, milestones, and disbursements

• Develop and manage relationships with key stakeholders to fund and scale work

Lead the execution of NSBR's growth strategy

• Oversee the systematic collection, warehousing, and analysis of data including key KPIs, statewide achievement and growth data, as well as interim assessment data to capture impact and guide real-time investments and decision-making

• Lead a robust data-driven process to approve charter growth investments and achieve intended outcomes, including operator scouting, recruitment, diligence, risk-mitigation, Investment Committee and full Board materials and presentations, contract agreements, performance management, and reporting

• Serve as the lead for both the statewide and Baton Rouge Board Investment Committees

• Ensure all charter growth grantees meet enrollment targets and, in collaboration with the Achievement Team, deliver on their quality promise

• Produce timely communication, updates, narratives and data reports for the Board, funders, and key stakeholders, to represent our impact and raise our profile, in Baton Rouge and throughout Louisiana

• Partner with the CEO to support the Baton Rouge charter ecosystem and all of its operators and local boards

• Manage performance of newly opened operators and solve for any unexpected results, including academic and operational supports and accountability

Manage and lead a high performing team to achieve ambitious outcomes

• Develop and implement a vision for an effective, growth-oriented team

• Lead team to set annual organizational, team, and individual goals aligned with priorities

• Manage team budget and resources, including time and effort of employees and consultants

• Ensure the growth, development, and retention of team members

EXPERIENCE

• At least 10 years relevant experience and 5 years leadership experiences, specifically:

  • Working in strategy or consulting in K-12 education

  • Experience overseeing data and impact storytelling

  • Experience launching and leading charter schools, with a preference for senior leadership experience in a charter management organization

  • Experience leading a high performing team to ambitious results

QUALIFICATIONS

• Ability to work collaboratively, break down silos, and bring people together with differing and/or competing priorities, within and outside of the organization.

• Excellent organization skills—demonstrated ability to structure work into timelines and deliverables and think ahead proactively to address dependencies and roadblocks.

• Excellent written and oral communication skills—demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with school leaders, board of directors, and other education professionals.

• Resilience, strong work ethic, and outcomes orientation—demonstrated ability to balance competing priorities under stress and follow through despite sometimes tight or unexpected deadlines.

• Ability to learn quickly, accept and use feedback, work effectively under pressure, and manage a diverse workload.

• Demonstrated track record of leading and working with high levels of excellence.

• High comfort with ambiguity and tolerance for risk.

• Ability to serve as an organizational leader both internally and externally.

• Ability to influence without authority.

• Commitment to high quality conversational capacity and communication skills.

• A high degree of self-awareness and a demonstrated commitment to learning and continuous improvement.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor's degree required

WORK DEMANDS

• Willingness to work some weekends and evenings

• This role will require frequent travel across the state and occasionally the country (up to 40%)

• Willingness to travel into Baton Rouge at least twice weekly

COMPENSATION

This is a full-time role offering compensation that is competitive and commensurate with experience and qualifications. The salary range for this role starts at $175,000 to $190,000. In addition, NSBR provides a comprehensive benefits package that includes individual health and dental insurance, paid time off, and a 401(k) plan with company-matching contributions.