Vice President, YouthTruth
The Opportunity:
We believe, and research shows, that student and stakeholder voice matters.
We equip education leaders and philanthropic funders to integrate on-the-ground insights into planning, professional development, and improvement processes. As the leader of YouthTruth, you would have the opportunity to influence schools, districts, funders and networks and help create happier, healthier, school systems paving the way for higher academic achievement.
Position Overview:
The Vice President represents YouthTruth and oversees all aspects of the initiative. The Vice President represents YouthTruth publicly, leads fundraising efforts, and manages relationships with its advisors. The Vice President is also responsible for the strategic and operational leadership of YouthTruth and ensuring that YouthTruth achieves its goals. Other key responsibilities of this role include marketing, managing funder relationships, overseeing district and state recruitment efforts nationally, overseeing product development, and guiding overall implementation. Reporting to the President of CEP, the Vice President is a member of CEP’s senior leadership team, leads a team of 17, and collaborates closely with staff in other departments at CEP.
Responsibilities:
- Provide strategic vision and leadership to successfully achieve YouthTruth’s growth, expansion, and sustainability pl
- Serve as a spokesperson and persuasive champion for YouthTruth, for the importance of hearing from students, and for the insights gleaned from our data sets – including through speaking engagements, blog posts, and op eds.
- Cultivate and manage new and existing funder relationships to support YouthTruth, with leading national and regional education funders and organizations.
- Lead regional funder collaboratives to help foundations learn from and use perception data to advance their strategy, tactics, and grantee relationships.
- Working closely with YouthTruth’s leadership team:
- Oversee all program operations – including survey administration, customization, data analysis, production of reports at multiple levels (teacher, school, district, and regional/state/portfolio-level), results sharing, and professional development workshops for leadership teams – for all YouthTruth products (student surveys, family, surveys, and school staff surveys).
- Oversee sales, marketing, and outreach efforts to engage regional funders, states and districts; and to apply YouthTruth’s experience to ongoing school improvement effor
- Focus team on ensuring that clients understand, and are well positioned to use, assessment results – demonstrating patience, empathy, and an appreciation for organizational dynamics and the barriers to change and
- Oversee research agenda and publication of two to four reports annually drawing on YouthTruth’s aggregate national dataset.
- Manage and convene an external Advisory Board to provide strategic guidance.
- Manage a 17-person team and foster a strong team culture that prioritizes cohesion, mentorship, trust, respect, and empathy.
Qualifications
- Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to build relationships with a variety of constituents and present a vision and a compelling case for organizational support
- Superior analytical skills and comfort drawing insights from data and applying them to broader context and application
- At least 10 years of relevant work experience, including experience managing teams in a fast‐paced Edtech organization, school district or network, nonprofit, or business environment
- Demonstrated experience successfully bringing an initiative or business to scale
- Exceptional project management skills and experience managing a small team across multiple dynamic workstreams
- Strong strategic acumen, understanding of organizational dynamics, and ability to navigate challenging political climates
- Commitment to the role that data can play in improving the performance of education improvement efforts
- Interest in leading a growing team in a highly entrepreneurial, fast‐paced environment;
- Willingness to “roll up one’s sleeves”
- Experience leading marketing and sales efforts
- A commitment to excellence and diversity, equity, and inclusion; in particular, experience with – and strong advocacy for – marginalized communities
- Strong risk tolerance and comfort with ambiguity
- Ability to lead, motivate, and support a passionate and dedicated staff
- Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree in Education, Business, or similar field preferred
- Estimated 25 percent travel required
We believe diversity and inclusion are key drivers of creativity and innovation, and we actively seek out candidates from many types of diverse backgrounds to apply for this exciting role.
Benefits
We successfully compete for top talent across the public and private sectors and offer competitive compensation and benefits, including:
- A commitment to pay parity and salary equity. The annual salary for this role is $255,000 (CA)
- Performance based incentive compensation plan
- Comprehensive health and dental insurance plans
- Generous paid time off plan, including up to 15 holidays, three weeks of accrued vacation, and two personal days per year
- Flexible working schedule options
- 401(k) plan with a 1:1 Employer Match up to 5% of total compensation
- Generous annual personal professional development allowance
- Flexible spending and dependent care tax free savings plans
- Life insurance covered 100% by the organization
Location:
This role will be based in our San Francisco, California office.
We strive to balance in-person time with flexibility and the needs of each person, team, and the organization. We believe culture, communication, trust, training, and certain kinds of creative work benefit from in-office interactions – and that remote work also has many advantages. Staff are expected to be in the office one day per week and enjoy the option to work fully remotely from anywhere four weeks per year. That said, given the leadership role the Vice President will play and the size of the YouthTruth team, we’d expect a more significant in-office presence for this leader: perhaps two to three days a week in the office when not traveling.
About YouthTruth
YouthTruth was born out of a conversation between the Center for Effective Philanthropy and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation back in 2008. The Foundation was seeking to hear from more voices – and one that was missing was the voice of the people whose lives they were trying to affect: the students themselves.
YouthTruth is based on the simple but powerful premise that when you get timely feedback from those you’re trying to serve, and really listen to that feedback to make changes, you get better.
About CEP
For two decades, CEP has led the movement to improve philanthropy through a powerful combination of dispassionate analysis and a passionate commitment to improving lives. Today, over 350 foundations around the world have used CEP’s assessments and advisory services to gather honest feedback from their stakeholders in an effort to learn how to be even more effective. CEOs and trustees have come to rely on our research for insights into foundation effectiveness on a wide range of topics, from assessing performance to developing strategy to managing stakeholder relationships. Our highly regarded programming—including our biennial conference—gives foundation leaders an exclusive and unprecedented opportunity to connect with their peers. Strengths of CEP’s work culture are entrepreneurialism, accountability, teamwork, collegiality, diversity, and mutual respect.
To Apply
Please fill out our application for employment and attach a resume and a thoughtful cover letter outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position. If you have any questions, please contact Leaha Wynn, Senior Manager, People and Culture and D&I Strategist or Alyse d’Amico, Vice President of People and Culture at jobs@cep.org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
We believe that a diversity of thoughts, experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and identities helps us think bigger and better, and enables us to reach our goals more effectively. We are committed to building a diverse staff and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply.
Once a candidate begins our process, we discourage outreach to our staff for interviews or conversations that are outside our standard interview process. We have worked hard to design a process that is fair and rigorous and achieves a good match between candidates and CEP/YouthTruth.
We evaluate candidates based on their merits. We strongly discourage unsolicited references. We will ask for references if and when a candidacy reaches a finalist stage.
Analyst, YouthTruth – Cambridge, MA
We believe, and research shows, that student and stakeholder feedback matters for school improvement and student success. That’s why, in 2008, we created YouthTruth – to help educators harness student and stakeholder feedback to accelerate improvements. We’ve heard from almost three million students as well as hundreds of thousands of family and staff members across 39 states. When you join YouthTruth, you join a small and collaborative team that has a big impact on schools across the U.S. and the education sector.
As an Analyst, you will be instrumental in putting important student perception data into the hands of those making instructional and leadership decisions in K‐12 schools. Being part of YouthTruth, a national nonprofit, gives you the chance to apply and grow your skills in a fast-paced, client-driven environment while making a difference in education.
The Ideal Candidate:
- You are highly organized, analytical, and detail‐oriented. You consistently produce high‐quality, error‐free work, reflecting an ability to complete tasks on time with quality and accuracy.
- You have a deep interest in and passion for education, and a belief in student voice as a powerful tool to make important changes in education.
- You have an ability to learn new tools, systems, and skills quickly.
- You are flexible, adaptable, and reliable in a fast‐paced environment.
- You are able to manage multiple priorities and timelines simultaneously.
- You are confident that your work can make a difference but humble in the knowledge that you are always learning and improving.
- You are a genuinely wonderful colleague to have around. You work well within a close knit‐team as well as across other departments. You are also excellent at managing up. Your highly positive attitude, shared commitment to excellence, and thoughtfulness are valuable assets to the organization.
- Your interpersonal and communication skills allow you to interact effectively with colleagues at all levels of the organization as well as external contacts.
What You’ll Do:
You will work closely with YouthTruth’s energetic and diverse staff to provide district leaders and school principals with data‐driven insights to enhance their effectiveness. The core function of this role is to create data‐driven reports based on student survey results. More specifically, you can expect to be involved in the following:
Survey Administration & Reporting (70%)
- Co-manage the survey administration and monthly report production
- Create and administer online surveys for our clients on tight deadlines
- Generate data‐driven reports for our clients in an online interactive platform
- Troubleshoot and problem‐solve operational and client issues
- Provide strong quality control of online surveys and report products
Process and Product Development (20%)
- Over time, contribute insights to new features and processes to improve the efficiency of survey administration, data analysis, and data visualization
- Program in Python: Execute, review, and analyze Python scripts to recommend process improvements. Writing code to perform analysis of our data to support product updates and research reports.
- Opportunities to participate in the refinement of survey instruments and reports; contribute to new product development to meet school and district needs
Other (10%)
- Contribute to analysis of the large‐scale YouthTruth; gather insights from our data for marketing, blogs, and communications
- Actively contribute to team discussions, collaborating on cross‐team projects and helping to develop CEP’s internal knowledge base and operations
- Collaborating with Partnerships Leads to support responsiveness to the client-driven demands of the team
Your Background, Experiences, and Interests:
- College degree (B.S., B.A.), or equivalent, and some work experience required
- Strong interest in and experience with analyzing and interpreting data, and proficiency in basic statistics
- Experience with computer programming, in particular Python and/or R – these languages form the basis of our surveying and reporting processes
- Experience with SQL a plus but not required
- Exposure to Ruby and Javascript a plus but not required
- Comfort with ambiguity and ability to remain flexible in response to business needs of a rapidly growing team
- A work ethic consistent with the CEP/YouthTruth organizational culture: thoughtful; commitment to client confidentiality; demonstrates the highest level of personal integrity as well as a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
While all CEP staff are at-will employees, due to an in-depth ramp-up period at the start of every Analyst’s tenure, our expectation is that analysts will stay in the role for a minimum of 2-3 years, assuming satisfactory performance.
Benefits:
Our nonprofit model is central to our identity: our bottom line is impact, not profit. Yet even as a nonprofit, we successfully compete for top talent across both the public and private sectors and offer competitive compensation and benefits, including:
- A commitment to pay parity and salary equity. The annual base salary for this position is $82,487. In addition, this role is eligible for a competitive Performance Based Incentive Compensation.
- Comprehensive health, vision, and dental insurance plans.
- Generous paid time off plan, including up to 15 holidays, three weeks of accrued vacation, and two personal days per year.
- 401(k) plan with a 1:1 Employer Match up to 5% of total compensation.
- Generous annual personal professional development allowance.
- Flexible spending and dependent care tax free savings plans.
- Life insurance covered 100% by the organization.
We believe diversity and inclusion are key drivers of creativity and innovation, and we actively seek out candidates from many types of diverse backgrounds to apply for this exciting role.
Location:
We have offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts and San Francisco, California. The YouthTruth team resides alongside staff in other departments at The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), YouthTruth’s parent nonprofit. This role will be based in our Cambridge, MA office.
We strive to balance in-person time with flexibility and the needs of each person, their team, and the larger organization. We believe culture, collaboration, communication, trust- and relationship building, training, and certain kinds of creative work benefit from in-office interactions – and we believe that the flexibility of remote work also has many advantages. We expect staff to be in the office at least one to two days per week, and more frequently during new staff introduction periods to support a robust orientation. Eeeryone will enjoy the option to work fully remotely from anywhere four weeks per year.
Our Process:
CEP seeks an Analyst for a start on June 24th, 2024. Our rolling process includes three interview rounds: an initial phone conversation, a skills assessment, and a team interview round. Our process also includes the checking of references in final stages. Check out CEP’s careers page to learn more about how we hire.
To Apply:
Please fill out our application for employment and attach a resume, your transcript, and a thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position.
If you have any questions, please contact Leaha Wynn, Senior Manager, People and Culture; Diversity and Inclusion Strategist or Alyse d’Amico, Vice President, People & Culture; Advisor to the President at jobs [at] cep[dot] org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
We believe that a diversity of thoughts, experiences, backgrounds, personalities, and identities helps us think bigger and better, and enables us to reach our goals more effectively. We are committed to building a diverse staff and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply.
Once a candidate begins our process, we discourage outreach to our staff for interviews or conversations that are outside our standard interview process. We have worked hard to design a process that is fair and rigorous and achieves a good match between candidates and CEP/YouthTruth.
We evaluate candidates based on their merits. We strongly discourage unsolicited references. We will ask for references if and when a candidate reaches a finalist stage.