Director, Formal Learning (Principal Manager)

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 278 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and nearly 190,000 students 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 child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities. 

The KIPP Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP public charter schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation helps to develop outstanding educators to lead KIPP schools; provides tools and resources for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the 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. We maintain high expectations for self, team, and students. We drive outcomes by operating with agility, removing barriers, differentiating support, and prioritizing student-centered solutions—especially for those at the margins. 

Collective Impact: We are one team. We win together. We embody a one-team mindset by working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, and leveraging the 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. We demonstrate an unwavering belief in students' potential and a commitment to addressing systemic 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. We leverage data to reflect on progress, own setbacks, celebrate successes, and continuously improve to maximize impact. 

About The Position 

As the Director of Formal Learning, you will lead the KIPP Foundation’s efforts to ensure every principal manager in every regions is equipped and inspired to drive excellent instructional and talent leadership in schools—while maintaining an unwavering focus on increasing the number of students who thrive in school and graduate from the college of their choice.  You will design and execute a vision for onboarding and ongoing development that results in principal managers growing the skills they need to be successful in their roles—and choosing to stay and lead at KIPP. In partnership with Foundation teams and regional leaders, you will create cohesive, high-impact learning experiences that build the capacity of principal managers to coach principals, lead teams, and deliver on our academic and cultural commitments to KIPPsters. The ideal candidate will be deeply committed to racial and educational equity and will bring a strong orientation toward impact and continuous improvement. This position reports to the Senior Director, Formal Learning. 

Responsibilities 

Principal Manager Formal Learning: You will own the strategy, design, and execution of a comprehensive, outcomes-driven formal learning experience for principal managers across the KIPP network. This includes: 

• Lead the design, facilitation, and continuous improvement of multiple-day, in-person, and virtual professional development experiences for principal managers that are grounded in adult learning best practices, aligned to KIPP’s leadership competency model, and tailored to network needs. 

• Ensure strong in-region follow-up to ensure effective application of learning from centralized professional development programming 

• Set the vision for and facilitate a dynamic monthly Community of Practice that fosters learning, collaboration, and problem-solving among principal managers across the network. 

• Lead the creation of monthly, high-quality, turnkey professional development sessions for two critical audiences: (1) resources that principal manager supervisors can use to develop their principal managers, and (2) resources that principal managers can use to develop their principals. 

• Co-design and support the execution of the New Principal Manager Cohort experience, ensuring new leaders are set up for success from the start through targeted onboarding and community-building. 

Principal Manager In-Region Coaching: You will take full ownership of developing and scaling coaching tools, practices, and supports that build the capacity of principal managers and, in turn, drive stronger principal and school performance. This includes: 

• Design, build, and continuously improve a suite of high-impact tools and products aligned to the KIPP Leadership Competency Model that support regions and the Foundation in the effective coaching and development of principal managers and principals. 

• Identify, curate, and organize exemplary leadership practices from across the KIPP network that illustrate high proficiency in core leadership competencies. Ensure these models are accessible, actionable, and embedded in coaching and development efforts networkwide. 

• Establish and maintain regular, strategic communication with professional development program leads across KIPP Foundation and KIPP regions to ensure alignment, share insights, and spotlight tools and practices that advance principal manager development. 

• Provide direct, targeted in-region and virtual coaching to principal managers that builds their leadership skill proficiency and directly contributes to improved principal effectiveness and stronger student and school outcomes. 

Principal Formal Learning: You will contribute to the strategy, design, and execution of a comprehensive, outcomes-driven formal learning experience for principals across the KIPP network. This includes: 

• Lead the design, facilitation, and continuous improvement of multiple-day, in-person, and virtual professional development experiences for principals grounded in adult learning best practices, aligned to KIPP’s leadership competency model, and tailored to network needs. 

• Ensure strong in-region follow-up to ensure effective application of learning from centralized professional development programming 

• Support the execution of the New Principal Cohort experience, ensuring new leaders are set up for success from the start through targeted onboarding and community-building.

Skills and Mindsets 

• Mission and Student Focus: Demonstrates passion and commitment to KIPP’s mission and possesses the desire and ability to uphold KIPP’s core values (Focus on Excellent Results, Collective Impact, and Courageous Action)  

• Achievement and Outcomes Orientation: Demonstrated record 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. 

• Process Management: Able to build and align goals and project plans with organization priorities; leverages relevant organizational processes and systems to execute work; can build and maintain knowledge management systems; effectively develops and codifies cross-team processes relevant to their team’s work that improve work quality and efficiency; uses data to drive process improvements in support of organizational priorities.  

• Strategic Decision Making & Problem Solving: Efficiently defines the right metrics to evaluate work and ensures critical team actions, decisions, and recommendations are driven by data; effectively works with team to resolve issues around data to ensure sound data-informed decisions. Effectively identifies and addresses root causes to the most important problem. 

• Effective Teaming & Stakeholder Management: Has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationship building, and communications skills necessary to develop successful working relationships with diverse constituents to deliver results; evolves and adapts plans and approach with diverse stakeholders to drive results; excellent communication skills with an aptitude for translating complex information into a clear and persuasive narrative; convinces others by identifying benefits for all. 

• Learning & Instructional Leadership: Advanced knowledge of adult learning principles and instructional design frameworks; capability to develop, implement, and evaluate comprehensive professional development programs that address varying learning styles and organizational needs; Highly skilled and experienced in leading the Internalization and Planning process, conducting Observation/Feedback meeting, providing real-time feedback, leading Weekly Data Meetings, setting academic goals and monitoring progress.   

• Coaching: Well versed in coaching with an equity lens, responding to and initiating conversations about diversity, equity, belonging; skilled in supporting professionals in navigating power dynamics, disproportionalities, oppressive policies and in disrupting white supremacy culture in our organization. 

Experience and Qualifications 

• 7+ years of work experience with creating and delivering formal learning systems in an organization with national reach.  

• 3+ years of work experience as a principal manager or coaching principal managers  

• Experience coaching principal managers highly preferred  

• Experience working in virtual environments with teammates across multiple time zones;   

• Familiarity with virtual learning platforms highly preferred

Work Conditions 

• Travel requirements: 20%

• Full-time, Exempt role 

Location 

It is preferred, but not mandatory for this role to be based out of a KIPP Foundation office. This role also has the option of working from a remote office full-time. KIPP Foundation offices are in NYC and Chicago. 

Compensation and Benefits 

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the 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 $120,000 - $145,000. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:  

• 25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for 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 employee assistance program 

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

KIPP Foundation embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of the students and communities with whom we work and the world that’s around them. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.