Director, Data and IT Support

Company Description

Uncommon Schools  is a nonprofit network of high-performing, public charter schools providing an outstanding K-12 education in historically under-resourced communities. We have proudly built schools that reflect our student population, with more than 60% of our teachers and staff across our network identifying as a person of color. Uncommon currently manages 52 schools serving more than 20,000 students in five cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark and Rochester. We are proud that Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at five times the rate of their peers nationally. We achieve this by offering strong academic, co-curricular, and social-emotional learning that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

Job Description

This role is responsible for leading the IT Support team at Uncommon Schools. They will serve on the IT Leadership team with their fellow IT Directors and set strategic priorities for the data and technology services delivered to all schools and the Home Office. They will also be responsible for managing the Data & IT team’s relationship with schools, RSOs, and other Home Office teams.

Customer Service and Support Service Leadership:

• Manage and align internal processes and best practices
• Represent the opportunity and value customer service and IT Service best practices bring to Uncommon among the organization’s leadership.
• Partner with other Data & IT Leaders and Data Analytics to establish highly effective approaches in working with functions that are critical to the delivery of quality data across Uncommon 
• Establish the methods and processes to mature the support services function at Uncommon Schools
• Lead/facilitate Customer Service activities across the organization
• Review existing processes and continually improve them. This includes reviewing lessons learned from each initiative within the team and leading the team through change of process improvements. 
• Oversee relationships will all regional leads and schools.
• Lead the creation and maintenance of the internal and external knowledge base documentation on all IT Support business processes and products in order to facilitate self-service.
• Set service level agreements for all Uncommon’s supported applications and ensure service level agreements are met.

Data & IT Leadership:

• Partnership with Data & IT, functional teams, and vendors: Establish highly effective approaches in working together that are critical to a highly functioning, sustainable, technology ecosystem. 
• Foster a culture of ownership among the Data & IT team and at the Home Office.
• Partner with other IT Directors to form a cohesive strategic plan that accomplishes the team’s 2 to 3-year vision
• Develop annual Data & IT Team goals that incorporate IT Service best practices.

Projects: 

• Gather Requirements from functional and school-based teams as necessary 
• Establish IT Support Service expectations for new projects or solutions
• Act as subject matter expert on internal and external project teams when knowledge of applications, systems, processes, or data is required.
• Work closely with Project Management teams to collaborate on the roll-out and support of any new technology platforms and any data integration work.
•  Providing leadership and training to the team on technical or business concepts and in Support Service best practices. 
• Develop and maintain strong relationships, keeping stakeholders informed and engaged throughout the entire project lifecycle.
• Collaborate with relevant stakeholders such as Regional and Functional leaders, other technology teams, and project managers to ensure timely completion of the planned book of work 

IT Support Team Management:

• This position directly manages 6 FTE at varied levels
• Provide a clear vision and objectives for the IT Support Team and its role within Uncommon.
• Oversight: Guide and review team member's contributions to Knowledge Base Articles and other support artifacts.
• Professional Development: Support the team member's individual growth within Uncommon and the K-12 Data and technology space
• Lead problem-solving for the team-- identify trends and pain points with our applications and support processes.
• Train team members in Customer Service and IT best practices.
• Successfully manage outages to root cause identification and resolution. 
• Provide alternatives and recommendations to data management approaches for strategic activities within schools and Home Office functions.
• Guide the team through data issue resolution using strong analytical skills as well as hands-on experience with data-related issue analysis and development of solutions to resolve data quality issues

Qualifications

Education Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree

Experience Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience supporting/configuring the following applications for state reporting in NY, NJ, and MA:
  • PowerSchool
  • Illuminate
• 5+ years experience in project management in a matrixed organization & data management in K-12
• 3+ years of management experience & managing complex enterprise systems
• 1+ year of experience managing a $400,000 annual operating budget 
• Basic knowledge of SQL and at least one scripting language

Additional Information

Our people are what make us uncommon. It’s important to us that our compensation practices align with our values and enhance our ability to attract and retain talent.  Our compensation philosophy is focused on equity and fairness, retaining our talented staff and valuing their expertise, and transparency and clarity.

Compensation for this position:  Candidates who meet all job description requirements will likely receive an offer of $130,400.The starting compensation for this role is between $115,900 to $144,900.The starting pay will depend on various factors including but not limited to relevant professional experience, education, certifications, and tenure with Uncommon Schools.  To receive an offer at the top of the range, candidates will need significant experience beyond the job description requirements.  Because we value staff tenure in a role, we do not currently cap salary ranges for current staff members. 

Other Benefits:

• 19 days of paid time off in addition to three weeks of paid winter and summer org-wide holidays
• Extensive, best-in-class training and development  
• Choice of 3 comprehensive health insurance plans
• Pre-tax flexible spending and health saving accounts
• Financial planning & wellness
  • 403(b) retirement savings program + employer match
  • 529 college savings program
  • Public Service Loan Forgiveness application assistance
  • Financial  planning tools and assistance
• Dependent Care FSA, back up childcare and daycare discounts, pet care insurance
• Paid leave of absence 
  • Fully paid parental leave
  • Fully paid medical leave
  • Additional paid Short Term and Long Term Disability insurance 
• Mental health and counseling support + wellness benefits

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building an exceptional team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. We also strive to ensure an inclusive community by creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students. As an equal opportunity employer, Uncommon provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. We also ensure that individuals with disabilities receive all privileges and benefits associated with employment and are provided reasonable accommodations for the interview process and to perform core job functions. If you would like to request an accommodation, please email recruitment@uncommonschools.org.