District Strategic Supports Advisor (Director I)

MISSION: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.

Core Values:

We are Determined: We are committed and intentional in the pursuit of our main purpose, to improve outcomes for students.

We are People-Centered: We strive to attract, develop, and retain the most committed talent, representing the diversity of Texas, each contributing to our common vision for students.

We are Learners: We seek evidence, reflect on success and failure, and try new approaches in the pursuit of excellence for our students.

We are Servant Leaders: Above all else, we are public servants working to improve opportunities for students and provide support to those who serve them.

Position Overview: As part of the District Strategic Supports Division, the District Strategic Supports Advisor (DSSA) is responsible for relationship management and providing high caliber consultation to superintendents and district leadership teams across the state to pursue research-based strategies and connect to aligned technical assistance and support. In order to be impactful, the DSSA will proactively build productive collaborations with key external partners (e.g., regional service center leadership) and internal agency leadership (e.g., Office of Governance) to design customized support approach to districts and ensure strong follow-through. Crucially, the DSSA will also collaborate with campus support specialists to align campus- and district-based supports for a more systemic, coherent overall support effort to districts from the agency.

The DSSA will effectively serve as the "brain" for key district context and information that enables the DSSA and the broader agency to be more impactful in interactions and support, including staying abreast of leadership changes, board context, progress against key strategies, etc. This will require disciplined knowledge management and information sharing using a high degree of judgment and discretion.

This role is highly field-embedded, and will involve travel to district sites to further relationship-building and support.

This role reports to the Director of District Strategic Advising and sits within TEA's Division of District Strategic Leadership, which includes the District Leadership Supports Team and the District Strategic Advising Team which collectively support superintendents, districts, and campuses across Texas with strategic planning, performance management, and research-based best practices.

Flexible work location within the state of Texas may be considered for qualified candidates.

Please note that a resume, cover letter, and short answer responses are required attachments for applying to this position. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants who are strongly being considered for employment must submit to a national criminal history background check.

Essential Functions

Job duties are not limited to the essential functions mentioned below. You may perform other functions as assigned.

1.Superintendent and Senior District Leader Priority LEA Support: Facilitate support/strategy calls and touchpoints with key district leaders on assigned caseload; conduct effective preparation in partnership with campus-based support teams, field service agents, regional service center partners, and any relevant vendor partners; proactively connect district leaders with high impact strategies, TEA programs and resources, experts, and other helpful leaders

2.Cross-agency and External Partner LEA Support Strategy Coordination: Collaborate with team director on monthly Coordinated Support Team meetings to align on coherent cross-agency strategy and approach with priority LEAs; maintain regular touchpoints and relationships with Education Service Centers to ensure aligned support and messaging; collaborate with team to developed tailored support plan for each LEA and track progress against that plan

3.Knowledge Management: Maintain up-to-date context and understanding of all priority LEAs, including board context, leadership changes, key strategies and plan components, and TEA and other external programs LEA is engaged in

4.Exemplar Cultivation: Proactively cultivate and codify exemplars and case studies of LEAs effectively implementing high impact strategies; conduct district visits and superintendent engagements to support this goal and general relationship management

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university

• Experience: At least five (5) years of experience that include 1) a district leadership role, preferably senior or cabinet level role, 2) coaching or managing stakeholder engagement with executive-level, senior leaders, 3) managing large, complex programs and projects with multiple stakeholders to success

Other Qualifications

• Share the belief that all Texas students can achieve at high levels and are able to succeed in college, career, or the military

• Vision and strategy-building skills to customize approaches and supports based on need and local-context

• Ability to build relationships and strong rapport with others, and an ability to manage relationships with senior district and internal agency stakeholders

• Strong coaching and capacity-building skills to support senior-level leaders

• Problem-solving orientation, with an ability to break down complex information into component parts, ask questions, synthesize, and analyze

• Highly organized with the ability to balance the demands of multiple stakeholders at different stages while maintaining quality and consistency across all supports

• Keen eye towards high-quality content aligned to best practices and research

• Strong planning and project management skills to produce and codify knowledge management and exemplary cultivation

• Meticulous attention to detail with an ability to produce high quality work in a dynamic environment

• Excellent written and oral communication skills

• A desire to self-reflect, give/receive feedback and continuously improve

• Prior experience with Texas schools and broad knowledge of Texas education preferred

As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or veteran status, unless an applicant is entitled to the military employment preference.

To review the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to each job classification series in the State's Position Classification Plan (provided by the State Auditor's Office), please access the Military Crosswalk (occupational specialty code) Guide and click on the military "occupational category" that corresponds with the state classification in this job posting title.

This position requires the applicant to meet Agency standards and criteria which may include passing a pre-employment criminal background check, prior to being offered employment by the Agency.

No phone calls or emails, please. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not accept telephone calls and cannot reply to all email inquiries. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted.