Engagement Manager

Job Title
Engagement Manager
Job ID
27345300
Work From Home
Yes
Description

About Mass Insight

Mass Insight Education & Research is a Boston-based nonprofit serving schools and districts nationwide. Our mission is to provide leadership in closing achievement and opportunity gaps for underserved students by focusing on system transformation and student academic success. Mass Insight is a leader in education reform, providing academic programs, research, and strategic consulting services across the United States. We take a design-based approach to implementing our theory of action by building networks, coherence, and capacity in order to make learning rigorous for all students.

We seek to dramatically improve student achievement at scale by transforming state and local education systems, structures, and policies. We also work directly with schools and districts to develop, implement and assess plans to improve school and district performance. Mi organizes its work around our theory of action for improving schools:

 

Engagement Manager Position Summary

 

This is a senior level position. Engagement Managers at Mass Insight lead a large project or engagement, usually managing some Mass Insight staff (project dependent) and always managing a portfolio of highly important client and partner relationships. Engagement Managers come to Mass Insight with deep knowledge of public education and leadership experience finding solutions in high needs settings.

 

At this time, Mass Insight seeks an Engagement Manager to lead internal capacity-building efforts related to improvement science. Reporting to the Managing Director of School Improvement and working closely with the Director of Research and Impact, the Engagement Manager will lead a year-long process during which Mass Insight codifies a networked improvement community (NIC) model for facilitating school improvement that aims to improve college readiness among Black, Latinx, and low-income youth.

 

The table below describes the competencies Mi expects all staff at the Engagement Manager level to model. Given the nature of the work described above, Mi will place special emphasis on:
 

  • Evidence of an ability to build trust, establish and maintain strong relationships, and expand Mi’s network with: experts in improvement science and college access; district leaders potentially interested in joining a network improvement community; our funding partner, and their respective program officer(s),
  • Specific subject matter expertise in improvement science and, ideally, experience facilitating networked improvement communities,
  • Experience using and helping others make sense of data

 

Qualifications

Mass Insight has identified a set of Core Competencies that it expects to see in all staff members.  Candidates for the Engagement Manager position should demonstrate competence in each of the following areas at the level described:

 

Core Competencies

Engagement Manager Expectations

Champions our Theory of Action

 

Understands, commits to and furthers our theory of action.

  • Understands and helps others to understand how our work can advance each element of the theory of action with both Mi staff and partners 
  • Organizes and leads work to implement all elements of our theory of action

Communicates effectively

 

Listens, writes, speaks and presents in a manner that both conveys accurate information and motivates others to take relevant action.

  • Actively listens and efficiently gathers and organizes relevant information
  • Adjusts communication style depending on the audience and purpose
  • Contributes to Mi’s knowledge and outreach through publications and speaking
  • Capably represents Mi with partners and other stakeholders

Continuously builds both education & specific subject-matter expertise.

 

Brings and continuously grows both education and specific subject matter expertise within and outside the education field.

  • Has a solid and growing understanding of education reform (history, current research, emerging topics) and draws connections to Mi’s work
  • Able to make comparisons and place Mi’s work in national context for partners and team members

Effectively works as a team player

 

Operates with self-awareness, maintains a sense of humor and rolls up sleeves to support the team.

  • Effectively manages both team process and products to meet MI and partner goals
  • Energizes others through a sense of optimism and commitment to the work.
  • Provides recognition to teammates for behaviors that support and advance the work 
  • Establishes positive and productive team norms, models those norms and holds team accountable for adhering to them.

Establishes partner trust

 

Builds trust through reliability, credibility and empathy.

  • Develops trusted advisor relationships with partners that extend beyond individual projects
  • Understands partner challenges and anticipates partner needs  
  • Consistently balances candor and transparency without antagonizing the partner
  • Able to negotiate scopes of work/contracts that are true to both the theory of action and our commitment to use a design-based approach to meet partner needs

Facilitates effectively

 

Leverages a variety of protocols, tools and adult learning techniques in order to engage groups in learning, problem-solving, decision-making and action-planning.

  • Effectively facilitates problem-solving, decision-making, and action-planning meetings with partners.
  • Appropriately uses team members in facilitating partner meetings

 

Believes in and grows people

 

Believes in and grows people and resilient in the face of challenge.

  • Energizes others through a sense of optimism and commitment to the work
  • Intentionally builds the skills and knowledge of both Mi staff and partners
  • Empowers staff to lead their work with autonomy
  • Effectively coaches Mi staff to meet individual developmental goals
  • Provides feedback to other staff in a positive and constructive manner

Manages projects to impact despite ambiguity

 

Gets it done, even where there’s grey area and obstacles.

  • Makes effective decisions and prioritizes the work of self and/or team members based on partner and contract needs.
  • Comfortable adapting to change and helps teammates manage their response.
  • Responsible for assisting both project team and partner site with maintaining focus on key objectives, while being responsive to on the ground complexities.

Promotes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness

 

Works effectively in culturally diverse environments and enacts a commitment to equity and to the full inclusion of all stakeholders.

 

 

  • Interacts in both internal and partner relationships with a high level of self-awareness, recognizing how identity can impact perception and action
  • Uses facilitation techniques to promote honest dialogue and expression of diverse, at times dissenting, perspectives to advance the work
  • Supports an inclusive team culture that encourages diverse perspectives and innovative thinking
  • Cultivates, develops, and retains diverse and skilled staff
  • Identifies and challenges cultural assumptions at the individual, team, and organizational levels

Solves complex problems systematically

Breaks problems into their component parts, analyzes a variety of data, takes broader conditions into consideration, and systematically devises solutions that match problems.

  • Organizes projects to identify and address root causes
  • Provides strong solutions to all problems related to contract
  • Leads processes that solve partner and team problems 



In addition to demonstrating the core competencies described above, an Engagement Manager must have a bachelor’s degree. A master’s degree or comparable past experience is preferred but not required.

 

While the Mass Insight office is located in Boston, Mass Insight staff live all over the country. Mass Insight staff travel to partner sites on a regular basis. An Engagement Manager should expect to travel, on average, once to twice monthly.

 

 

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