Lead Learning Designer (Aspiring Campus Leader Programs)

Lead Learning Designer,

Aspiring Campus Leader Programs

The Holdsworth Center seeks a Lead Learning Designer (Aspiring Campus Leader Programs) who believes in the promise of public schools to deliver excellent and equitable results for students, and who believes their unique skills and inner purpose would be a great match for Holdsworth's mission, culture, and values.

Our organization & mission

The Holdsworth Center is an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit founded in 2017 by Charles Butt, an education philanthropist and Chairman of H-E-B, a regional retail company.Our mission is to impact, over time, the quality of K-12 public education for all Texas students by supporting and developing leaders.

The Holdsworth Center partners with Texas public school districts to help educators become experts at leadership and to grow stronger leaders within their own systems. Holdsworth makes investments within districts and brings education leaders from across Texas to learn at its Campus on Lake Austin, a one-of-a-kind place dedicated to the idea that public education matters. Holdsworth hosts educators for learning sessions on the 44-acre campus, which has 186 sleeping rooms and state-of-the-art classroom space.

Our work

In our leadership development programs, superintendents, central office administrators, principals, assistant principals, teachers, and other campus leaders engage with some of the nation's top experts in their fields from a variety of sectors, including K-12 education, academia, government, and business.

In some of our partner districts, we embed Holdsworth consultants to work hand-in-hand with central office leaders to define what great leadership looks and help them build custom solutions to identify and develop future campus leaders, place them in leadership roles and support them as they progress in their leadership journey.

Our theory of action is that stronger leaders will build stronger systems that achieve stronger results for students. That belief is backed by research showing that after teachers, school leaders have the greatest influence on student outcomes.

Our culture & values

We have three core values at Holdsworth: Drive for Excellence & Equity, Be of Service and Believe in People. Our values flow from the vision and beliefs of our founder, Charles Butt, and guide our daily words and actions, bringing meaning to the work we do.

Purpose & Responsibilities In 2023, Holdsworth will begin researching and developing new program offerings for aspiring campus leaders located in the Permian Basin region of Texas and New Mexico, with the aim of launching the first cohorts of these programs in late 2024 or early 2025.

TheLead Learning Designerwill design,deliver,and refine these new programmatic offerings, incorporating input and feedback from multiple stakeholders and teammates. Alongside a program team, the Lead Learning Designer will guide cohorts of campus leaders through one or more of these programs.

Reporting to the Managing Director and/or Senior Director of Campus Programs,the Lead Learning Designerwill work with talented,mission-driven peers in a fast-paced, dynamic environment to:

• Research the best practices of existing programs designed to develop aspiring principals and aspiring assistant principals (both in the US and internationally), building schema for which practices should be a part of our aspiring campus leader programs.
• Consider potential audiences for these new programs and identify the specific critical development needs for each and solutions to address them.
• Design creative and impactful program learning objectives and curriculum options for aspiring principals and aspiring assistant principals that incorporate research on school leader effectiveness and readiness, balancing impact and efficacy for participants against the time investment, budget, and resources required.
• Identify, research, and implement potential solutions to address programmatic challenges - for example, the need for some participants to attain their principal certification in Texas or New Mexico, or ways to assess individual skills and competencies and personalize each leader's learning journey to meet their unique needs.
• Adapt and differentiate the curriculum to maximize leaders' learning and achievement of learning objectives through designing, implementing and monitoring learning assessments.

• Lead the detailed planning of content, learning experiences and activities, and logistics to help ensure that learning outcomes and objectives for each programming session are met and that the content delivered through program sessions is part of a coherent and powerful arc of learning.
• Serve as one of the "faces" of our new programs, building relationships with leaders andincreasing coherency of the overall program through on-site facilitation and delivery (most facilitation will take place in the Permian Basin with groups ranging in size from ~20 to ~100).
• Draw on personal experiences and academic concepts to deliver highly engaging and thought-provoking program sessions.
• Facilitate effective and engaging learning experiences that bring cohorts together over amulti-session journey, building a learning environment where Leaders can effectively collaborate on a range of issues to grow their capacity and ability to lead sustainable improvement towards excellent and equitable outcomes forstudents.
• Work collaboratively with program coordinators to ensure flawless logistics, operations, and communications prior to and at each session.

• Collaborate with data analysts to collect and analyze data and use it to drive decisions and programmatic improvements.

Desirable candidates will have a range of prior experience and capabilities including:

• Strong alignment with organizational values-Drive for Excellence & Equity, Be of Service, Believe in People
• Experience in a leadership development and/or adult learning role (any sector) equivalent in scale and scope to this role, ensuring the development of leaders of organizations through programmatic delivery and job-embedded work, encouraging a commitment to action and the development of lasting personal growth and change.

• Experience creating, designing, and delivering high-quality adult learning/training programs and curriculum, incorporating best practices and existing research to establish critical learning objectives that guide curriculum choices.
• Proven ability to facilitate engaging, challenging, and thought-provoking discussion among diverse audiences, manage group dynamics and use questioning techniques to identify solutions and actions rather than taking a wholly directive approach(with large audiences as well as smaller groups)
• Working knowledge of the education landscape in Texas, including knowledge of the context within which our participants work
• Ability to synthesize complex information and create clear and compelling learning experiences and materials; Thinks like a designer and communicates information exceptionally clearly in written materials and verbally.
• Strong project planning skills and detail orientation to effectively plan for multiple program sessions at one time.

• Self-motivated individual who demonstrates initiative without waiting for direction, openness to receiving feedback from peers and Holdsworth staff, and a deep curiosity and motivation to learn coupled with a results-focused orientation.
• Credibility with school leaders, faculty/experts, and our partner organizations
• Ability to work well in a team environment, establish good rapport at all levels of the organization, collaborate with other faculty and experts and work with and relate to people from diverse backgrounds.
• Flexible; ability to adapt to an ever changing, growing organization as we pilot and learn from these new endeavors; Embraces a portfolio of work that may change over time as we learn from our expansion programming.
• Demonstrated commitment to and engagement in learning and actions to promote equity, including conversations about race.

• Engage alongside Holdsworth staff inleadership development activities and training including but not limited to equity, personal and professional development.

Geography

Austin, TX

Other

This full-time role has up to 50% travel in the Permian Basin. Some evenings and weekends may be required while executing program sessions with leaders.

How to apply

Interested candidates can submit a current resume and a cover letter detailing their interest in this Lead Learning Designer position and the work of The Holdsworth Center. If selected for the interview process, next steps are scheduled to begin between April 21-27 and proceed through May, with an ideal start date of June 5th, 2023.

The Holdsworth Center is committed to creating a diverse, equitable,and inclusive environment. All employment decisions are based on job requirements and individual qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity and/or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.