Hourly - Program Manager, Office of Portfolio Management

Hourly Program Manager, Office of Portfolio Management

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 45,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. Aligned with our transformed philosophy, we are steadfastly focused on ensuring that the District provides resources equitably to support every student, every school, and every community. Six core values guide the work we do every day for our students – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning. Each role in the district supports our vision that every student deserves a rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experience. The Office of Portfolio Management (OPM) ensures every student in Chicago has a choice of well-resourced schools in their neighborhood that best meet their unique learning needs by building coherent and aligned systems for enrollment, regional school planning, incubation of quality school options, and school accountability across the district.

Job Summary: Reporting to the Director of Portfolio Office Initiatives, the Hourly (OPM Program Manager) will be responsible for developing strong systems and processes for students impacted by school transitions, focusing on engaging students and parents, principals, and school communities. This position will manage the coordination of any programs designed to support students impacted by school transitions, ensure fidelity of processes and reporting, and support key stakeholders, including families, students, principals and school leaders, vendors, community members, and community-based organizations. This is a temporary, non-exempt position that will be paid for time worked on a hourly basis.

The Hourly (Program Manager, OPM) will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Execute a district-wide transition program rooted in the CPS Equity Framework, identifying and scaling evidence-based practices that provide holistic, wrap-around supports (academic, social-emotional, and logistical) to ensure students impacted by transition achieve measurable success following educational disruptions
• Establish and facilitate cross-functional working groups to streamline the transfer process for students leaving charter schools, focusing specifically on mitigating the impact of hardship (e.g., school closures or schools facing instability) to ensure a seamless integration into their new school environment.
• Collaborate with school leadership to audit and secure necessary supports, such as credit recovery, IEP alignment, and extracurricular onboarding, ensuring every incoming student has immediate access to a high-quality, inclusive learning environment.
• Serve as the primary, high-touch point of contact for families, navigating the enrollment process through personalized guidance, ensuring parents and guardians navigate school choice with full agency and a clear understanding of the long-term impacts of their decisions.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Program Manager, OPM must possess the following qualifications:

• Education Required: Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university
• Experience Required: 2+ background working on complex projects involving external and internal partners
• Experience working in a school, for a school district, or education-related organization desired
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Ability to develop tools and systems to track and monitor student related data
• Experience creating streamlined reporting structures and reports to a variety of audiences
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including presentations, listening, and writing
• High levels of integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to escalate difficult yet necessary decisions
• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management, and organizational development
• Ability to build collaborative and authentic relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools, students, and families
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps

Conditions of Employment: As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to establish/maintain Chicago residency. Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions; however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.