Director, College Partnerships (West)

About the Organization 

KIPP Public Schools  is a national network of tuition-free public charter schools that prepares students with the skills and confidence to create the future they want for themselves, their communities, and us all. We are a network of 279 schools, nearly 16,500 educators, and nearly 210,000 students and alumni.

Our mission : Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world. 

Our vision:  Every child grows up free to create the future they want for themselves and their communities. 

The  KIPP Foundation  is a nonprofit organization that supports KIPP public charter schools across the country. The KIPP Foundation helps to develop outstanding educators to lead KIPP schools; provides tools and resources for excellent teaching and learning; promotes innovation; and facilitates the exchange of insights and ideas across KIPP and other public schools and organizations. 

About Our Values: 

Excellent Results for Students:  We value results over effort and know that our work is not finished until all students thrive. We maintain high expectations for self, team, and students. We drive outcomes by operating with agility, removing barriers, differentiating support, and prioritizing student-centered solutions—especially for those at the margins. 

Collective Impact:  We are one team. We win together. We embody a one-team mindset by working collaboratively across teams, aligning goals, and leveraging the strengths of all teammates. We build trust-based relationships and ensure inclusive decision-making by engaging those closest to the work. We provide clarity through simple, repeatable systems and goals that enable transformational outcomes. 

Courageous Action : Our belief in what we can achieve is unwavering, fueling our optimism and commitment to overcome any challenge. We demonstrate an unwavering belief in students' potential and a commitment to addressing systemic inequities. We approach challenges with resilience, a solutions-focused mindset, and adaptability. We foster a psychologically safe environment centered on trust and accountability where feedback is encouraged. We leverage data to reflect on progress, own setbacks, celebrate successes, and continuously improve to maximize impact.

Job Description

About The Position

The KIPP Foundation is investing heavily in resources and strategies to increase the number of KIPP alum who graduate from college. To that end, we’re hiring several new Directors of College Partnerships to identify, cultivate, and formalize college/university partnerships that position KIPP alum to enroll and persist in colleges compatible for their aspirations and needs.

Our incoming Director of College Partnerships – West will oversee this work in our Western portfolio, which comprises KIPP regions in California and Colorado + college/universities in those areas and several surrounding states. We will consider you our primary point person and expert on college partnerships across the Western terrain.

In this role, you’ll: identify and cultivate university partnerships; negotiate and formalize MOUs that capture partnership agreements, and; collaborate with our national College Advancement and regional KIPP Forward teams to ensure partnerships are leveraged and aligned to students’ needs.

This is an excellent opportunity for a mission-aligned individual who enjoys building and leveraging relationships to achieve ambitious goals. Our ideal hire will have excellent communication and enjoy leveraging them to inform and invest others in our vision and efforts. You’re someone who is comfortable working autonomously while also being invested – and skilled - in collaboration that will maximize collective opportunities and performance. You have the organizational, project management, and portfolio management skills to structure fast-paced work across a broad geographic portfolio and matrixed organization. You are invested in data-informed decision making and have the skill required to track and analyze data, at the portfolio level, that helps you make strategic partnerships decisions.

You’ll report to our VP of College Partnerships and sit, alongside a suite of Directors of College Partnerships, on our broader College Advancement and Partnerships team.

Responsibilities

1. Build and Manage a Portfolio of Partnerships

a. Identify, cultivate, and formalize university partnerships that increase college enrollment and completion for KIPP students & alum. This will require a blend of: fortifying existing partnerships, reactivating dormant partnerships, and building entirely new partnerships with national universities, regional institutions, HBCUs, and HSIs.

b. Develop, negotiate, and finalize MOUs, stewarding the development of clear commitments and measurable, symbiotic goals that fuel our path to our 2030 vision

c. Ensure we, and partnerships, maintain our MOUs, fulfilling agreements as outlined and revising commitments as needed to align with evolving context, outcomes, and needs

 

2. Internal Collaboration and Regional Support

a. Partner with our national College Advancement Team and regional KIPP Forward teams to integrate partnerships into student advising and match strategies

b. Exchange work & best practices with other Directors of College Partnerships , fueling cohesion, ability to reach ambitious goals, and stronger collective performance

 

3. Knowledge Management

a. Strengthen our institutional memory of strategies, plans, wins, and challenges with college partners

b. Support the codification of our best practices

 

4. Strategic Planning

a. Contribute to the development of our College Partnerships strategy, including the determination of partnerships criteria, baseline MOU structure, goals, benchmarks, and accountability structures.

 

Skills and Mindsets

Core Mindsets:

• Strong Alignment to our Mission and Student Focus: Demonstrates passion for, and commitment to, KIPP’s mission and core values.
• Exceptional Self Awareness: Practices self-awareness at work, understanding that it is foundational to leading self, leading people, and leading results; uses reflection, self-understanding, and feedback to grow, and persist through challenges, and as a result, are cognizant of the impact of their behavior on others, and intentional about the decision to adjust or not adjust their behaviors. Displays an owner’s mindset by taking ownership of successes and failure.
• Commitment to Continuous Learning: Engages in the work of personal development at working, knowing that personal development is ongoing and vital to their personal and professional success; hold themselves accountable to evolving, growing, learning and unlearning in ways that improve results for students, adults, and the larger community.

Core Skills:

• Partnership and Alliance Building : Can generate enthusiasm, Investment and commitments, with internal and external stakeholders, to advance KIPP's mission 
• Stellar, Compelling Written & Oral Communication: Effectively tailors communications and engagement approach for different audiences to deepen investment and drive actions and behavior change that would lead to org-wide goals. 
• Effective Collaboration: Has the interpersonal, diplomatic, relationship building, and communications skills needed to develop successful working relationships with diverse constituents to deliver results. Evolves and adapts plans and approach with diverse stakeholders to drive results. 
• Self-Management to Achieve Ambitious Goals: Demonstrated record of setting ambitious goals and achieving them with consistency. Invests in developing teammates’ skills and mindsets to address gaps in achieving team growth. Determines what quantitative and qualitative data are most relevant to their goals and supports the team in creating and monitoring systems for collecting, reviewing, and acting upon data to drive outcomes; able to monitor progress, communicating status to the right stakeholders and adjusting plans and use of time to ensure systems are yielding desired outcomes. 
• Strong Problem Solving : Addresses the root of problems and removes obstacles from work. Shows initiative in generating and recommending ideas and solutions within their own workstreams. Anticipates risks and develops proactive solutions that support their team.

Qualifications

Experience and

Qualifications

• Experience working with and supporting students navigating economic barriers and/or first-generation college students preferred
• 7 or more years building & managing a portfolio of partnerships – preferably with colleges/universities or charter schools across a multi-state territory
• At least 2 years building and maintaining MOUs or institutional agreements
• Demonstrated experience using data to identify trends, inform decisions, and drive outcomes
• Strong record of success setting and reaching ambitious goals
• Record of success working cross-functionally, with a diverse array of stakeholders, to implement initiatives and reach goals
• Bachelor’s Degree required

Additional Information

Work Conditions 

• Extensive Travel: ~30-50% (65-110 days per year)

• Some evening or weekend work (ex: evening events/functions; weekend conferences) occasionally required

• Full-Time, Exempt

Location 

Remote, with strong, but not required, preference to live in one of the states in our Western portfolio (currently California + Colorado; subject to modification).

Compensation and Benefits 

In compliance with local law, we are disclosing the compensation, or a range thereof, for roles in locations where legally required. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, and relevant experience. The salary range for this position is $124,800 - $150,000. In addition, KIPP Foundation provides a variety of benefits to employees, including:  

• 25 holidays for + 18 days additional flexible PTO days (flexible PTO increases to 23 days for years 3 and 4 and to 28 days for years 5+). 

• 100% paid parental leave 

• 100% coverage of the premium for employee and 75% for employee + family’s medical/dental/vision plans. 

• Wellness benefits such as fitness reimbursements, discounted tickets to theme parks/attractions, backup care support for children and adults/elders, and our employee assistance program 

• Finance Security benefits include such as a 401K retirement plan with 4% match, employer-sponsored legal plans, life/disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts