Chief Schools Officer

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students across 500+ schools and employing over 45,000 people, most of whom are 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. To fulfill this mission, we developed the five-year strategic plan, Success 2029: Together We Rise, which sets goals and outlines strategies to ensure a rigorous, joyful, and equitable experience for every student. Six core values are embedded in the plan - student-centered, whole-child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.

District-run CPS schools are organized into 18 networks. The Office of Network Support provides strategic direction, leadership development, and administrative support to the schools within each network, while also delivering critical support that boosts student learning and well-being.


Job Summary

Under the direction of the Chief Education Officer, the Chief Schools Officer will lead the Office of Network Support for Chicago Public Schools. This position is responsible for principal quality and school performance, primarily through the direct management of CPS' 17 regional Network Chiefs, the Independent Schools Network, and the Options Schools Network. The Network Chiefs directly supervise Principals, who are responsible for leadership development and support for Principals that lead to high-quality teaching and learning in every classroom and to student achievement in their schools. The Independent Schools Network comprises 60+ semi-autonomous schools; the Principals in these schools are also evaluated through the Office of Network Support.


The Chief Schools Officer will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Develop and effectively execute an implementation plan that advances the District's five-year vision, supports a seamless PreK-12 learning community and allows for transparent accountability towards CPS' student outcome goals
• Actively recruit, hire, support and develop Network Chiefs and an internal team of over 30 staff
• Cultivate a culture of high expectations with shared strategic goals around measurable and continuous improvement in principal quality, as well as around student academic achievement in all schools

• Create, manage and sustain effective systems that enable Network Chiefs to identify, recruit, support and develop a strong pool of highly-skilled Principal candidates for schools as well as a strong pool of Network support team members; this work includes but is not limited to:
  • Monitoring performance ensuring the development and utilization of data and performance management systems that enable weekly, real-time coaching conversations with Network Chiefs, centered on continuous improvement of Principal and school quality and on the impact of Network support
  • Developing leaders by leveraging transparent, fair and effective tools for assessing Principal and Network team leadership capacity; Developing leadership and succession plans and providing differentiated supports that result in improved performance
  • Setting a learning agenda that includes a learning scope and sequence for Network Chiefs that is built on regular assessment of chief and team capacity and that results in measurable improvement of the coaching and management provided to Principals in schools
  • Building and implementing systems that allow Network Chiefs to make data-informed decisions about Principal needs and to allocate resources accordingly, including the allocation of instructional supports and content experts to specific groups of Principals, based on need
  • Developing and maintaining a communication system for ensuring Network Chiefs, their teams and the Principals receive actionable information in a timely and efficient way, and that peer leaders in CPS, external stakeholders, and leadership team members are well-informed of Office initiatives, successes, and struggles
  • Managing team administration and operations, ensuring that all team members are held accountable for meeting and exceeding expectations and that the office remains a good steward of public resources
  • Develop systems to effectively provide ad hoc operational support to Principals and the Network (e.g., escalated inquiries, emergencies)
• Build effective, collaborative cross-team partnerships
  • Develop and maintain strong relationships with other senior leadership team members, including all Academic Chiefs, as well as leaders on the Equity, Talent and Operations teams
  • Work toward convergence with the full team to ensure that the needs of Network teams and Principals are met by other Central Office functions
  • Work with the Talent team to develop internal talent benches and external talent recruitment strategies for Chief and Deputy Network Chief roles
  • Liaise with Support Centers to monitor schools' operational performance and compliance, resolve open issues, and ensure principal time is focused on instructional leadership
• Other duties and workstreams as assigned

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Chief Schools Officer must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Master's degree in Education or related field from an accredited college or university is required
• Valid Professional Educator License, with a Superintendent endorsement issued by the Illinois State Board of Education is required

Experience Required:

• Minimum of ten (10) years of leadership experience within a complex educational organization, including the following, is required:
  • Minimum of five (5) years of experience as a principal
  • Minimum of three (3)years of experience coaching, teaching and mentoring educators, and supporting urban youth
  • Minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated experience developing the capacity of school and district leaders (i.e., principal supervisors and/or principals)
  • Minimum of three (3) years of experience working with senior leadership team and facilitating cross-departmental collaboration, engagement of board members, external stakeholders, and elected officials
  • Minimum of three (3) years of experience redesigning complex organizational layers to function as instructional leadership systems, and aligning operational and instructional functions within the same structure
  • Minimum of three (3) years of demonstrated experience redesigning complex organizational layers to function as instructional leadership systems, and aligning operational and instructional functions within the same structure.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Ability to model and lead the team's moral imperative to work in the best interest of children;
• Ability to utilize applied instructional expertise, sound judgment, integrity, honesty and credibility;
• Demonstrate courage in making difficult, yet necessary, decisions;
• Capable of establishing and executing against an ambitious vision, coaching others to do the same, both within and across teams;
• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish high-level, long-term strategic vision and goals, and align/manage and execute activities on the ground toward goal fulfillment;
• Ability to define problems, analyze data, identify opportunities and outline valid conclusions and action steps;
• Demonstrates the capacity for adaptive leadership, including the ability to manage teams and individuals effectively and collaboratively through change to meet and exceed high expectations;
• Exemplary written and verbal communication skills; communicates regularly and clearly, leveraging strong interpersonal and organizational skills;
• Strong knowledge and understanding of operations, management and organizational design in district settings; uses this knowledge to assist Network Chiefs in continuously improving student outcomes;
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a wide variety of stakeholder groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates to meet school and principal needs;
• Thrives in a changing environment and demonstrates a lifelong commitment to learning, humility and flexibility; and
• Possess a track record of success as demonstrated by superior academic and professional achievement;
• Deep familiarity with instructional coherence frameworks and the ability to translate district instructional strategy consistently across a large, diverse portfolio of schools, ensuring that what reaches buildings is coherent with district intent.

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.