Director, AI Strategy & Alignment (Dallas)

About Communities Foundation Of Texas

The mission of Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) is to improve the lives of all people in our community by investing in their health, wealth, living, and learning. CFT works to accomplish this by growing community giving, expanding community impact, and advancing community equity. With a vision of building thriving communities for all, CFT works locally and across the state with many individuals, families, companies, foundations, and nonprofits through a variety of charitable funds and strategic grantmaking initiatives. CFT professionally manages more than 1,300 charitable funds and has awarded more than $2.5 billion in grants since its founding in 1953.

Your role

In this role, you will serve as strategic thought partner to the Senior Director in shaping, evolving, and executing Educate Texas’ five-year, $15M AI strategic plan to responsibly advance AI-informed teaching, learning, and leadership across Texas’ 1200+ school districts. The Director will co‑own the translation of the plan’s Four‑Part Network Model (Expert Brain Trust, Lighthouse Districts, Funding Coalition, and Political Influence Network) into annual strategy, investment priorities, and program design — bringing independent judgment to what to build, scale, or sunset as the initiative matures. The Director will also provide strategic and operational leadership across the plan’s Year 1 portfolio, including Regional Cohort Networks, statewide and local convenings, the Central AI Resource Hub & Learning Network, AI Advisory Group, AI Policy Council, and internal team AI accelerator work.

This role requires close collaboration with school districts, charter school districts, education service centers, higher education partners, funders, and vendor partners to ensure programs are delivered on time, on budget, and with strong participant outcomes. The position will be based in Dallas, and the successful candidate must reside locally or be willing to relocate. Candidates must be willing to travel overnight (both in/out of state) up to 25% of the time, including routine travel across the Dallas‑Fort Worth Metroplex and regional convenings across the state.

What you’ll do

• Partner with the Senior Director to shape and continuously evolve the multi‑year AI Strategy & Alignment roadmap, translating the five‑year, $15M plan into annual priorities, investment decisions, and program design
• Bring independent strategic judgment to the Four‑Part Network Model — identifying which partnerships, funding opportunities, and program approaches to pursue, scale, adjust, or retire based on evidence and field learnings
• Serve as a strategic and public‑facing voice for Educate Texas on AI in education, representing the organization with funders, policymakers, district leaders, and at state and national convenings
• Own the strategic direction and continuous improvement of the Regional Cohort Network using participant data and field feedback to refine cohort design year over year
• Lead strategy for statewide ESC convenings, including stewardship of the ESC partnership and a plan to deepen engagement across all 20 Texas ESCs beyond initial participation targets
• Shape the editorial and content strategy for the Central AI Resource Hub & Learning Network
• Co‑design thought leader convening agendas and provide strategic direction to the AI Advisory Group as its year‑round connective layer
• Shape the AI Policy Council’s agenda and contribute substantively to Educate Texas’ policy positions on AI in education
• Oversee execution of day‑to‑day program operations across the portfolio — including logistics, partnership agreements, vendor relationships, data collection, and outcomes reporting — either directly or through program staff
• Work in partnership with Strategy and Insights to design data collection, analysis, and synthesis approaches that inform strategy, not just report on activity
• Ensure appropriate stewardship of grant and program investments, including budget input for future planning cycles
• Collaborate with Educate Texas program staff and Integrated Services teams (communications, strategic initiatives, policy and advocacy, finance) to ensure the AI portfolio is aligned with and reinforces the broader organizational strategy
• Contribute to the Senior Director’s board, funder, and executive reporting by synthesizing program outcomes into strategic narrative and recommendations

What does success look like in this role?

• The multi‑year AI strategy roadmap reflects real strategic judgment, not just execution of the original plan — the Senior Director trusts the Director’s recommendations on what to scale, cut, or redesign
• Educate Texas is recognized externally (by funders, policymakers, district leaders) as a credible voice on AI in education, with the Director actively representing the organization at convenings and in key relationships
• Regional cohorts and ESC convenings show measurable year‑over‑year improvement in design, not just repeated execution — changes are traceable to participant data and field feedback
• The Resource Hub, newsletter, and quarterly reports carry a clear point of view and are cited or referenced by external partners, not just published on schedule
• The AI Policy Council produces policy positions the Director substantively shaped, and those positions hold up under scrutiny from board, funders, or media
• Board and funder reporting includes strategic narrative and recommendations the Director authored, not just activity summaries assembled from program data
• The Senior Director can delegate ambiguous, undefined problems to the Director and get back a sound strategic recommendation — not just a request for more direction
• Operational execution across the portfolio runs reliably through program staff/vendors without requiring the Director’s day‑to‑day involvement, freeing their time for strategy and external engagement

Experience you bring

• Master’s degree preferred; bachelor’s degree required
• 8+ years of progressive experience in education, workforce, or technology strategy, including experience shaping strategy or program design, not solely managing operations
• Demonstrated experience translating a strategic plan into executable annual priorities, and willingness to make and defend judgment calls on program direction
• Deep knowledge of AI in education, K‑12 and postsecondary education systems, and workforce development in Texas strongly preferred
• Experience representing an organization externally — with funders, policymakers, media, or at conferences — as a credible subject‑matter voice
• Experience designing or leading multi‑stakeholder convenings, cohorts, or peer‑learning networks
• Experience negotiating and managing vendor/partner agreements and grant‑funded initiatives
• Comfort operating with ambiguity and shaping strategy in a fast‑evolving field, rather than executing a fixed playbook
• Exceptional interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information for executive and board audiences
• Proficient or expert skills using PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Outlook, SharePoint
• Exemplary project management skills, with the ability to balance strategic thinking with operational follow‑through
• Commitment to responsible, equity‑centered AI adoption in education
• Current knowledge of research, trends, and innovations in AI and education technology, and ability to translate that knowledge into strategic recommendations
• Effectively model and demonstrate CFT’s core competencies, which include Collaboration, Impact and Problem Solving, Integrity and Accountability, Learning, and Internal and External Service
• Effectively model and demonstrate CFT’s leadership competencies, which include Leadership, People Management, Developing and Retaining Talent, and Team Building

Disclaimer

The above sections contain representative examples of job duties that might be performed by employees assigned to this classification. CFT is a dynamic organization, and the environment can be fluid. Roles and responsibilities may be altered to accommodate changing conditions and objectives as well as to tap into the skills and experience of its employees. Accordingly, employees may be asked to perform duties that are outside the specific work that is listed. This is not an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties and/or skills required of all employees within this class.

Accommodation

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the position.