Education Director

Education Director

The YWCA of the City of New York (YW-NYC) is on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. We are a social justice organization dedicated to addressing issues that emerge at the intersection of race, class and gender. Founded in 1858, the YW-NYC is the first YW in the United States and part of an international movement of YWs worldwide. We currently serve 1,500 New York City school children by providing leadership and advocacy training for young women through our high school Girls Initiatives and Out-of-School Time (OST) programs for elementary and middle school students in diverse communities in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The Education Director provides strategic leadership and oversight for the Youth Department's educational, instructional, and youth support initiatives. A senior member of the Youth leadership team, this role ensures that educational programming, staff development, social emotional supports, and enrichment services are aligned, high-quality, and responsive to the needs of youth and families across all sites. The Education Director oversees curriculum alignment, supervises Content and Activity Specialists, ensures DYCD COMPASS/SONYC compliance (including required structured hours), manages internship partnerships, and supports grant and partnership development.

Core Responsibilities:

Educational Leadership

• Lead development and implementation of the department's educational vision and instructional strategy.
• Ensure curriculum alignment with YWCA theory of change, DYCD COMPASS/SONYC models, and school day priorities using Understanding By Design and project-based learning.
• Ensure SONYC programs deliver required structured programming (324 structured hours/year) and required content-area minimums (e.g., 72 hours/year in STEAM and Literacy).
• Oversee creation of lesson plans, pacing guides, assessment rubrics, and culminating curriculum showcases to demonstrate student learning.
• Monitor program quality through observations, PMT indicators, data review, and continuous improvement cycles.
• Monitor fidelity to required content areas (Literacy, STEM/STEAM, SEL, Civic/Leadership, College & Careers) and ensure youth voice/choice in program design

Staff Development & Instructional Coaching

• Develop and manage department-wide professional development and training frameworks for Program Directors, Assistant Directors, Content Specialists, Activity Specialists, the Inclusion Coordinator, and Group Leaders. Supervise and coach Content and Activity Specialists through observations, modeled instruction, and coaching cycles.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning, leadership development, and succession planning.

Youth Support & Integration

• Oversee youth support systems and ensure strong integration between educational programming and social-emotional services.
• Ensure trauma-informed, youth-centered practices and accommodations for students with IEPs/504s/IAPs.
• Internal & External Partnerships
• Collaborate with Development to identify and pursue youth-focused grants and funding opportunities.
• Build and maintain partnerships with schools, community organizations, higher education institutions, and content providers; align program schedules and curricula with host schools (e.g., NYC Solves, NYC Reads).
• Manage subcontract, partnership / community partnership agreements in collaboration with Program Director.

Compliance & Operations:

Ensure programs meet DYCD COMPASS/SONYC and SACC licensing requirements; maintain documentation for audits and monitoring visits.

Oversee data systems, track KPIs (attendance/ADA, PMT scores, learning outcomes), and produce program evaluations and reports.

Support budgeting, resource allocation, vendor management, and logistics for curriculum materials and enrichment of contractors.

Family & Community Engagement

Design family engagement strategies and lead community outreach initiatives that support enrollment, retention, and student success.

Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's in Education, Special Education, Youth Development, Curriculum, or related field preferred.
• 5+ years of instructional leadership, curriculum development, or program management experience; experience in DYCD/SONYC or COMPASS programs strongly preferred.
• Proven experience supervising instructional staff.
• Strong data literacy and experience using data to drive program improvement.
• Excellent communication, partnership building, and grant-writing support skills.
• Ability to travel across program sites.
• Experience working in school settings and collaborating with NYC DOE/NYCPS staff and community providers.
• Commitment to anti-oppressive, ADEI practices and culturally responsive care.

Preferred

• Experience with DYCD COMPASS/SONYC frameworks and NYCPS partnership processes.
• Bilingual in English/Spanish preferred.
• Clearances & Training Requirements
• Maintain throughout employment clearances through DCJS Sex Offender Registry (SOR) check, DOHMH, NYS Central Register (SCR) clearance, NYS Staff Exclusion List (SEL), Criminal History Review.

Benefits we offer:

• Eligibility requirement rules apply
• Health, dental, and vision insurance (fully funded by the YWCA NYC)
• Paid time off
• Voluntary insurance (additional life, life AD&D, dependent life)
• FSA, Transit and employer-funded HRA dollars toward out-of-pocket health costs
• YWCA Retirement Plan (fully funded by YWCA)
• 403(b) Plan