ATHLETIC DIRECTOR (PART-TIME, WITH FULL-TIME PATHWAY)

Job Description

Job Description

Part-Time Founding Staff Position, with a Full-Time Pathway · Reports to the Principal · Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred in Athletic Administration, Sport Management, Education, or a related field · NIAAA certification (Registered or Certified Athletic Administrator) preferred · Experience in interscholastic athletics administration or head-coaching leadership required · Knowledge of IHSA rules and the Chicago-market athletics landscape is a plus · College-preparatory, independent, Jewish day or faith-based school experience is a plus. Being Jewish is not a requirement for this role. Fewer years but exceptional craft? We hire for mastery, not seat time.

Are you an athletic administrator who believes education-based athletics builds character first? Do you know how to stand up a program from a blank page: eligibility, schedules, coaches, safety, culture? Are you excited to launch a founding athletics program in downtown Chicago? If so, Davis School Chicago wants to hear from you.

The Dream Team

Davis School Chicago is a proudly Jewish, college-preparatory high school opening in fall 2027 in downtown Chicago, in a state-of-the-art building at the heart of a great city for learning. Every adult at Davis Chicago is an educator and a culture-builder. We hold two expectations at the same time: deep human warmth and uncompromising intellectual excellence. High health and high results, never one at the cost of the other. This is a summary of the characteristics that describe our dream team. Please read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator and more information about our opportunities before you apply.

To thrive here you are:

• Warm and intellectually formidable. Genuinely kind and seriously bright. We hire for intellectual horsepower; only sharp minds grow students to their full potential.

• You bring the room to life. Passion people feel, loud or quiet, with the range to teach, support, and lead.

• A builder who owns it. Startup grit, a real growth mindset, open about mistakes, gives the gift of feedback, and the drive to create what doesn’t exist yet.

• Teach how to think, not what to think. Rigor, evidence, and a love of hard questions, including the controversial ones. Students reach their own conclusions.

• Rooted in tradition, built for what’s next. Ancient wisdom and modern tools, AI included, aimed at today's problems.

• Unapologetically Jewish. Israel has a right to exist; that is not up for debate. Everything else is fair game, including spirited debate about Israel’s actions. You’re excited to help build a proudly Jewish, pro-Israel school.

What Davis Chicago Needs

Davis Chicago is hiring the founding leader of its athletics program. The school opens in fall 2027 with a focused first-year lineup that grows with enrollment, anticipated IHSA membership, and a full-time certified Athletic Trainer & Fitness Manager already in the plan. The Athletic Director builds the rest: the compliance backbone, the schedules, the coaching staff, and the culture. If you are interested in a full-time role, apply to the full-time Davis School Chicago posting that matches your primary craft and tell us about your athletic-administration depth; the school anticipates layering Athletic Director duties onto the right full-time hire with a leadership stipend.

Who Thrives in This Role

• Warm, Relational, and High-Performing – Kind, emotionally intelligent, intellectually rigorous, and committed to excellence.

• A Compliance-Steady Administrator – Deadlines, eligibility, and safety handled before they are urgent.

• A Program Launcher – Builds schedules, coaching staffs, and traditions from zero.

• An Entrepreneurial Builder – Thrives in ambiguity, solves problems, and creates programs, systems, and traditions from the ground up.

• A Curious and Courageous Thinker – Embraces learning, evidence, critical thinking, and meaningful debate.

• Rooted and Forward-Looking – Honors tradition while embracing innovation, technology, and AI.

• Committed to Jewish Life and Community – Values Jewish identity, the diversity of Jewish thought, and meaningful engagement in Jewish life.

• A Collaborative Culture-Builder – Balances accountability, care, and results while elevating everyone around them.

The Role

The Athletic Director serves as the Principal’s designee for the administration of interscholastic athletics: eligibility, compliance, scheduling, coach leadership, safety, budget, and culture, scoped part-time for a focused founding lineup.

This is a founding seat: the first-year program is deliberately small, and the leader who builds it well shapes what Davis Chicago athletics becomes. As a founding staff member, the Athletic Director will help establish the policies, procedures, traditions, and partnerships that support the long-term success of the athletic program and the broader school community.

1. Compliance and Eligibility

• Serve as the school’s designee for IHSA administration: eligibility certification and records, state-series entries and deadlines, and required rules-meeting credits for every sport.

• Verify and track coach credentials and school employment in line with IHSA by-laws, including the rule that all coaching compensation flows through the school.

• Administer transfer, residence, and eligibility documentation accurately and on time.

2. Safety, Risk, and Sports Medicine Partnership

• Maintain emergency action plans and concussion protocols in partnership with the school’s certified Athletic Trainer, in line with Illinois law.

• Vet and coordinate transportation and off-site practice and contest logistics.

• Ensure equipment, facilities, and playing conditions meet safety standards.

3. Coaches and Programs

• Recruit, hire, onboard, mentor, and evaluate coaches for each season’s teams.

• Run pre-season coach meetings covering rules, safety certifications, and the school’s standards.

• Build a coaching culture where competition builds character and every athlete is developed.

4. Scheduling, Logistics, and Budget

• Build each season’s contest schedule and contract opponents and officials on required forms.

• Coordinate practice schedules across the school’s downtown campus and partner sites.

• Prepare and manage the athletics budget, equipment, and uniform cycles.

5. Community and Culture

• Communicate schedules, expectations, and eligibility rules clearly to families.

• Champion sportsmanship and the visible, joyful presence of athletics in school life.

• Represent Davis Chicago athletics with the IHSA, conference partners, and the broader community.

• Participate in faculty meetings, professional development, and community events as scoped for a part-time role.

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred in Athletic Administration, Sport Management, Education, or a related field.

• Certification: NIAAA certification (Registered or Certified Athletic Administrator) preferred, or willingness to pursue it.

• Experience: Interscholastic athletics administration or head-coaching leadership required; IHSA and Chicago-market knowledge a plus.

• Craft: Evidence of programs that ran clean, safe, and on time, and teams young people loved.

Core Competencies

1. Compliance: eligibility, entries, and credentials handled before deadlines.

2. Safety: risk managed in partnership with certified sports medicine.

3. Coach Leadership: hiring, mentoring, and evaluating a founding staff.

4. Culture: education-based athletics students and families trust.

Compensation and Benefits

Compensation depends on structure. As a standalone part-time role scoped for the founding program, the anticipated range is $20,000–$28,000 per year, built from a written duty inventory and an explicit hours model and reviewed as teams and enrollment grow. Layered onto a full-time role at the school, Athletic Director duties carry an anticipated leadership stipend of $8,000–$12,000 in addition to that role’s salary. Paid leave and paid sick leave accrue as required by law; this position is not eligible for the school’s benefits package.

How We Hire

Our process is thorough and we believe that hiring is a dual decision-making process; you are vetting us as much as we are vetting you. Our process includes focused conversations with the people you would work with, a battery of assessments we use for your development as much as for selection, and interview rounds both in-person and virtually. We use artificial intelligence tools in our recruitment and hiring process to help review and organize applications; every hiring decision is made by a person. Davis School Chicago is an equal employment opportunity employer.

Is this you?

This isn’t for everyone. If it’s you, it may be the best work of your life. Read the full Profile of the Ideal Davis Chicago Educator , then apply.