Senior Managing Director of Academics

About Ascend

Ascend is Brooklyn’s premier K–12 public charter network, committed to graduating high-achieving students who have access to boundless choice in their futures —not only through college acceptance, but through meaningful preparation for career readiness and thriving adult lives .

Across our schools, we pair rigorous academics with strong systems, supportive adult culture, and a deep belief in students’ brilliance and potential. Our work is grounded in the understanding that preparing students for long-term success requires excellence in instruction, intentional culture-building, and disciplined execution at every level of the organization.

At Ascend, adults are held to high standards because our students deserve nothing less. How we teach, lead, collaborate, and make decisions every day directly shapes the opportunities our students will have tomorrow.

Join us in shaping learning environments where curiosity is nurtured, excellence is the norm, and every student is prepared for a lifetime of boundless choice.

About the Role

The Senior Managing Director of Academics serves as the academic architect of Ascend’s K–12 program, responsible for designing and ensuring the execution of a coherent, rigorous, and vertically aligned academic experience across the network.

Reporting to the Chief Schools Officer, this leader oversees two core functions: curriculum design and training and development, ensuring that curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional learning work together to drive excellent teaching and strong student outcomes. This role is responsible for defining what students learn, how learning progresses across grade bands, and how instructional systems ensure that this learning is consistently delivered in classrooms.

They lead the design and execution of a cohesive, yearlong professional learning arc that builds the capacity of instructional leaders, content specialists, and teachers. With a focus on student achievement, they ensure strong implementation and continuous improvement of Ascend’s academic model by designing learning frameworks that are backward-planned from rigorous student outcomes, informed by data, and aligned with curriculum, instructional practices, and school culture systems.

This role bridges vision and execution, ensuring coherence, quality, and impact across all levels of teaching and learning.

Competencies

Instructional Leadership & K-12 Coherence

• Steward a coherent K–12 academic program that ensures curriculum, instruction, and assessment build intentionally from kindergarten through 12th grade across all four core disciplines.
• Ensure that what students learn in elementary school connects to what they are expected to master in middle school, and that middle school prepares them for the rigors of the high school course sequence.
• Make coherence visible and measurable: identify and resolve gaps in curriculum progression across grades and subjects; establish alignment standards and monitor them.
• Serve as a thought partner and decision-maker on the full scope of student learning experiences, from core academics to field studies, advisory, community circle, and co-curricular programming, ensuring a coherent, non-fragmented learning environment.

Leadership and Team Development

• Lead and manage the Curriculum & Design and Teaching & Learning team to design and scale instructional systems that drive student mastery, engagement, and achievement across all schools and grade bands.
• Design and facilitate an annual arc of professional learning that develops the instructional leadership capacity of Managing Directors of Schools, principals, assistant principals, deans, and content specialists.
• Cultivate a culture of continuous improvement, where leaders regularly reflect on progress, share best practices, and refine strategies based on student data and feedback.
• Create the conditions for all educators to deliver rigorous, culturally responsive instruction that affirms student identity and drives academic mastery by guiding the development of aligned materials, professional learning, and school-based leader practices.
• Coach and influence school leaders who do not report directly to this role, building alignment around instructional priorities and academic expectations

School Quality and Academic Performance

• Partner with members of the Schools Team to monitor school-level instructional health and academic performance through walkthroughs, data reviews, and instructional leadership team meetings.
• Lead a network-wide cycle of strategic academic planning and continuous improvement, ensuring alignment across curriculum, instruction, and assessment systems.
• Identify and proactively intervene in underperforming classrooms or schools, coordinating targeted support and ensuring sustainable improvement.
• Ensure that curriculum design and instructional supports reflect the needs of all learners, including those requiring differentiated supports, enrichment, or accelerated learning opportunities.
• Ensure that co-curricular experiences, including field studies, advisory, and enrichment, are intentionally aligned to academic priorities and reinforce what students are learning in core content areas
• Partner with the Managing Directors of Schools to support schools that are underperforming and deploy targeted interventions to improve instructional leadership and student outcomes.

Judgment and Decision-Making

• Use data and insight to make timely, student-centered decisions that prioritize instructional excellence, equity, and long-term academic impact.
• Balance strategic oversight with meaningful collaboration, empowering leaders to execute with autonomy while maintaining network-wide alignment and accountability.
• Lead cross-functional planning and decision-making that anticipates and mitigates instructional risks, ensuring readiness and adaptability throughout the academic year.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• At least four years of experience as a high-impact instructional leader (e.g., principal, director of curriculum, or network academic leader) with a demonstrated ability to drive meaningful gains in student learning.
• Extensive expertise in teaching, learning, and school leadership across elementary, middle, and high school levels, with a clear understanding of how learning progresses across a full academic trajectory.
• Proven expertise across the K–12 spectrum: you have led or deeply shaped academic programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, and can speak with authority about how learning progresses across all three.
• Demonstrated success in driving school-wide academic excellence, accelerating student growth, and closing opportunity gaps, ensuring students of all backgrounds achieve high levels.
• Bring a future-thinking and strategic approach to sustaining both academic experience as students progress through each grade band, focusing on coherence and long-term academic outcomes.
• Effective at managing through influence, with a strong ability to galvanize cross-functional teams, coach instructional leaders, and promote academic excellence without direct managerial authority.
• Deep expertise in analyzing student performance data and applying evidence-based strategies to enhance teaching, curriculum alignment, and network-wide practices, ensuring sustained academic success.
• Exercises strong judgment in decision-making, balancing data-driven insights with students, educators, and communities.
• Proven ability to manage through influence and partner with diverse staff, motivating and guiding leaders, particularly in complex school settings.
• We welcome candidates from public school districts, independent schools, higher education, and mission-driven organizations

Compensation and Benefits

The salary will range between $180,000 - $210,000 annually, commensurate with level of experience.

This full-time, exempt position offers a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 403(b) retirement plan with employer matching
• Generous paid time off and additional employee benefits

Location & Work Arrangement

Based in our Brooklyn, NY office

The hybrid work schedule requires in-office presence at least three days per week.

Ascend is committed to building a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist community through its hiring practices and by fostering a culture and environment where diverse perspectives, ideas, and identities are valued and integrated into its approach to educating students. Ascend staff represent a wide diversity of racial, socio-economic, gender, religious, and national identities—opening a window to the entire Ascend community on the richness of humanity. Ascend Charter Schools welcomes all applicants who share their mission and vision.