Address
Form of workJob Description
KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 59 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose —college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.
Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.
KIPP Texas is part of the national KIPP network of 255 college-preparatory public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, KIPP students complete four-year college at a rate of 36 percent, comparable to the national average for all students and approximately three times higher than the average of students from low-income communities.
You can see all our job opportunities at https://kipptexas.org/join-our-team/.
Job DescriptionThe Opportunity
The KTX Senior Director, IT Strategy & PMO reports to the KTX Managing Director of Information Technology. The KTX Senior Director, IT Strategy & PMO is responsible for leading the organization’s Information Technology project management function. The Senior Director works with senior management and functional business management to understand the strategic direction of the organization to develop the enterprise technology strategy and vision. The Senior Director executes on that strategy to deliver superior levels of service while controlling costs and exposure to business and operational risk. The Senior Director also leverages technology solutions to provide the appropriate level of solutions to meet the current needs and expected growth of the organization.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Direction Setting
- Manages IT Project Management Office (PMO) encompassing a broad array of IT strategic projects designed to meet one or more organizational strategic goals. Aligns IT projects to the corporate strategy and overall direction.
- Keeps abreast of emerging technology and business trends, develops and implements the IT projects that take advantage of these trends.
- Sustains vision and strategy and transforms into an actionable IT technology roadmap (in conjunction with other IT departments and the Managing Director of Information Technology) to meet the strategic priorities of the organization.
- Develops and implements IT project governance to ensure that technology investments are prioritized, strategic projects deliver business value and risks are mitigated.
- Ensures that project related IT systems and services are technically sound and that the systems and services have the functionality and scalability necessary to enable and accelerate the continued growth of the organization.
- Develops business cases for investment in IT projects with the best organizational design to support business operations.
- Manages IT project portfolio to ensure that projects implementation and prescribed activities are carried out in accordance with specified objectives.
- Collaborates with the Managing Director of Information Technology to ensure business and technological synergies are taken advantage of in the best possible manner.
Service Delivery
- Facilitates the governance process including project intake, business case review, prioritization, decisioning, portfolio status review and post audit to ensure the right projects are implemented at the right time.
- Oversees the management of IT projects to ensure that the technology implemented will scale effectively and support the needs and expected growth of the organization.
- Develops and implements project related IT standards, metrics, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), documentation, communications, and training.
- Creates the foundation for embedding new technologies into information technology systems and services.
- Leads, manages and monitors major projects to achieve results according to approved plan, and time, cost, and quality parameters.
Functional Management
- Direct responsibility for financial planning, expense management, and staff management within the IT Strategy & PMO functional area and their coordination across IT departments.
- Analyzes business needs, evaluates and recommends technical solutions, oversees sourcing decisions and scalable vendor management process to align IT projects with business needs.
- Formulates project goals, identifies key stakeholders, and manages relationships by establishing a clear stakeholder communication plan (project reports/summaries).
- Utilizes established project management methodologies for the design, planning, implementation, and achievement of project objectives.
- Directly manages project activities through project plans and project management best practices, assigns tasks to cross functional matrixed resources, provides guidance to personnel responsible for specific functions or phases of the project and manages risk.
- Develops IT policies, procedures, and guidelines for the management of all aspects of IT projects and project administration.
Staff and Leadership Development
- Oversees a strategic workforce plan development and implementation to maximize the current and future workforce effectiveness considering strategic business priorities.
- Manages development of SMART goals for the IT Strategy & PMO function and the annual performance review process for staff.
- Leads, trains, and develops staff for maximum effectiveness.
- Contributes to organization-level goals for talent development, diversity, and inclusion.
- Works in accordance with KIPP Texas corporate policies and regulations.
- Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Project Management or a related field, plus a minimum of 10 years of professional work experience, including business and leadership management experience.
- Minimum 5 years of professional experience in project and portfolio management at a senior level and at least 3 years of recent experience as an lT Director.
- Experience managing and working across a broad array of technology disciplines and functions.
- Experience leading large enterprise transformation initiatives and major IT projects.
- Master’s degree in Computer Science, Project Management or a related field preferred.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is required.
- Six Sigma Green or Black Belt certification is a plus.
- Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certification is a plus.
- Experience with federal or state funding including E-rate is a plus.
- Experience working in a school district, non-profit or government agency is a plus.
Skills
- Ability to develop strategic initiatives and oversee the development of long-term plans and proposals to support business objectives.
- Ability to challenge, convince and manage multiple business stakeholders.
- Ability to effectively drive business, culture, and technology change in a dynamic and complex operating environment.
- Ability to multi-task and simultaneously manage major projects in multiple stages of delivery including developing and executing meeting timelines, connecting different stakeholders, interfacing with vendors as needed and understanding the larger priorities.
- Strong business acumen; understands key financial drivers and dynamics related to growth and financial goals.
- Strong strategic thinking and planning skills.
- Excellent organizational skills and demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities and assignments.
- Excellent interpersonal skills and works well in a collaborative cross-functional environment.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Extensive experience with project management, project management tools, concepts and methodologies.
- Team oriented mind-set.
- Full knowledge of project, risk and operations management.
Additional Information
Compensation and Benefits:
As a full-time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, life insurance, and disability plans.
KIPP provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.
