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Our client, Uncommon Knowledge and Achievement, Inc Teacher University ( “UKA Teacher U” or “Teacher U”), aims to develop and deliver high-impact training for New York City district and charter public school teachers. It grows out of the work of three of the country’s most effective charter school organizations – Uncommon Schools, KIPP, and Achievement First (UKA). In collaboration with Hunter College, Teacher U currently trains mostly novice elementary and middle school teachers over a two-year period, giving them the practical tools they need to excel in their classrooms. On periodic Saturdays during the school year and during a portion of the summer, dynamic professors from leading educational institutions and master teachers from some of the most successful K-12 classrooms in the country lead enrolled teachers to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to lead their students to demonstrably remarkable annual achievement gains. The enrolled teachers receive provisional certification at the start of the program, permanent certification when they finish, and a Master’s degree from Hunter College based on the successful completion of the Master’s level academic program and on a thesis defense that includes generating student growth and achievement.

The Director of Recruitment will oversee two critical functions: recruiting top talent for full-time staff positions in the central office (currently at approximately 30 people, but anticipated to grow), and designing and managing a process for recruiting best-in-class teachers/professors to join the network of instructional personnel. The dual nature of the role reflects both the challenge and the opportunity. The Director will, in essence, have the chance to design and implement a truly original recruiting process. The process must be scalable and cost-effective; it must align with the needs of the various partners; it must be innovative and responsive to change. In short: it must, like Teacher U itself, take a bold and big-picture approach to addressing the challenges that stand in the way of student achievement.

The duties of the Director of Recruitment are anticipated to include the following:

• Develop, implement and lead the recruitment process for high-caliber professionals to join the central office staff;
• Develop, implement and help drive the recruitment process for teachers and professors to join the program personnel;
• Develop a clear and compelling value proposition for candidates to join Teacher U;
• Create and implement systems to ensure that Teacher U adopts a systems-driven approach to recruitment; -Create a recruiting strategy and marketing materials that represent this value proposition to potential Teacher U employees;
• Represent and market Teacher U at recruiting events and programs;
• Develop and maintain relationships with partner institutions and recruiting agencies that may provide leads for instructional personnel;
• Devise and refine innovative recruitment approaches that will attract experienced and exceptional instructors and instructional leaders;
• Analyze recruitment and selection data over time, proactively advancing our most effective efforts and incorporating best-in-class recruitment strategies to recruit and retain top talent;
• Evaluate and refine continuously the recruitment and selection model, implementing changes that produce results quickly;
• Collaborate with Teacher U’s Director of Finance and Hunter College on compensation-related tracking and reporting;
• Oversee successful on-boarding of staff to ensure successful transition into new roles.

In short, the position requires a smart, detail-oriented, hard-working team player who can handle both mission critical projects as well as more basic administrative tasks with equal enthusiasm, efficiency, and attention to detail. This Director of Recruitment should be able to handle multiple projects in a timely and efficient manner and should also have exceptional interpersonal and people management skills.

This is an outstanding opportunity to play an integral role in urban, public education reform. First and foremost, the Director of Recruitment must share the team’s sense of urgency about the need to improve student achievement through phenomenal teacher training. Additionally, candidates for the position must have:

• A bachelor’s degree, with preference for an additional advanced degree in a relevant subject area
• Proven ability to recruit exceptional staff members for an organization or business
• Strong project and process management abilities – preferably honed developing and maintaining systems for an innovative organization
• Sophisticated ability to build and maintain relationships with partner institutions, with a preference for candidates who have pre-existing networks in the world of education reform
• Demonstrated passion for teaching and learning, with preference for candidates who have instructional experience or professional experience in education-related organizations
• A high level of zest, grit, hope, gratitude, enthusiasm, and humor
• A commitment to closing the academic achievement gap

Teacher U offers a competitive salary and benefits package.