Chief of Staff

Chief Of Staff

Position is responsible for direct supervision of the Department of School Leadership including the supervision of the district's schools and school leaders. The Chief of Staff's responsibility will be to ensure significant student achievement gains at the school level as measured by school improvement data.

Another important function of this job is analyzing and using multiple sources of data to guide the continuous improvement of all schools. This position reports directly to the Superintendent and serves as a member of the senior staff.

The Chief of Staff will serve as the designee for the superintendent and Chief Executive of the Senior Cabinet. The Chief of Staff will ensure that the daily operations of the school division are aligned with the district strategic plan and the bureaucratic dilemmas are resolved in an efficient and timely manner.

Essential Duties

• Supervise both the Executive Director of Elementary and Secondary Schools in their oversight of a rigorous Plan for Continuous Improvement process that results in improved student achievement for all schools.
• Ensure the alignment between the district's strategic plan and schools.
• Provide leadership in the areas of school improvement planning, principal professional development, and evaluation.
• Establish a consistent School Support Team Process (SST), in alignment with the Continuous Improvement Plan, which will create a shared understanding of challenges at the school level and ensure the equitable distribution of resources to all schools.
• Collaborate with the Chief Academic Officer to ensure the successful integration of evidence-based strategies that will impact the growth and success of all schools.
• Ensure the effective management, coaching, and mentorship of school leaders in ways that drive significant student achievement gains.
• Provide the necessary professional development and support to division and school leadership to ensure that they have the skills to select, evaluate and support instructional personnel.
• Allocate and monitor the effectiveness of mentoring and coaching resources assigned to provide differentiated support to schools as needed.
• Develop and lead central office administrators in their roles to support instruction.
• Oversee the development and submission of department work plans and annual goals for approval by the superintendent.
• Partner with Human Resources to provide support in recruiting, identifying, and promoting excellent teachers and school based administrators.
• Create collaborative and effective communication channels between central office staff and school administrators.
• Collaborate with central office staff to evaluate existing programs, services, and practices.
• Support the superintendent's efforts in establishing clear, consistent interactions with parents, families and community partners to receive input and feedback on the effectiveness of our schools, and to resolve concerns.
• Be personally informed and keep direct reports informed of current educational trends, practices, and proposed legislation impacting the schools.

Other Duties

Job Specifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and / or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities, who are otherwise qualified, to perform the essential functions.

Minimum Qualifications (Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Preferred)

Bachelor's Degree in Education and a Master's Degree in School Administration with five years of experience required. A record of effective school leadership preferred with proven success managing and coaching large teams of professionals to ambitious goals. Previous central office leadership experience required. A history of successful school improvement. Must possess comprehensive knowledge of the principles, practices, and procedures of school administration, school division objectives, procedures and methods. Will demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills with an ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with School Board members, school administrators, teachers, staff, and all support staff. Must have the skill to conceptualize, initiate, monitor, and evaluate new and / or current programs.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

Exhibit manual dexterity to use a telephone, to enter data into a computer; see and read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids; hear and understand speech at normal levels and on the telephone; speak in audible tones so that others may understand clearly; physical agility to lift up to 25 pounds.

Work Environment

Duties are normally performed in an office environment. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Supervision Exercised : Assigned Staff

Supervision Received : Superintendent

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by this employee. The Chief of Staff will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other related duties as assigned by the Superintendent. Montgomery Public Schools reserves the right to update, revise or change this job description and related duties at any time.

The Montgomery County Board of Education is an equal opportunity employer. "No person shall be denied employment or be excluded from participation in any program or activity on the basis of disability, sex, race, religion, national origin, color or age."