Seton Education Partners seeks a mission-driven, results-oriented leader to be the founding Chief Talent Officer for a new network of urban public charter schools operating in New York City, with plans to expand to Washington, DC. The CTO will assist Seton’s Executive Director for NYC Schools to execute the strategic growth plan for and the critical infrastructure behind this new network of schools modeled after Brilla College Prep. This includes recruiting, hiring, and developing key network personnel and founding school leaders, faculty, and staff to launch and lead new schools. This is an ideal opportunity for a motivated entrepreneur who wants to start a network of schools from the ground up—schools that help underserved children develop the virtue, knowledge, and skills necessary to earn a college degree and pursue lives of value, faith, and integrity.

Background
Seton Education Partners is launching a new network of K-8 public charter schools in underserved neighborhoods in New York City where traditional Catholic schools are being closed. Co-founded in 2009 by KIPP Foundation co-founder Scott W. Hamilton and Teach for America alumna Stephanie Saroki de García, Seton is a response to the dramatic decline of urban Catholic schools in America, which have served the economically disadvantaged so well for decades. With a focus on results, Seton is committed to ensuring that children develop the knowledge, skills, and character traits necessary to earn a college degree and pursue lives of value, faith, and integrity.

In 2013, Seton launched Brilla College Prep in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx. Brilla, which means “shine” in Spanish, has achieved academic growth results that match or beat the most acclaimed charter schools. Seton now seeks to take these remarkable achievements to scale by helping to launch and manage a network of schools like Brilla to ensure that thousands of underserved children whose Catholic schools close—and other local children—have access to an academically superior and character-building education. This network will serve as a national model for how other cities facing the shuttering of Catholic schools can continue to serve the poor. For more information on Seton Education Partners, please visit www.SetonPartners.org.

About Our Schools
Inspired by the results of some of the nation’s best “no excuses” urban schools, Seton is working to grow schools that are built on Six Cornerstones—high expectations, results matter, lead with character, choice & commitment, more time, and teach the best content.

1) High Expectations. Because we believe in the inherent dignity and potential of every child, we have high expectations for our students’ academic achievement and conduct that make no excuses based on their background or socio-economic status.

2) Results Matter. We relentlessly focus on high student performance on standardized tests and other objective measures because we hold ourselves accountable for preparing students personally and academically in ways that will enable them to succeed at the best high schools and colleges.

3) Lead with Character. Good character makes for a meaningful life, produces lasting personal and social happiness and contributes to academic success. The development of the virtues of Justice, Self-control, Good Judgment, Courage and Kindness in students is central to our educational mission.

4) Choice & Commitment. Students, their parents and the faculty of our schools will make a choice to participate in our unique and innovative program. Everyone must make and uphold a commitment to put in the time and effort required to achieve success.

5) More Time. There are no shortcuts. Only with expanded instructional time will students have the time to acquire the academic knowledge, skills, and habits that will prepare them for success in college and in life.

6) Teach the Best Content. All students will learn math and science while also becoming familiar with the classics of Western Civilization, because of the way the traditional liberal arts convey truth, beauty, and goodness, and because students need the world’s best content in order to become good citizens and be competitive globally.

About the Position

Reporting to Seton’s Executive Director for NYC Schools, the Chief Talent Officer is part of the senior leadership team that manages the Brilla Schools Network. The CTO will work closely with the Head of Schools and Chief of Programs to create and implement a talent management strategy encompassing recruiting new team members, developing existing staff and managing performance. The successful candidate will have a proven track record recruiting, cultivating, and retaining exceptional talent in fast-growing organizations.

Qualifications and Desired Characteristics
Candidates for the position must possess the following personal characteristics:

• You have unquestioned integrity and commitment to Seton’s mission and values
• You take personal responsibility
• You have a strong belief that all children can achieve both moral and academic excellence
• You have a relentless drive for excellence
• You have an unwavering determination to be better today than you were yesterday
• You are a faith-filled Catholic who honors the teachings of the Church

The ideal candidate will bring experience and skills in the following areas:

• Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of ten years of work experience in talent management
• Proven track record helping high-growth organizations scale and build talent, with a focus on performance management, recruitment, selection, training, and organizational development
• Deep understanding of people management, with the ability to coach and mentor direct reports, peers, and executives on sound talent management practices
• A  track record of leadership, including the ability to encourage, motivate, manage conflict, team build, mentor, coach, set goals, prioritize and plan
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to develop strong relationships with a variety of stakeholders and effectively communicate tough messages to diverse audiences
• Proven ability to hire, develop, and retain high-performing teams
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and build scalable systems and processes
• Experience effectively managing the ambiguity and multiple priorities inherent in an entrepreneurial environment
• Outstanding communication skills—both written and oral
• Exceptional organizational skills with a high attention to detail
• Ability to work effectively and efficiently on multiple projects and tasks simultaneously
• Familiarity with various social media recruitment strategies and IT technologies with knowledge of current trends and technologies
• Broad network of contacts in the Catholic education and/or national education reform sectors
• Ability and enthusiasm for modeling Seton’s core values
• Teaching experience with demonstrated student achievement results in an underserved community and experience in a high-performing charter school network (preferred)

Roles and Responsibilities
By performing many of the finance, human resources, facilities, and fundraising functions, Seton empowers school and program leaders to focus primarily on setting a powerful vision for student high achievement and character development, motivating others to follow that vision, and strategically implementing our mission. While not an exhaustive list, the CTO bears the following specific responsibilities:

Strategic Planning

• Develop a 3-5 year strategic plan to attract, develop and retain school and network talent including El Camino and Seton Teaching Fellows staff.
• Serve as a key member of the network leadership team to voice all employee matters and participate in the overall strategic growth and planning of the network.
• Define and articulate the employee experience for all members of Brilla schools, the network, El Camino and Seton Teaching Fellows.
• Work closely with Seton leadership to determine the appropriate role of the talent management team as the network grows.

Recruitment

• Lead the overall talent recruitment strategy for the network, including developing strategies to attract a team of individuals with unquestioned integrity and commitment to Seton’s mission and values, and one that is reflective of the students and communities we serve.
• Oversee the talent recruitment process for the Brilla Schools Network, its schools, El Camino and Seton Teaching Fellows to ensure we attract high-quality, mission-aligned candidates for every position, and that a robust talent pipeline is built to facilitate network growth objectives.
• Develop and steward systems for executing external searches, on-boarding, and training of new employees, and ensuring that good hiring decisions have been made.
• Define and codify interviewing protocols to ensure an equitable and thorough process, including training staff in best practices of interviewing and evaluating candidates.
• Personally lead the search process for key executive positions drawing upon a broad network of contacts in the national Catholic and education reform movements; when needed, manage relationships with search firms and related vendors.
• Track metrics and benchmarks related to recruiting to evaluate effectiveness and improve hiring efficiency, and act on these results.

Development and Retention

• Collaborate with Head of Schools and Chief of Programs to ensure robust and thoughtful on-boarding plans, meaningful professional development opportunities, and performance management systems are implemented across the organization.
• Assist supervisors in the development of intervention plans for staff who are not meeting performance expectations and oversee the process of providing feedback and support.
• Track and analyze data around employee retention and satisfaction. Initiate effective programs and strategies to increase teacher and staff retention.
• Maintain current knowledge and understanding of regulations, laws, industry trends, practices, and developments regarding Human Resources that may affect schools and advise management and employees accordingly.

Diversity & Inclusivity
We are building an organization in which talented individuals from all walks of life and past work experiences can join our team and make significant contributions. We are particularly committed to attracting and developing individuals who share the life experiences or backgrounds of the students we will serve.