REPORTS TO: President and Chief Executive Officer
WORK LOCATION: The Landings
POSITION SUMMARY: Reporting to the President & CEO and in partnership with the Chief Program Officer, the Life Readiness Director will have oversight responsibilities for the development, implementation, and integration of the Education Foundation’s life readiness initiative in support of students, young adults, families, and caregivers. The Life Readiness Director will foster an innovative mindset, supported with educational knowledge and experience to help students develop personal agency and wellbeing in reaching the organization’s vision to unite its community to prepare every student for life.
The Life Readiness Director will serve as a collegial partner of the Foundation’s student success team and PLANit Sarasota team and will work collaboratively with other community-based and youth-serving organizations and partners to support a shared vision to see every student graduate with a college, career, and life plan that leads to success. The Life Readiness Director will ensure a level of alignment between the Foundation’s life readiness initiative and the Florida Department of Education’s Resiliency Standards and will work closely with the President & CEO and the Chief Program Officer in incubating life readiness resources with a strategic mindset to ensure strong design, integration, delivery, and on-going evaluation of this initiative.
The Life Readiness Director will uphold the Education Foundation of Sarasota County’s mission which is to enhance the potential of students, promote excellence in teaching, and inspire innovation in education guided by strategic philanthropy.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
- In collaboration with the CEO and Chief Program Officer, provide strategic planning, design, and implementation of life readiness resources and services in alignment with the Foundation’s 5-year strategic plan.
- Work in collaboration with the student success team and PLANit Sarasota team to integrate life readiness resources and services with college and career planning.
- Oversee program content design and delivery, including curriculum development, ensuring consistent, timely, and relevant programs, workshops, webinars, activities, and support are offered to students and families.
- Actively assess and evaluate programs using key performance indicators and measurements.
- Develop a comprehensive plan and proactive approach to support student well-being.
- Refine, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness of programs with data-informed decision-making, making modifications where needed to ensure continuous improvement.
- Strengthen program quality through people, processes, and outcomes.
- Collaborate with youth-serving organizations, community-based partners, and state-wide agencies to promote a shared vision to help students graduate with purpose with a college, career, and life plan that leads to success.
- Communicate various means of measuring programmatic quality to share our story with internal and external partners through evidence-based decision-making and for grant reporting purposes.
- Design and offer professional development workshops for appropriate stakeholders as needed.
- Oversee the fiscal management of direct program services.
- Conduct research as needed to stay up to date on current issues in education
- Serve as an advocate and spokesperson on behalf of the Foundation to district personnel, parents, family, and the community at large.
EDUCATION, EXPERIENCE, AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- Master’s degree from an accredited educational institution in Psychology, Education, School Counseling, or related discipline; doctorate preferred.
- 10+ years’ experience working in counseling, community outreach, social work, or education with increasing responsibilities, Florida public schools experience preferred.
- Experience piloting new programs, creating effective measurements, and scaling successful programs.
- Experience in curriculum development, preferably K-12 and counseling curriculum development.
- Strong computer and technology skills.
- Ability to analyze data and draw conclusions.
- Knowledge of college, career, and life readiness counseling and use of community resources.
- Knowledge of services and regulations of community agencies, including Child and Family Services, Juvenile Justice, and the Health Department.
- Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
- Bi-lingual is a plus.
This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position with benefits. The salary range is $75,000-$90,000.