Position: Special Projects Manager (12 months)

Office of the Superintendent

Reports to: Superintendent of Schools

Overview of Cambridge Public Schools:

Cambridge is a vibrant, diverse city as well as a central hub and driver of the nation’s innovative economy. Home of the renowned educational institutions of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge is also the center of an impressive array of biotechnology, science, and information technology companies.

Educating about 8,000 students JK-12, the Cambridge Public Schools consists of diverse and dedicated faculty, cutting edge technology, and innovative programs. While each of our public schools is unique, they are joined in a shared vision of rigorous, joyful, and culturally responsive learning. Over 30% of CPS students speak a language other than English at home and over 70 languages are spoken by our families. Among the most common are Spanish, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, and Portuguese. Our schools proudly embrace this diversity.

The Role:

The City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Public Schools have partnered for several years to develop a Universal PreSchool (UPK) system for all children starting at age 3. The mission of the Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership is to connect the Cambridge early childhood ecosystem, align early childhood services and information, and advocate for and advance the needs of all children, their families and the early childhood workforce.

Our vision is that every child and family in Cambridge has access to high quality early care and education experiences. As a result, all children enter school ready to thrive socially, emotionally, academically, and physically, and continue to do so through third grade and beyond. The Special Projects Manager will support Cambridge Public Schools in the design and implementation of school-based programs aligned to the City of Cambridge’s Universal PreSchool system. The Special Projects Manager’s primary responsibility will be synthesizing data and information, managing timelines, and communicating progress and information out to stakeholders and the broader community.

Additionally, the Special Projects Manager supports the development and implementation of related projects that impact and enhance the educational experience for students, educator working conditions and parent/family and community engagement facilitated through the Superintendent’s office. The Special Projects Manager is committed to fostering equity, inclusion and belonging and acts as a team member in leading the district in becoming an anti-racist school community through a shared vision, aligned goals and courageous conversations. This position reports directly to the Superintendent of Schools.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Support the internal design, systems development, procedures and initial implementation of school-based preschool, delivered through a mixed-delivery model.
• Work collaboratively with the Student Registration Center to align the lottery system in order to integrate into the mixed delivery Universal Preschool lottery system.
• Facilitate and manage the internal meetings and activities of the various CPS departments maintaining meeting minutes, and reporting meeting activities to the Executive Leadership Team.
• Manage UPK design and implementation plan for CPS, including identifying and monitoring project milestones across departments.
• Collect, analyze, and synthesize data and generate status reports in an effort to support the redesign and enhancement of CPS preschool program.
• Support the administrative functions of program design and development including contributing to the development and monitoring of budgets, accountability and monitoring systems, and internal assessment.
• Draft presentations, briefings, and updates to key internal and external stakeholder groups.
• In collaboration with the Communications department, develop an internal and external communications strategy for the redesign of the CPS preschool program.
• Design, manage and facilitate related activities for additional major projects and initiatives in support of the Superintendent.
• Additional duties as assigned by Supervisor.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in education, business, public administration or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of three (3) years experience with project management/managing complex projects and leading cross functional teams for a large organization.
• Knowledge and understanding of public schools and public education policy.
• Excellent organizational skills with a proven track record of using systems to organize projects.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication and facilitation skills.
• Strong technological skills.
• Successful experience working in multicultural and multilingual communities and environments.
• Strong data collection and analysis skills.
• Ability to work some nights and weekends.

Cambridge Public Schools is committed to slowing and/or stopping the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, as a condition of employment with Cambridge Public Schools, all new hires will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 no later than their first day of work. Written requests for either a religious exemption from this requirement based on sincerely held religious beliefs, or for a medical exemption based upon clear documentation from a medical provider should be submitted to the attention of the Chief Talent Officer.

Salary: $85,386.17 - $107,881.81

Primary Location: Central Office. Berkshire Street Location.

Shift Type: Full-Time (40 hours/12 months).

How to Join Our Team:

Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity.

At the Cambridge Public Schools, we are committed to cultivating an environment where diverse perspectives and backgrounds are embraced, acknowledging that a team reflecting diversity of race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion, age, gender, marital/domestic partner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and veteran status allows us to serve our communities better. To that end, we welcome and encourage applicants to bring their authentic selves when considering employment opportunities within our school district.