Reading Partners is changing the education landscape. We are a leader in working to solve the literacy crisis in our country by leveraging community volunteers in under-resourced schools. Our diverse and expansive volunteer base provides one-on-one tutoring to students twice weekly, and our program is proven to help children master the reading fundamentals they need to unlock their potential as successful, happy, and confident readers in school and in life. Our people are our heartbeat and our greatest resource; we are all passionately rallied around our mission to help children become lifelong learners by empowering communities to provide individualized instruction that truly works. Join our stellar, committed team leading the charge to deepen our impact and expand our service. Watch this video to learn more about the mission and core tutoring work of Reading Partners.
The high level:
The Managing Director of Partnerships & Growth (MDPG), Greater Newark will play a key role in Reading Partners’ growth and scale throughout Newark and the surrounding areas in Hudson and Essex County. During this critical moment in our country’s educational landscape, Reading Partners is anchoring itself as part of the educational equity solution by partnering with communities in Greater Newark to ensure equitable access for students to literacy instruction and one-on-one support. Now more than ever, it is critical for Reading Partners to build community-based partnerships to address literacy gaps in Greater Newark through tutoring and family engagement strategies.
The MDPG will collaborate with a network of community partners, families, charter schools, funders, and Newark Public School District (and other neighboring schools and districts) to implement the model to address Newark’s literacy crisis through long-term and community-based partnerships. They will build partnerships with organizations to recruit community tutors to provide one-on-one literacy support and family engagement initiatives for Newark students. The MDPG will create a pathway for Reading Partners to facilitate family and caregiver literacy workshops to help foster and cultivate a love of reading for students. The MDPG will be a key relationship-builder, connector, and revenue generator on behalf of Reading Partners. As part of the partnerships and growth strategy, the MDPG will also help build relationships with corporate and institutional funders and collaborate with Reading Partners’ National Development team on revenue generation strategies to exponentially impact literacy outcomes in Greater Newark.
The MDPG will report directly to the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Growth (VPSPG) to sustainably scale student and family engagement in Greater Newark over four years, creating a foundation for long-term literacy impact in the area. They will work toward the following goals over time in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders:
- Provide tutoring to 4,500 students by 2028 (this includes summer and school year tutoring), recruiting over 1,000 volunteers.
- Partner with community-based organizations and family groups to recruit and train 3700 families in our family engagement workshops.
- Partner with 50 community-based organizations, schools and corporations to launch family hold tutor orientations and information sessions.
Location: This remote position requires candidates to reside within Northern New Jersey or New York City metropolitan area.
What you’ll do:
Establish, grow, and scale partnerships and family engagement initiatives in the Greater Newark area:
- Conduct partnership outreach across prospective community-based organizations, charter schools, Newark Public School District, and educational institutions.
- In year 1, establish 5-10 community and school partners across the city through the adoption of Reading Partners’ tutoring program, training, and family engagement support.
- Work closely with the National Program team as new partners transition to the implementation phase.
- Act as the primary point of contact for the day-to-day needs of partners and take a consultative approach to building and maintaining partnerships.
- Partner with the Vice President of National Programs (VPNP) to assess partner readiness and support start-up preparation during the recruitment process; provide consultation to the National Programs team on the partnership onboarding process.
- Collect and analyze partner feedback to inform outreach and implementation strategies.
- Partner across internal departments to build capacity partners to recruit tutors (paid and unpaid).
- Recruit, build, and activate an advisory board to provide thought partnership on growth strategy and activate connections.
- Partner with the VPSPG to develop a sustainability plan by 2027 for ongoing work beyond the initial stages of the strategic plan.
Generate $2 - 3 million dollars in revenue to fund the Greater Newark expansion work over the next 3 years:
- Partner with the VPSPG, Chief Growth Officer, and the Vice President of National Philanthropy (VPNP) on fundraising and development strategies and proposals.
- Build relationships with institutional and corporate partners invested in literacy access in Greater Newark.
- Cultivate investments and private revenue from traditional streams, including foundations, individual donors, and corporations.
- Work closely with the GreenLight Greater Newark leadership team to track progress milestones and engage the leadership team as a key thought partner in the expansion work.
- Attend national, local, state-wide, and regional events to cultivate donor relationships and investment in literacy access for the Newark community.
Build Reading Partners’ presence as a literacy industry expert and thought leader in Greater Newark:
- Build a deep understanding of the literacy landscape in Greater Newark and establish key connections with other literacy organizations in the field.
- Participate in relevant literacy or education conferences, speaking engagements, and networking events to elevate the Reading Partners brand.
- Through local partnerships, create events and engagement opportunities for prospective partners, tutors, and community members to generate interest in Reading Partners.
- Partner with the VPSPG to develop external-facing collateral for partnership work in Newark.
How you’ll do it:
Collaborate:
- The MD will bring people together across organizations and internally to close the literacy gap in Newark. They seek diverse perspectives and expertise from others and transparently share information about goals, activities, and challenges. They work to provide new solutions for the field and try new ways of solving literacy access challenges collaboratively. They will engage community members, funders, and partners to generate a thoughtful approach to address literacy access needs in Newark. The MD can strategize with key stakeholders across revenue-generating opportunities to holistically support partnership work.
Inspire:
- Leaders who inspire act as a catalyst to move individuals and communities toward goals by living out the organizational mission, vision, and values with each opportunity. The MD can set the tone through their actions and connect others to their why; creating a context where stakeholders and motivated to contribute. They prioritize student needs and outcomes, aligning stakeholders on the mission. Through their relationship with institutions, community-based organizations, and key stakeholders, they value equity and leverage the strengths of individuals to mitigate or close the literacy gap in their communities.
Deliver:
- They will lead with clarity, direction, and guidance as Reading Partners scales their partnership work in Newark. The MD will demonstrate content expertise in their role and leverage data, experience, and judgment to inform the approach to strategy. They will think critically about challenges and build good processes toward progress. They bring a long-range vision to short-term goal setting and can set goals to create impact over a multi-year period. The MD can also manage themselves and others toward successfully completing work streams over complex projects and teams. They will integrate data into their day-to-day work to drive learning and progress.
About you!
You’ll be successful in this role if you:
- Have 7+ years of experience in business or partnership development within the education sector with 3+ years of management experience.
- Experience building and establishing relationships with organizations and partners in Greater Newark.
- Have an understanding of the Greater Newark community and its educational landscape.
- Strong relationship-building and collaboration skills, especially in diverse and multi-faceted communities.
- Comfort with being in a founding role or start-up environment in an educational environment.
- Adept at developing and executing layered cultivation and stewardship plans.
- Experience with large-scale fundraising, revenue generation, or sales in the six to seven-figure range.
- Can use data to analyze programmatic trends and set goals, outcomes, and strategy.
- Fundraising and revenue generation experience across a variety of fundraising opportunities.
- Must have access to reliable transportation for local travel throughout Greater Newark.
- Degree in business administration, marketing, sales, or a relevant field.
- Demonstrate a commitment to race, equity, diversity, and inclusion in your leadership.
- Display a deep belief in our mission and root your work in our core values.
- Ability to prove eligibility to work legally in the U.S. and that you are at least 18 years of age.
Bonus Points if you:
- Have experience working in the launch or growth phases of organizations.
- Have experience with social impact investors in the K-12th grade education environment.
- Served as a senior leader at a nonprofit or educational organization in Greater Newark.
- Are an AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, or other national service alum/alumna.
What we offer:
Reading Partners’ compensation and benefits programs are designed to attract, motivate, engage, and retain top talent to propel our mission forward. We aim to set salaries based on objective, external, high-quality market data. Our salaries are adjusted for candidates in different geographic regions. We do our very best to ensure that we’re bringing our best offer - therefore we do not engage in salary negotiations.
- This is a full-time, exempt, salaried position. The compensation for this position is $151,668 per year.
- We offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life insurance, flex spending accounts, generous paid time off, commuter benefits, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and currently a 403(b) match option.
- Professional development reimbursement fund up to $1,000 per year.
- Unlimited or Flexible Paid Time Off (PTO) benefits for regular employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week.
- We offer an exciting and dynamic culture, and we commit to investing in and supporting our amazing people to grow their careers with us.
The other things you need to know:
- This role is remote-based in the Northern New Jersey or New York City metropolitan area. The MDPG will engage in in-person outreach, engagement activities, and events at least 50% of the time each week in Greater Newark.
- Travel: This position travels regularly throughout Greater Newark, and up to 15% travel across Reading Partners’ locations in the U.S. This position may also involve occasional travel to Reading Partners’ National Headquarters in Oakland, CA.
What’s Next?
If you’re interested in joining our Reading Partners team, please submit the following application materials to our online job posting:
- A cover letter describing your interest in Reading Partners and how your past experience has prepared you for this role.
- Resume
At Reading Partners we respect and honor the diversity in our workforce, and we are an Equal Opportunity Employer.
