Senior Special Education Manager - WestEd, Washington, DC

Position Title:      Senior Special Education Manager
Agency Title:       Senior Manager/Project Director
Programs:            Learning Innovations
Location:              Negotiable, with a preference for Washington, DC
Level:                   J Management/Leadership
Salary:                  Competitive.

Position Description:
WestEd -a nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency - works with education and other communities throughout the United States and abroad to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. WestEd has more than a dozen offices nationwide, from Washington, DC, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Georgia, to Illinois, Arizona, and California, with headquarters in San Francisco.

WestEd is a national leader in providing comprehensive services to communities, schools, districts, and states to develop and support implementation of evidence-based practices for children and youth with disabilities, and strategies for partnerships across general and special education, and early care systems. Towards this end, WestEd seeks a senior level leader to develop and sustain projects designed to improve outcomes for children and youth with disabilities. This position will provide leadership to support state, regional, and local level clients to realize equitable outcomes for children and youth with disabilities from cradle to career, through two primary roles:
(1) serving as the Associate Director for the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI); and
(2) growing WestEd's special education and early intervention outcomes portfolio.

The purpose of the NCSI is to provide technical assistance to State Education Agencies and IDEA Part C Lead Agencies to build capacity to support local school districts and early intervention programs in improving educational results and functional outcomes for children with disabilities. Funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), NCSI personnel support states with systems transformation to improve outcomes for special education and early intervention recipients, through the development, implementation, and evaluation of State Systemic Improvement Plans (SSIPs) as required under the IDEA, and other change initiatives. This position will work closely with the Center's Director to lead this highly visible and comprehensive national technical assistance center.

Secondly, the selected candidate will also be expected to grow and lead other work for WestEd to support children and families with disabilities, and will accordingly be engaged in proposal development and project leadership to support future state and national special education projects.

Funders with whom the position will interact and pursue new work include federal and state education and health and human services agencies, regional programs, school districts, and philanthropic foundations.

WestEd is seeking applicants with strong content expertise and experience in designing and implementing systems at the local, regional and/or state level to deploy and scale-up evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for children with disabilities, from cradle to career. In addition to big picture thinking and leadership considerations, successful candidates must also have strong capacity for operations and management functions in order to succeed in overseeing the implementation of established protocols and processes. WestEd values individuals who have both strong technical capacity, including a well-informed understanding of the field and the issues facing states, school districts, and others as they pursue issues of equity; as well as a value for collaborative work and respectful collegiality with peers, partners, and clients.

Primary Responsibilities:
National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI): Confer with and engage in vision-setting, planning and operationalizing decision-making with the NCSI Director and other senior NCSI leaders, to ensure effective implementation and management of the Center. Duties include creating and facilitating work processes, maintaining evaluation and reporting efforts, and engaging with clients and partners to bring research to practice through effective technical assistance, with an eye towards systems transformation that results in improved outcomes.

Special Education Service Development: Engage with WestEd colleagues to identify new funding opportunities, develop competitive proposals, and manage small and large scale projects designed to improve outcomes for children with disabilities. Negotiate business relationships with potential and established organizational partners. Develop budgets and manage budgets and associated fiscal responsibilities such as contract development and monitoring.

Qualifications:

• Established track record in developing and managing the provision of technical assistance to state and/or local agencies and/or other educational organizations
• Successful experience in developing and managing projects and budgets to ensure tasks are completed on time and within cost parameters.
• Sound knowledge of: federal special education policies and regulations; research, issues, and trends in the field of special and general education and early intervention; and systems transformation and continuous improvement research and implementation
• Exceptional interpersonal, networking, and written and oral communication skills
• Ability to lead diverse teams and individuals within complex and diffuse organizational structures to reach established goals, including strong competencies in facilitation, consultation, and coaching
• Demonstrated success in developing proposals in response to competitive and sole-source opportunities, including drafting compelling narratives and well-conceived budgets.
• Ability to use online tools and technology to collaborate with clients, staff, and partners, and to conceptually guide internal data collection and reporting systems
• The ideal candidate is collaborative and diplomatic, can comfortably work under tight deadlines, and effectively engage with external contacts at all organizational levels.
• Masters or Doctorate in special education, human service/ education administration, organizational leadership, or related fields in Education, Health and Human Service arenas

Apply online:  http://careers.wested.org/cs/jp/print/docs/we/jobs.htm

If you are an individual with a disability and need an accommodation to complete the online application process, please call 415.615.3131. Please leave a message and a member of our Human Resources team will return your call within three business days. Alternatively, you may send an email to [email protected] with "Applicant Accommodation" in the subject line of the email. Please note that this phone number and email are only for those individuals with a disability who would like to request an accommodation to apply for a job. If you are not an individual with a disability and have a question or comment, please email [email protected].

Human Resources
WestEd
730 Harrison Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
http://www.WestEd.org

WestEd is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or veterans' status.