Executive Director, Adult Education

Philadelphia, PA, United States

A best-in-class city that attracts best-in-class talent, Philadelphia is an incredible place to build a career. From our thriving arts scene and rich history to our culture of passion and grit, there are countless reasons to love living and working here. With a workforce of over 30,000 people, and more than 1,000 different job categories, the City of Philadelphia offers boundless opportunities to make an impact.

As an employer, the City of Philadelphia values inclusion, integrity, innovation, empowerment, and hard work above all else. We offer a vibrant work environment, comprehensive health care and benefits, and the experience you need to grow and excel. If you’re interested in working with a passionate team of people who care about the future of Philadelphia, start here.

What we offer

Impact - The work you do here matters to millions.

Growth - Philadelphia is growing, why not grow with it?

Diversity & Inclusion - Find a career in a place where everyone belongs.

Benefits - We care about your well-being.

Agency Description

The Office of Children and Families (OCF) aligns the City’s policies, resources, and services for children and families. Our priorities are:

Strong families.

Supported schools and communities.

OCF administers a number of City-supported programs, including Adult Education, Out-of-School Time, Youth Workforce, Community Schools, and PHLpreK. The office also oversees the Department of Human Services (DHS), Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, and the Free Library of Philadelphia.

The Adult Education division is embedded in OCF and oversees the City’s planning and investments in adult education. Adult Education seeks to ensure adults have equitable access to the foundational educational opportunities and programs needed to accomplish their education, career, family, and civic goals. Adult Education includes adults 16 years and older who need support in reading, writing, or math skills for further education and training, and/or who are not native English speakers/writers and/or who have not completed high school.

Programs and services include:

Next Level Learning- A centralized intake, assessment and referral system connecting low-skill adults to opportunities for improving basic academic skills, English language proficiency and digital fluency. With 14 paid providers and a network of 30+ partner organizations across Philadelphia.

Adult education classes through Community Schools that include High School Equivalency (GED, HiSET preparation); Basic skills review; and English as a Second Language.

Volunteer literacy tutor training and professional development for the provider community.

Job Description Position Summary:

The Executive Director (ED) serves as a member of the senior leadership team within the Prevention Division, reporting to the Chief of Prevention. The ED is responsible for overseeing the effective project planning, financial and grant management, and administration of adult education initiatives, ensuring compliance with funding requirements, and promoting all duties and operations for educational programming within the Division to ensure effective planning, management, and administration of adult basic education initiatives. The successful candidate will possess strong organizational, managerial, project management, financial and collaborative skills, and develop and implement long-term strategies to achieve the Division’s mission and goals. The ED will manage a team of five staff with four reporting directly to the ED. Direct reports include the Senior Manager, the Volunteer Coordinator, and the Professional Development & Training Manager.

Essential Functions:

Strategic Coherence

Develop and implement long-term strategies to achieve the mission and goals for Adult Education program policies and procedures, including identifying systems for efficient program administration, record-keeping, data management, financial management, grant management, and reporting to make data-driven decisions to continuously improve program effectiveness and student outcomes.

Strategic development, implementation and alignment within adult education, workforce, and digital literacy landscapes, integrating within complimentary systems.

Leverage existing investments, programs, and organizations in supporting this work.

Maintaining understanding of current implementation challenges and developing comprehensive solutions to address them.

Able to synthesize multiple perspectives and strategies into a cohesive product that operationalizes and leads to development.

Coordinating research and other activities with initiative partners to minimize redundancies and to align strategies and actions, including conducting individual outreach and education as needed.

Act as a thought leader within the adult education and training community in Philadelphia.

Partnership Development

Maintains current and develops new effective programmatic partnerships and referral networks.

Maintain working partnerships with local Title II adult literacy providers, Philadelphia Works, Inc., various City departments (e.g., Parks & Recreation, the Free Library, and Commerce), City Council, State and National stakeholders and other adult education, digital literacy, and workforce entities.

Able to work with all levels of partner organizations to move the work.

Work with providers and existing network of literacy providers.

Serve as a liaison between the literacy community and city agencies.

Program Management

Overseeing daily operations and establishing and maintaining appropriate systems for measuring necessary aspects of operational management.

Monitoring and reporting on programmatic issues, opportunities, and achievements within agreed formats and timelines.

Communicating the objectives to the community and potential partners, including sharing the strategic plan or other collateral.

Facilitating communication between partners by hosting regular conference calls, in-person meetings, or coordinating regular email updates to ensure alignment of activity.

Identifying improvements in use of data-driven decision-making and ensuring that data is collected, integrated, and communicated effectively across the organization. · Ensuring all partners are aware of targets and indicators.

Overseeing data collection, analysis, and reporting in collaboration with the Performance Management and Technology (PMT) of OCF.

Creating or managing creation of yearly summary reports of progress for internal and external audiences

Team Management

Provides direct supervision and coaching to staff.

Responsible for hiring, conducting performance evaluations, and developing corrective action related to performance of employees.

Establishing, facilitating, and executing effective and open communication with staff, particularly related to internal decisions and strategy.

Foster a positive and collaborative work environment that supports staff growth and engagement through teamwork, excellence, innovation, and collaboration. Set clear expectations and goals for the team and ensure their successful implementation.

Fiscal Management

Manage a budget of $2M+ includes budget preparation and expenditure tracking.

Identifies new programmatic needs and funding opportunities.

Assists in preparing grant requests, RFPs, and contracts.

Reviewing and approving invoices Additional duties as assigned.

Competencies, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Dealing with Ambiguity

Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably manage uncertainty.

Politically Savvy

Can maneuver through complex political situations effectively and quietly; is sensitive to how people and organization’s function; anticipates where the land mines are and plans his/her approach;accordingly, views corporate politics as a necessary part of organizational life and works to adjust to that reality; is a maze-bright person.

Process Management

Good at figuring out the processes necessary to get things done; knows how to organize people and activities; understands how to separate and combine tasks into efficient workflow; knows what to measure and how to measure it; can see opportunities for synergy and integration where others can't; can simplify complex processes; gets more out of fewer resources.

Strategic Agility

Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.

Building Effective Teams

Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in his/her team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.

Qualifications Master’s Degree from an accredited institution in Education, Adult Education or a related field required.

At least 7 years of experience managing adult learning services required.

At least 5 years of experience designing, developing, implementing, and sustaining large-scale educational programs required.

Experienced with the implementation and management of complex government and private grants required.

Must be detail oriented with the ability to work with diverse populations and possess strong interpersonal skills.

Experience working with and developing new trends in adult learning instruction.

Must have experience in managing and supervising staff.

Excellent organizational skills required. Excellent oral and written communication skills required.

Understanding of and experience in preparing financial/budget reports.

Strong bilingual fluency such as Mandarin or Spanish, desired.

Demonstrated understanding of the challenges facing adult education populations.

Strong work ethic and enthusiasm for connecting adults to skills.

Knowledge of Student Information Systems and Learner Management Systems

An innovative and consistent professional dedicated to serving adult education populations.

Unquestioned personal and professional integrity

Clearly mission driven, with a passion for adult education and the work

Additional Information TO APPLY: Interested candidates must submit a cover letter and resume.

Salary Range: $118,000

Discover the Perks of Being a City of Philadelphia Employee:

Transportation : City employees get unlimited FREE public transportation all year long through SEPTA’s Key Advantage program.Employees can ride on SEPTA buses, subways, trolleys, and regional rail for their daily commute and more.

Parental Benefits: The City offers its employees 6 weeks of paid parental leave.

We offer Comprehensive health coverage for employees and their eligible dependents.

Our wellness program offers eligibility into the discounted medical plan

Employees receive paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays

Generous retirement savings options are available

Pay off your student loans faster - As a qualifying employer, City of Philadelphia employees are eligible to participate in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Join the ranks of hundreds of employees who have already benefited from this program and achieved student loan forgiveness.

Unlock Tuition Discounts and Scholarships - The City of Philadelphia has forged partnerships with over a dozen esteemed colleges and universities in the area, ensuring that our employees have access to a wide range of tuition discounts and scholarships. Experience savings of 10% to 40% on your educational expenses, extending not only to City employees but in some cases, spouse and dependents too!

Join the City of Philadelphia team today and seize these incredible benefits designed to enhance your financial well-being and personal growth!

*The successful candidate must be a city of Philadelphia resident within six months of hire

Effective May 22, 2023, vaccinations are no longer required for new employees that work in non-medical, non-emergency or patient facing positions with the City of Philadelphia. As a result, only employees in positions providing services that are patient-facing medical care (ex: Nurses, doctors, emergency medical personnel), must be fully vaccinated.

The City of Philadelphia is an Equal Opportunity employer and does not permit discrimination based on race, ethnicity, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, source of income, familial status, genetic information or domestic or sexual violence victim status. If you believe you were discriminated against, call the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations at 215-686-4670 or send an email to [emailprotected] .

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