MISSION: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems. New hires, re-hires, and internal hires will typically receive a starting salary between the posted minimum and the average pay of employees in their same classification. Offers will be commensurate with the candidate's experience and qualifications and will thoughtfully consider internal pay equity for agency staff who perform similar duties and have similar qualifications. The top half of the posted salary range is generally reserved for candidates who exceed the requirements and qualifications for the role. The maximum salary range is reserved for candidates that far exceed the required and preferred qualifications for the role. Core Values: We are Determined: We are committed and intentional in the pursuit of our main purpose, to improve outcomes for students. We are People-Centered: We strive to attract, develop, and retain the most committed talent, representing the diversity of Texas, each contributing to our common vision for students. We are Learners: We seek evidence, reflect on success and failure, and try new approaches in the pursuit of excellence for our students. We are Servant Leaders: Above all else, we are public servants working to improve opportunities for students and provide support to those who serve them. Position Overview: The newly integrated Instructional Materials Implementation (IMI) division supports Texas school districts in systems-level changes to effectively implement High-Quality Instructional Materials (HQIM), build instructional capacity of educators, develop school and district leaders as instructional leaders and changemakers, and ultimately drive strong student experiences and outcomes. The team's initiatives build districts' understanding of research on how students learn in literacy and math, with the goal of aligning systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to the research. The team's initiatives serve 300 districts annually, leveraging 1000 trained Education Service Centers (ESC) and third-party vendor providers, with scale and demand for services continuing to grow. Additionally, this work requires significant systems of measuring fidelity of implementation, feedback loops into coaching and performance management of providers, developing districts' own capacity in performance managing their implementation, and strong field visit and engagement approaches to constantly learn from the reality on the ground. The Executive Director will lead setting the vision and strategic plan for this statewide work, building on our statewide technical assistance network, continuously improving our implementation, effectively establishing team culture and managing the team to meet our vision, and driving cross-agency collaboration. The Executive Director reports to the Deputy Commissioner of the Office of School Programs and receives management support from the Associate Commissioner of District Planning & Supports, and will lead a newly integrated team of approximately 30 high-performing and results-oriented staff members. A crucial component of the Executive Director's role will be cross-agency collaboration and integration, including with our teams leading Open Education Resources (OER), School Improvement, superintendent and board leadership, support for special populations such as emergent bilingual students and special education students, Math and Reading Academies, blended learning and tutoring, and educator preparation and strategic staffing. Thus, the Executive Director will need to understand multiple agency initiatives, bring a lens toward coherence, and drive integration of efforts with a strong district service mindset. Flexible work location within the state of Texas may be considered for qualified candidates. Please note that a resume, tailored cover letter, and short answer responses are required attachments for applying to this position. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants who are strongly being considered for employment must submit to a national criminal history background check. Essential Functions Job duties are not limited to the essential functions mentioned below. You may perform other functions as assigned. 1. Team Management: Recognizing this is a newly integrated team, set a motivating, unified division vision along with a strong team culture of transparency, collaboration, highest quality field service, and mission focus. Recruit, develop, and sustain the team to deliver aligned, ambitious implementation supports that drive student outcomes. Ensure teammates have strong aligned professional development plans to meet program and individual professional growth goals. Exemplify a true leadership orientation towards ongoing integration and collaboration with other agency initiatives, and coach teammates toward strong cross-agency integration and alignment. 2. Planning and HQIM Adoption Supports: Lead programs that support districts in building a strong understanding of research focused on how students learn in literacy and math, with the goal of aligning systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to the research. Oversee programs supporting school systems including the Math/Literacy Framework Development Grant and the launch of Adoption Supports focused on selection of quality materials aligned to research, toward a goal of more districts in Texas embracing research-based instructional strategies and adopting HQIM. Oversee the aligned training, certification, and performance management of ESCs and vendors to deliver programmatic supports in this area. 3. School System and Instructional Leadership Implementation: Lead programs that support school systems in effectively implementing HQIM and aligned instructional leadership. Oversee the development and delivery of HQIM-aligned professional development and ongoing implementation support and coaching for teachers, coaches, school leaders and system leaders, focused on strong product knowledge, lesson and unit internalization, observation and feedback, and student work analysis. Support the delivery of supports in other aligned areas, including instructional and engagement strategies, and schoolwide culture routines. Ensure that supports build key implementation systems at districts, including operations (e.g., aligned master schedules), planning and performance management, assessment, and board and community engagement. Drive program design with a goal of long term capacity building and job-embedded coaching, such that districts can effectively lead and own implementation after ESC and vendor support rolls off. Build district leadership learning communities that can collaboratively address implementation challenges. Manage the long-term scale and sustainability of these supports by effectively overseeing the aligned training, certification, and performance management of ESCs and vendors to deliver programmatic supports in this area. Serve as the primary external point of contact for the implementation of Bluebonnet Learning. Develop strategy to build ecosystem of ESCs and vendors that support delivery, scale and sustainability of HQIM initiatives long term. 4. Performance & Operations Management: Manage project managers and external partner vendors toward proactive planning and project management of multiple complex workstreams that intersect with other agency plans. Report status and escalate issues transparently with teammates and agency leadership. Act as "Chief Performance Manager" of the team, engaging the team in routine performance data reflection and timely pivots in approach based on lessons from the field and data analysis. Manage an internal research and evaluation team to develop implementation recommendations and provide data related to successful implementation. Oversee grant and contract strategy and delivery toward outcomes, including driving strong team decisions on approach to $120M in annual district grantmaking, as well as a responsive approach to districts through the application and grant receipt process. 5. Cross Agency Alignment: Collaborate with leaders across other TEA offices, departments, and divisions to ensure that districts are provided the best possible services and supports as it relates to aligning and integrating related agency initiatives. This role would also support strategic alignment with other agency priority initiatives including but not limited to the Effective District Framework, School Improvement, Teacher Incentive Allotment, Content Academies, Bluebonnet, Office of Special Populations and Student Support initiatives, and any additional TEA initiative districts highlight as needing increased coherence across TEA. Minimum Qualifications * Education: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university * Experience: At least nine (9) years of experience in the education sector managing teams through large, complex projects, developing and/or implementing performance or project management systems Other Qualifications * Share the belief that all Texas students can achieve at high levels and are able to succeed in college, career, or the military * Ability to innovate within large public agencies by designing and implementing new initiatives that scale across districts and schools, obtaining buy-in internally and externally. Willingness to fill a need, solve a problem, anticipates risk, and demonstrate initiative that strategically advances efforts while supporting change management * Track record of success in rolling out, monitoring, and sustaining effective use of HQIM with aligned instructional leadership approaches at the campus, district or state level * Skill in management of projects toward outcomes, recognizing the need to prototype and iterate along the way and expecting the ultimate design to look different than the original idea * Adherence to accountability best practices to ensure compliance with state and federal regulations while meeting program goals * Ability to prioritize work, operate effectively with minimal supervision, take appropriate initiative, effectively manage people through layers, collaborate, and exercise independent judgment * Development of effective working relationships with diverse individuals and groups including district administrators, teachers, ESC personnel, education experts, publishers, other agency leaders and all other relevant stakeholders * A track record of establishing and leading a strong team culture of transparency, collaboration, and continuous improvement * Success leveraging different strategies and interpersonal skills to move the work forward, demonstrating flexibility and adaptability when presented with a change of course and deadline * A desire to self-reflect, give/receive feedback and continuously improve As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or veteran status, unless an applicant is entitled to the military employment preference. To review the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to each job classification series in the State's Position Classification Plan (provided by the State Auditor's Office), please access the Military Crosswalk (occupational specialty code) Guide and click on the military "occupational category" that corresponds with the state classification in this job posting title. This position requires the applicant to meet Agency standards and criteria which may include passing a pre-employment criminal background check, prior to being offered employment by the Agency. No phone calls or emails, please. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not accept telephone calls and cannot reply to all email inquiries. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted. Please add "capps.recruiting@cpa.texas.gov" and "@tea.texas.gov" to your safe senders list to ensure you receive email notifications from our talent acquisition team and/or hiring division regarding your candidacy.