DS4E is seeking a Deputy Director to guide the organization through its next chapter of growth and impact. This individual will draw upon a diverse set of experiences in the education sector to identify new focus areas or refine existing ones, continuously shape DS4E’s role in a dynamic and fast-evolving field, and rigorously evaluate what is working and what is not.
Requirements
- Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 7+ years of work experience in a related job discipline.
- Demonstrated success designing and implementing systems for project planning, team coordination, budgeting, and grant management, including restricted and unrestricted funding.
- Skilled communicator with a track record of translating strategy and priorities across internal teams and external stakeholders such as funders, education leaders, and policymakers.
- Evidence of sound judgment and strategic prioritization, including the ability to assess tradeoffs, say no when needed, and focus an organization on high-impact work.
- Comfortable operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, with a disciplined approach to managing multiple priorities and aligning team efforts.
Responsibilities
- Leads annual and quarterly planning processes, ensuring staff are aligned on goals and how they’ll get there.
- Evaluates new opportunities against mission, capacity, and timing, making tough calls when needed.
- Builds and maintains lightweight, effective systems to track timelines, budgets, deliverables, and capacity.
- Oversees the execution of major cross-functional efforts, such as assessment roadmap, development of an independent organizational entity, ensuring scalable systems and infrastructure are in place to support long-term growth.
- Leads cross-functional coordination by partnering with the Operations Manager to ensure finance and grant processes facilitate execution.
- Provides oversight of floating grant accounts, stewards the evolution toward a hybrid operating structure, and builds systems to monitor financial data, project timelines, and initiative progress, supporting teams to stay focused, aligned, and well-resourced.
- Develops and administers program budgets and recommends or makes budgetary recommendations.
Other
- Serves as the internal anchor for a fast-growing, distributed team, connecting workstreams and reducing fragmentation.
- Manages and mentors team leads, supporting them to grow as people managers and confident decision-makers.
- Fosters a collaborative, inclusive culture that balances autonomy with shared accountability.
- Partners with the Executive Director to translate vision into clear organizational priorities and multi-year strategies.
- Ensures timely, transparent communication across teams and leadership, avoiding silos and confusion.
