Executive Director, Solutions Implementation

This is a full-time, remote position anywhere in the contiguous United States, with national travel expected up to 50%

What You’ll Do

The education field is at an inflection point. AI-powered instructional tools are proliferating faster than the evidence base that should guide their adoption and the cost of getting implementation wrong falls on students and teachers. Instruction Partners is building a function to contribute vital lessons to this work. There is a lot to learn here and many voices will contribute. We want to be one of those voices — learning in public alongside the field, contributing what we discover about what it actually takes to implement AI-powered tools in ways that improve teacher experience, student experience, and ultimately student outcomes.

Based on what we have learned so far, we strongly suspect that effective implementation support will be largely product-specific.  We think the work of supporting any given AI-powered tool requires deep engagement with that product, its design intent, and the specific contexts where it is being used. The Executive Director, Solutions Implementation will design how Instruction Partners does that work across multiple product partnerships, and will lead the team carrying it out.

This is a rare opportunity to build something from the ground up and shape the sector-wide conversation on what effective implementation actually looks like. You'll establish the research architecture and continuous improvement mechanisms. You'll design the service models that translate that learning into practice, keeping an eye to what we might need to build within our service models to reach greater scale. You'll lead implementation work directly with product partners and school systems, and you'll lead and grow a team doing this work at scale.
With a small team, this is an entrepreneurial role. It will require a combination of thinking about the system and rolling up sleeves to do the work personally with schools, with product partners, and alongside the team. We value the doing as a way to support the learning.

Sitting on the Executive Leadership Team, this role reports directly to the Chief, Engagement and Innovation.

Responsibilities:

Visionary Strategy, Research, and Solutions Design

• Designs and drives the research architecture and rapid cycle learning systems that ground Instruction Partners’ solutions implementation work by defining learning questions, R&D priorities, and feedback loops that connect what’s happening in classrooms to what the field knows and publishes 
• Defines and drives enterprise strategy for the implementation framework, ensuring broad alignment across the organization and the field
• Champions rapid cycle learning and improvement methodologies, knowing when to go deep versus when to move fast
• Shapes the organization-wide narrative regarding effective implementation, communicating priorities with influence and clarity to internal and external stakeholders
• Makes enterprise-level decisions based on data and mission alignment to ensure the delivery of transformative results and impact
• Contributes to the field’s understanding of AI-powered solution implementation through externally-facing work (e.g., blogs, publications, frameworks) that translate what we’re learning into shareable knowledge 
• Leads district and product developer partnerships focused on solution implementation, testing and refining what works while delivering high quality service to districts and product partners. 

• Influences policy and partnerships by serving as the primary relationship holder for a portfolio of product developers and school system leaders, building high-trust relationships that enable honest learning
• Designs and delivers tiered services that deepen partner engagement, from co-developing implementation guidance and tools to certifying external providers
• Creates systems for data-driven accountability to ensure classroom feedback flows back to product decisions and organizational learning
• Positions the organization for long-term sustainability and growth by building a train-the-trainer model and regional provider networks
• Represents the organization at events nationally by sharing learnings and insights 
• Acts as a steward of organizational values and culture, ensuring transparency, consistent quality, and psychological safety are embedded in all partnership practices

• Leads and develops a team of Senior Directors/Associate Director pairs who lead solutions implementation work directly with school system partners
• Models the work directly throughout the buildout, the Executive Director will carry direct implementation responsibilities in schools alongside managing the team 
• Shapes organizational culture by inspiring accountability and psychological safety at scale within the growing team
• Navigates complex change with resilience, modeling curiosity and a growth mindset for the division
• Ensures delivery of transformative results by modeling high-stakes work and establishing rigorous standards for evidence and practitioner insight

Candidate Qualifications and Traits:

• 12+ years of experience in education, with a significant tenure as a senior instructional leader focused on instructional improvement  implementation within an education nonprofit, regional intermediary, or school system
• Implementation Framework Mastery: Deep expertise in designing, launching, and refining service models or implementation frameworks that have demonstrated success in complex school and district contexts and the ability to translate that expertise into transferable, learnable frameworks for the broader field
• Practitioner-Researcher Identity: Comfort operating across the research-practice continuum: fluent in implementation science and the existing evidence base, skilled at rapid-cycle learning and improvement, and clear-eyed about when to pursue deeper research versus move with what’s known 
• Strategic Team Management: Proven ability to recruit, develop, and lead senior-level staff and high-performing teams within fast-moving or ambiguous organizational environments and an active commitment to staying close to the work alongside the team
• Stakeholder Influence and Relationship Management: Exceptional skill in building high-stakes partnerships and earning the trust of diverse stakeholders, including district executives and product development leadership
• Systems-Level Communication: Advanced proficiency in translating complex technical or implementation insights into direct, persuasive communication for funders, partners, and practitioners, and the broader field – including externally-published work