Director, Academic Strategy

Partner with Transformation leaders to ensure lessons from schools receiving intensive support inform portfolio-wide academic strategy and proactive supports, while maintaining clear ownership of intensive school improvement within the Transformation function. Direct the Program Manager, Academics and School Counseling Program Manager in translating strategic priorities into implementation plans, tools, resources, professional learning, and school-facing supports.

Job Description

The Director, Academic Strategy leads the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of portfolio-wide academic strategies designed to strengthen student outcomes and school performance. The role translates academic and accountability data into clear priorities, scalable practices, and proactive supports; serves as the strategic owner of the K12 School Playbook; and provides oversight for national academic and school counseling priorities.

The Director ensures that annual school planning is coherent, rigorous, and increasingly informed by evidence of what works across the portfolio. This role also partners across functions and with school leaders to strengthen Tier 1 academic practices, improve implementation, identify emerging needs, and scale effective approaches across schools.

Essential Functions: Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties.

• Develop, refine, and execute K12's academic strategy in alignment with organizational priorities, student outcomes, and state accountability expectations.
• Own the K12 School Playbook and annual school planning process, including reviewing and revising required plan elements, guidance, quality standards, and supporting resources.
• Own and manage the budget and staffing plan for the Academic Strategy function, including resource allocation to support Playbook execution and academic strategy priorities.
• Ensure coherence across Playbook areas, including synchronous and asynchronous instruction, assessment and MTSS, training and observation, and graduation strategy, so schools develop one integrated academic plan.
• Design and lead a rigorous Playbook review and feedback process that strengthens plan quality, increases consistency and rigor, and provides schools with actionable guidance.
• Use the Playbook process to identify strong practices, common implementation challenges, and emerging needs; codify and scale effective practices across schools and continuously improve national guidance and support.
• Use academic, engagement, graduation, and accountability data to identify portfolio-wide trends, performance gaps, risks, and opportunities and translate them into strategic priorities and scalable solutions.
• Lead proactive academic supports and implementation of K12's instructional strategy, with particular focus on strengthening Tier 1 instruction, student academic supports, and implementation fidelity.
• Establish clear expectations, frameworks, tools, resources, and professional learning that support consistent implementation of effective academic practices across schools.
• Partner with school and portfolio leaders to understand implementation challenges, strengthen execution, and ensure national strategies and Playbook expectations are rigorous, practical, and responsive to school context.
• Provide strategic oversight for national school counseling priorities, including graduation planning, on-track monitoring, course completion and credit attainment, postsecondary planning, student engagement, and accountability outcomes.
• Direct the Program Manager, Academics and School Counseling Program Manager in translating strategic priorities into implementation plans, tools, resources, professional learning, and school-facing supports.
• Use implementation and outcome data to evaluate the effectiveness of academic and counseling strategies, identify opportunities for improvement, and recommend course corrections.
• Collaborate with Accountability, Assessment, Research, Curriculum, School Services, Special Programs, Career Readiness, and other cross-functional teams to align academic strategies and organizational supports.
• Partner with Transformation leaders to ensure lessons from schools receiving intensive support inform portfolio-wide academic strategy and proactive supports, while maintaining clear ownership of intensive school improvement within the Transformation function

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• This position directly supervises the Program Manager, Academics and School Counseling Program Manager, with the potential for additional direct reports.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

• Master's degree in education, educational leadership, curriculum and instruction, school administration, or a related field.
• Ten (10) or more years of related experience in educational leadership, academic strategy, instructional leadership, school leadership, or program leadership; OR
• Equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience using academic and student performance data to set strategy and improve outcomes across multiple schools, progra