Job Description

Chief External Officer

Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School

Brooklyn, New York

What is the Role?

Communication, partnership, and consistency are key levers that drive towards our mission of ensuring educational equity and choice for all our students. Coney Island Prep’s next Chief External Officer (CXO) catalyzes these key levers. The CXO is instrumental in ensuring our organization is effectively engaged with external audiences, and that our partnerships with them help us achieve our strategic objectives, and ultimately support us in achieving our organization's mission of college, career, and choice. 

The CXO will work closely with the CEO to manage external facing relationships, postsecondary success, marketing, and fundraising for our organization. The CXO will coach and manage a network team of development & marketing professionals, and a blended network and school-based team supporting postsecondary success.  These teams strengthen and support a strategic culture that facilitates exceptional academic outcomes and life changing opportunities for our scholars. The CXO champions our school’s expectations and beliefs that our scholar’s and families deserve a first-class experience - centering the stories, voices, and experiences of our scholars and their families in all of our work. Their vision is rooted in deeply held values of equity, especially for our predominantly low-income, first-generation college-going student of color population.

The CXO reports directly to the CEO, and will join the network leadership team. 

What You’ll Be Asked To Do:

Operate with Effectivenessby leading with a systems orientation to drive long term, sustainable results that meet our schools vision and mission.

• Manage Postsecondary Team (five people) and Development & External Affairs (three people) towards an integrated strategy for development and external affairs aligned to Coney Island Prep’s mission, vision, and principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion that support our scholars’ pathways to graduation and outcome-oriented goals for college access
• Codify systems to ensure best practices are implemented across the department, with a particular emphasis on utilization of standard operating procedures
• Consistently analyze and interrogate internal and external data to foster innovation in our postsecondary success, fundraising, and marketing work
• Refine resource development systems (databases and CRMs) with an eye for maximizing efficacy and impact
• Own long-term strategic plan, annual strategic planning, and organizational priority-setting
• Collaborate closely with the CEO to support effective external and internal communications as well as to leverage proactive media opportunities and ensure effective reactive response to external challenges

Deliver exceptional results by clearly communicating and investing external stakeholders in the mission and vision of Coney Island Prep. Drive the organization's external narrative, spearhead college acceptance and persistence work, and ensure our schools have the resources to continue to deliver on our organizational mission.

• Set the vision, strategy, outcomes, and goals for college acceptance/readiness, persistence, and post college career pathways 
• Develop and maintain systems of operating and organization that catalyze fundraising outcomes and capacity from raising $1.3M on average to $2M+ annually over the next three (3) years
• Develop new institutional giving partnerships and refine individual giving systems to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of CIP’s after school and alumni success  programs
• Serve as a thought partner and strategist alongside the CEO by constantly evaluating decisions with an eye on both immediate term impact and long-term priorities
• Employ a research-based, data-driven approach to decision-making, outcomes management, and leadership coaching
• Marshal all resources, especially leaders and staff, to meet ambitious goals and outcomes related to college access, development, and external partnerships
• Elevate and center the voices of our most important stakeholders - children and families - to determine and drive towards strategic outcomes
• Liaise with key external and internal stakeholders to actively manage risk and propel the mission of Coney Island Prep forward

Collaborate and co-leadby working closely with senior leaders to set and meet ambitious goals in service of our scholars, families, and staff. 

• Partner closely with the Chief Financial Officer to execute the organization’s Fiscal Policies and Procedures Manual, effectively manage and contribute to the organization’s financial resources, and to set and meet aggressive annual fundraising goals
• Partner with the Chief Operating Officer and community engagement team to build strategic community partnerships, ensure relationships are cultivated with elected officials and strategic decision making across CIP’s family, community, and elected engagement efforts
• Partner with the Chief Schools and Chief Academic officer to ensure academic programs and practices holistically prepare scholars for college, that communications center the voices of scholars and families, to identify staff to participate in external engagement, and to ensure accuracy of external reporting
• Partner with the Chief Talent & Equity Officer to report accurately on our personnel and identify opportunities for additional community support and engagement
• Establish systems for accountability with peers on the leadership team through the annual planning and strategic planning processes
• Build trust-based relationships and navigate across organizational layers to achieve challenging goals through the management of school-based and network level team members

Develop talentby managing and coaching a team who directly impacts the external partnership and relationships of the organization

• Design and deliver ongoing professional development for team members in the functional areas you manage 
• Foster a collaborative approach both within your department, and across departments to ensure alignment as one school
• Model organizational values while leveraging Coney Island Prep’s Leadership Competency Model to support team members’ growth and development
• Lead a diverse, equitable, and inclusive team by both modeling organizational values and modeling strengths-based coaching that catalyzes leader performance

What You’ll Need

• Passion for education and a dedication to Coney Island Prep’s mission; steadfast belief that all scholars can achieve at the highest academic levels and deserve an opportunity to succeed in the college and career of their choice 
• Bachelor’s degree and at least 10 years of professional experience in external affairs, fundraising, and/or college access and alumni support; K-12 organizational leadership experience preferred
• Background in facilitating and implementing DEIJ discussions and practices
• Self-reflective and open to frequent feedback, with the ambition and desire to grow, develop, and strive for excellence
• Robust long-term project management skills and a systems orientation to problem-solving
• Strong data collection, analysis, and presentation skills that allow others to contextualize a problem and act responsively
• Demonstrated problem solving skills and the ability to coach others to do the same
• Strong change management skills, and the ability to influence and facilitate decision-making among multiple, diverse parties
• Team-first collaborator and communicator
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Proficient Excel skills including familiarity with formulas

Who are we?

Coney Island Prep is a college preparatory public charter school in Brooklyn, New York. Merging growth, performance, and commitment, the Coney Island Prep community takes its responsibility to prepare scholars for the college and career of their choice very seriously, but not ourselves. We balance our sense of ownership and responsibility with humility and levity and support each other every step of the way. Coney Island Prep currently serves over 1,300 scholars across its four schools, including:

• 312 scholars in kindergarten – second grade at the lower elementary school
• 336 scholars in third – fifth grade at the upper elementary school
• 320 scholars in sixth – eighth grades at the middle school
• 350 scholars in ninth-twelfth grade at the high school

Commitment to Anti-racism, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice

Coney Island Prep is committed to building a team that collectively reflects the various backgrounds, experiences, and identities of our scholars. We recognize and respond to different points of access, so that everyone maximizes their highest potential. We also recognize that because of institutionalized racism and systemic oppression, historically marginalized groups are at a disadvantage when it comes to most application and hiring processes. We want to ensure that all candidates, regardless of their identity, are able to demonstrate their qualifications and are not limited by a lack of opportunity or access. We are committed to creating a space where everyone’s identity is acknowledged, respected, and welcomed. We are intentional about creating an environment where people feel comfortable being their authentic selves at work by constantly examining our organization culture and challenging our traditions.

Benefits and Compensation

• Employees at Coney Island Prep are provided with salaries that are highly competitive, set through a lens of equity, and based on an individual’s skills and experiences relevant to the role. The starting salary for this role is $190,000.
• As a regular full time employee of Coney Island Prep, you will be eligible for benefits that include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance as well as a 403(b) retirement benefit package with match and Paid Family Leave.
• Staff are provided with a MacBook Air and access to all the necessary technology and resources needed to succeed in their role.

Are you “All In?” This position starts November 18, 2024. To apply, head to our Careers Page!

Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, national origin, citizenship or disability. We want Coney Island Prep to be a place where scholars and staff of all backgrounds, experiences, and identities are valued and can excel.

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