Uncommon Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing, public charter schools providing an outstanding K-12 education in historically under-resourced communities. We have proudly built schools that reflect our student population, with more than 60% of our teachers and staff across our network identifying as a person of color. Uncommon currently manages 53 schools serving 20,000 students in five cities: Boston, Camden, New York City, Newark, and Rochester. We are proud that Uncommon graduates persist in and graduate from college at five times the rate of their peers nationally. We achieve this by offering strong academic, co-curricular, and social-emotional learning that prepares students for success in college and beyond.

Position Overview:

Uncommon Schools (Uncommon) is seeking a Chief External Officer (CExO) to own the vision for and lead the execution of a comprehensive, aligned external strategy to ensure that Uncommon maximizes our external positioning and presence, including conveying our brand and key information effectively and consistently to our valued external stakeholders.

The CExO is responsible for leading Uncommon’s external-facing work, including oversight of the Marketing/ Communications, Development, Enrollment, Media, and External Affairs teams. The CExO will also work closely with the Talent and Recruitment teams to ensure aligned and effective messaging and marketing, and plays a key role with regional boards of trustees. The CExO serves as a member of the Uncommon Schools Executive Team, and is an active leader and participant in discussions and decisions about the strategic direction of the organization.

This position manages key revenue drivers (Enrollment and Development) for the organization and will shape how Uncommon communicates our work internally and externally, and how we are recognized and perceived among existing and potential supporters and stakeholders. Strong candidates will be seasoned professionals with particular expertise in marketing, public relations and/or media, development or advocacy work, and are skilled strategists, influencers, communicators and relationship-builders.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Set the vision for and lead successful execution of a comprehensive, aligned external engagement and communication strategy, which will:

• Define and articulate Uncommon’s brand as a high-performing charter management organization and network of schools
• Strengthen relationships with and communicate our brand and key messages effectively and consistently to key stakeholders across Uncommon Schools, our existing and potential donors, recruits and potential teacher candidates, elected officials, community leaders, district educator partners, other influencers, and the general public
• Reflect Uncommon’s strategic plan, core beliefs, and approaches to our work
• Embrace and implement Uncommon’s commitment to DEI, ensuring that our external strategy and functions are informed by and support the success of our multi-year plan to strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion
• Support Uncommon leaders and team members with communication and tools to serve as effective messengers and ambassadors for our organization
• Support the healthy growth and continued strength of Uncommon’s network of schools through effective marketing and messaging to raise the philanthropic resources it needs now and for the future

Lead, strengthen and align all of Uncommon’s external-facing teams:

• Develop and manage high-performing team leads of Marketing/Communications, Development, Enrollment, Media and External Affairs (including Advocacy and Impact), and support in their leadership of effective teams
• Drive the development of, and management against, a 3-5 year strategic plan to accomplish key external function outcomes

Develop a cohesive, strategic approach to the work of our Regional Senior Directors and their teams and ensure effective oversight of our Regional Senior Directors:

• Manage Senior Director of External Affairs to ensure Regional Senior Directors work together as a team and build scalable and replicable supports and systems to effectively address Uncommon’s external affairs, regional or otherwise
• Ensure regional external operations and affairs are effectively managed and addressed and strategic plans and priorities are met, including but not limited to:
  • Board meetings and relations
  • Governance and charter management
  • External partnerships
  • Community engagement
  • Advocacy

Provide organization-wide leadership:

• Drive organizational-wide strategy and accomplishment of goals as part of the Executive Team
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with the Executive Team and other senior leaders to identify and support their needs and ensure collaboration and coordination
• Drive organization-wide or cross-functional challenges, questions and issues to resolution
• Serve as an organizational ambassador internally and externally; model Uncommon’s values and focus on building a healthy and feedback-driven organizational culture
• Work closely with leadership team and regional leaders to determine the appropriate roles and methods for Uncommon’s centralized external-facing teams to interact with Uncommon’s schools and regions
• Oversee initiatives and activities to strengthen organizational culture and pride through clear and effective communication

Required knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Passionate commitment to the mission of Uncommon Schools
• Ten years of professional experience with a majority spent in external relations roles; specific experience in marketing, or public relations/media, development or advocacy work preferred
• Experience managing multiple high-performing individuals and teams
• Exceptional strategic, analytical and critical thinking skills
• Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to build extremely strong relationships, and to influence and facilitate decision-making among multiple, diverse parties, and present effectively and persuasively to diverse audiences
• Demonstrated results building departmental or organizational culture
• Ability to multi-task, set and drive priorities, monitor progress towards goals, and utilize data and information
• Deep familiarity with external relations issues and the challenges facing urban schools preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree in business, education, or related field preferred

Our people are what make us uncommon. It’s important to us that our compensation practices align with our values and enhance our ability to attract and retain talent. Our compensation philosophy is focused on equity and fairness, retaining our talented staff and valuing their expertise, and transparency and clarity.

Compensation for this position: The starting compensation for this role based in New York is between $224,000 to $280,000 and generally, we expect that qualified candidates in this location will be made an offer between $224,000 and $252,000. The starting pay will depend on a variety of factors that may include but are not limited to experience, education, training, certification, and location. Because we value staff staying in their roles over time, we do not currently cap salary ranges.

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. At the same time, we work to ensure an inclusive community through creating a space for meaningful dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.