Director, Education Priority Initiative

Job Description

Job Description

Stand Together is a philanthropic community that helps America’s boldest changemakers tackle the root causes of our country’s biggest problems, from education to the economy, broken communities, and toxic division, among dozens of other pressing issues. We provide our partners with access to resources including funding, thought leadership, a network of peers, and a playbook for applying proven principles to transform lives and society.

As the Director for the Education Priority Initiative, you will play a central role in accelerating progress on one of the most robust and successful portfolios in the country dedicated to transforming education. Alongside the VP of Education, you will partner with leaders across the Stand Together community to develop and operationalize comprehensive strategies, drive a culture of accountability and performance analysis on our investments, and explore new frontiers to accelerate progress toward our vision for the economy. This role connects strategy to action – aligning teams, shaping investments, and turning ideas into real-world traction.

We value in person collaboration and prefer this position to be based in our Arlington, VA headquarters but may have flexibility for remote work.

• Continuously improve Stand Together’s Education strategy, by ensuring the ability to respond quickly and effectively to emerging opportunities and challenges in the education landscape.

• Source, evaluate, and shape new opportunities with organizations, funding partnerships, and initiatives.

• Drive execution across key priorities – ensuring ideas translate into action and measurable progress.

• Work across internal teams and external partners to align efforts and increase returns on investment.

• Step in to lead high-priority projects that require leadership, coordination, and management.

• Translate field insights into clear points of view, recommendations, investments, and strategic decisions.

• Significant experience leading strategic initiatives in the social sector, philanthropy, education, or public interest organizations.

• Proven track record of advancing innovative, experimental approaches that reduce top down barriers and improve outcomes.

• Experience working with diverse stakeholder networks, including philanthropic funders, nonprofit leaders, policy experts, and researchers.

• Strong execution, leadership, communication, and influence skills with an entrepreneurial mindset.

• Comfort working across multiple teams.

• Passion for economic freedom, education innovation, and the principles of human progress.

• Commitment to stewarding a culture grounded in transformation, innovation, humility, respect, and entrepreneurial problem solving.

• Enthusiasm to contribute to Stand Together's vision and principled approach to solving problems, and a commitment to stewarding our culture, which champions values including transformation and innovation, entrepreneurialism, humility, and respect. 

• Competitive benefits: Enjoy a 6% 401(k) match with immediate vesting, flexible time off, comprehensive health and dental plans, plus wellness and mental health support through Peloton and Talkspace.
• A meaningful career: Join a passionate community of over 1,300 employees dedicated to improving lives and driving innovative solutions to complex social challenges.
• Commitment to growth: Thrive in a non-hierarchical environment that empowers employees to discover, develop and apply their unique talents.
• Competitive compensation: Our approach rewards the value you create through competitive salaries and bonus opportunities, allowing you to share in the success you help drive.

Our Values: Working for an organization within the Stand Together philanthropic community is different from many other places. The culture is deeply rooted in Principle Based Management® (PBM®), a framework guided by the principles that drive human progress, such as dignity, openness, and bottom-up empowerment. PBM® empowers employees to be entrepreneurial, to innovate, and to continually drive transformation.

We believe diversity fuels creativity, broadens knowledge, and helps drive success. That is why we’re proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and strive to treat all employees and applicants with honesty, dignity, and respect.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.