Chief Technology Officer

The News Literacy Project, founded in 2008, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization building a national movement to ensure all students are skilled in news literacy before high school graduation. NLP is the country’s leading provider of news literacy education, working with districts and educators in all 50 states through our signature e-learning platform, Checkology®, and weekly educator newsletter, The Sift®.

About the role

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) serves as the organization’s senior technology leader, responsible for technology vision, platform delivery, digital innovation, operational reliability, and technology governance. The CTO ensures technology investments advance mission impact, support sustainable growth, and meet the security, privacy, and compliance expectations of K-12 school districts and institutional partners. This position reports to the President and CEO and serves as a member of the Executive Team.

Responsibilities

• Technology Strategy & Governance
  • Develop and execute a multi-year technology strategy aligned with organizational, programmatic, and product priorities.
  • Establish technology principles, governance processes, and investment priorities across product and enterprise systems, including annual roadmaps and budgets tied to organizational outcomes.
  • Advise executive leadership and the Board on technology opportunities, risks, infrastructure, and digital transformation.
  • Chair the internal AI Committee, setting the organization’s AI vision, enablement strategy, and governing policies.
  • Ensure technology governance processes support the organization’s data strategy in partnership with data leadership.
  • Evaluate emerging technologies and determine where innovation meaningfully advances mission and user value.
• Product Leadership
  • Oversee the Product team through its senior leader, ensuring strong product strategy, roadmaps, and execution.
  • Align architecture, platform investments, and engineering capacity to enable the product roadmap in collaboration with the VP of Product.
  • Balance innovation, user needs, technical feasibility, and organizational capacity across all digital offerings.
• Cybersecurity, Privacy & District Compliance
  • Establish organization-wide cybersecurity strategy and risk management practices, including incident response planning, business continuity, and disaster recovery.
  • Own technology compliance requirements for serving K-12 school districts, including policies and controls for student data privacy and security obligations.
  • Oversee district technology approvals, security reviews, vendor questionnaires, and procurement-related technical documentation.
  • Ensure systems support district requirements including identity management, rostering, integrations, accessibility, and data governance.
  • Maintain security controls, access governance, security awareness programs, and develop policies governing technology use and information security.
  • Monitor organizational technology risk and report regularly to executive leadership.
• Technology Operations, Architecture & Vendor Management
  • Lead strategy and performance management of the managed IT services partner, defining service expectations, SLAs, escalation processes, and accountability mechanisms.
  • Oversee internal technology operations including devices, collaboration tools, identity management, networking, and help desk effectiveness.
  • Partner with data leadership to build and maintain infrastructure for organizational measurement, reporting, and impact analysis.
  • Establish standards for architecture, integrations, technical quality, and platform sustainability.
  • Oversee application lifecycle management, technical debt prioritization, and platform reliability.
  • Guide build-versus-buy decisions and oversee technology vendor selection, contract negotiation, performance management, and ROI evaluation.
  • Drive modernization and operational efficiency across enterprise systems.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information systems, engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience. Advanced degree preferred.
• Ten to 12 years of experience with at least seven to ten years of leadership experience in technology, product management, engineering, or digital transformation, including at least five years leading cross-functional technology teams.
• Experience leading technology strategy for a school district, SaaS company, EdTech company, or similar organization, particularly between 25 and 200 employees.
• Demonstrated success leading product functions through senior product leaders to deliver customer-centered digital products.
• Experience overseeing outsourced technology partners, managed service providers, software vendors, and technology budgets, contracts, and investment decisions.
• Experience serving on an executive leadership team and contributing to organizational strategy.
• Mission-driven leader with a passion for improving education through technology and a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.

Skills

• Technical Expertise
  • Deep understanding of modern software development, cloud infrastructure, systems architecture, APIs, data integrations, and enterprise technology.
  • Experience designing and deploying security frameworks aligned with regulatory and compliance regimes.
  • Experience implementing and managing enterprise productivity platforms, CRM systems, learning technologies, analytics platforms, and business applications.
  • Working knowledge of AI technologies, automation, and emerging technology trends, with the ability to evaluate appropriate organizational applications.
• Education Technology & Compliance
  • Experience supporting K-12 school districts or education organizations strongly preferred.
  • Knowledge of student data privacy requirements and technology compliance frameworks, including FERPA, COPPA, SOPIPA, state student data privacy laws, and accessibility standards such as WCAG.
  • Experience managing district technology reviews, security questionnaires, procurement requirements, and integrations such as single sign-on, rostering, and learning management systems is preferred.
  • Experience leading security compliance readiness, audits, and the organizational change needed to achieve and maintain certification.
• Leadership Competencies
  • Strategic thinker who balances long-term vision with operational execution and leads effectively through change.
  • Strong product mindset with a focus on user experience, customer outcomes, and measurable impact.
  • Exceptional communicator who translates complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences, executive leadership, and the Board of Directors.
  • Demonstrated success building, developing, and retaining high-performing teams.
  • Excellent judgment in prioritizing competing organizational needs and allocating resources effectively.

Benefits

• Health, vision, and dental insurance.
• 401(k) plan match.
• Unlimited PTO.
• Flexible work environment.

Pay

The starting salary for this position is $225,000, negotiable depending on the candidate’s qualifications, experience, and organizational budget.

This is a full-time, virtual position. Highly qualified candidates who live in, and are authorized to work in, the United States are encouraged to apply. Preference will be given to candidates residing in CA, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, IL, IA, LA, MD, MA, MN, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TX, VA, WA, and WV.