Founding Director of Curriculum and Instruction

About the role

The Founding Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Launch High School is responsible for operationalizing the school's ambitious vision. The school aims to empower students to disrupt societal inequities and build a better world through innovative, competency-based learning and personalized pathways.

Responsibilities

• Coaching and Development of Instructional Staff
• Supervise a portfolio of teachers, setting clear expectations and supporting professional growth through observation, feedback, and coaching systems.
• Lead the development and execution of team-level inquiry cycles aligned to schoolwide goals, using student data, observation evidence, and feedback to drive instructional improvement.
• Foster a positive academic culture schoolwide, promoting cooperation, positive attitudes, and teamwork.
• Design, foster, maintain, and protect a culture of student voice and choice, ensuring interdisciplinary project-based learning.
• Ensure staff are prepared to operationalize the Launch High School Design Blueprint and committed to the vision it supports.
• Build staff capacity around ensuring academics are both rigorous and accessible for all learners.
• Academic Administration
• Own and oversee curriculum, assessment systems, data-based goal-setting, and action planning, ensuring coherence across disciplines, grade levels, and competencies.
• Oversee compliance, design, and implementation of English Language Learner (ENL) programming, family engagement, staff training, and coordination with external partners and federal, state, and local requirements.
• Implement a targeted and data-informed intervention program.
• Serve as the Principal’s primary instructional thought partner, owning instructional quality, academic systems, and curriculum coherence schoolwide.

Requirements

• Aligned with Launch High School’s vision and community-based design process
• Experienced school leader with at least two years of experience leading, managing, and coaching a team, and at least three years of teaching experience with a proven track record of elevating student achievement and cultivating positive culture
• Experience in an urban setting and high school preferred
• Alignment with Launch High School’s educational philosophy and core beliefs
• Entrepreneurial mindset, comfortable with rapid growth and evolution within an innovative educational model
• Committed to staying at Launch at least three years, seeing the inaugural grade class through graduation, and leading the school to scale
• Strong organizational, self-management, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to handle multiple responsibilities simultaneously
• Advanced degree preferred, teaching experience (urban setting preferred), and fluency in Spanish preferred
• Valid State Instructional and/or School Leadership Certification preferred

Qualifications

• Self-awareness, demonstrating an accurate understanding of strengths and weaknesses
• Treatment of all members of the school's community with respect and inspiration
• Experience in project-based, interdisciplinary, and competency-based instruction, and innovative educational approaches, as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative data
• Strategic thinking, critical assessment of information, data, and processes to facilitate organizational improvement
• Enthusiasm, energy, and optimism, even in challenging situations
• Confidence and effective communication, adjusting styles to diverse audiences
• Empathy, high emotional intelligence, and balanced empowerment of staff and students
• Composed demeanor during crises, underpinned by optimism and resilience
• Strategic thinking, critical assessment of information, data, and processes to facilitate organizational improvement

Skills

• Project-based and competency-based learning
• Interdisciplinary approach
• Work-based/career-connected programming

Benefits

Competitive compensation package, including a full benefits package.

Pay

Highest pay commensurate with experience.

Schedule

Full-time position.