Provide high-quality leadership and coordination for the project and its staff in implementing identified goals and objectives in pursuit of K20 Center and sponsored research outcomes. 

The Project Director will coordinate staff, evaluators, and researchers in planning, organizing, communicating, and monitoring evidence-based services with school and community partners to ensure that they are aligned to specified project outcomes. The incumbent will oversee project management, evaluation services, employee recruitment and development, participant management, technical communications with project stakeholders, and development of high-quality services and resources in support of the project’s deliverables. This professional will facilitate ongoing development of each of the coordinators and their teams to realize their full professional potential. This incumbent’s job tasks will include: 

• Talent Management 
• Communications 
• Project Coordination 
• Evaluation and Reporting 
• Project Management  
• Evidence-Based Practice 
• Professional Learning Facilitation

Essential Job Duties & Functions 

The K20 Center is committed to providing the professional learning required for the incumbent to successfully fulfill his/her job duties.  

Talent Management 

The incumbent will ensure the project has the staff infrastructure and resources required to implement the sponsored research goals effectively and efficiently by: 

• Monitoring staffing requirements,  
• Recruiting and hiring exceptional candidates,  
• Focusing on staff engagement and retention, and 
• Developing and maintaining a high-performance culture. 

Additionally, the incumbent will provide consultative, coaching, or mentoring services to project staff through:  

• Guiding the performance improvement process,  
• Facilitating the performance development process, and  
• Facilitating periodic formative (K20 Center) and summative (OU) evaluations. 

Communications

The incumbent will maintain effective internal and external communication regarding grant-supported services while providing timely information regarding the progress of initiatives by:   

• Serving as a liaison between center leadership, project staff, school stakeholders, and community partners,   
• Resolving project-based conflict and taking corrective action as needed, and  
• Acting as an ambassador for both the K20 Center and the sponsored project. 

They will participate in meetings and committees and represent the project in the center and sponsored research outreach efforts.  

• Gathering staff feedback, recommendations, and insights to inform and improve project services,   
• Disseminating K20 Center and project, information to project staff members, and 
• Supporting the publication of easy-to-use implementation resources of core project services to the K20 LEARN repository. 

Oversees the development and implementation of communication plans that support partners: 

• School engagement in site-based action plans and resulting professional learning and services, 
• Student exploration of college and university campuses, 
• Student engagement with professionals and their careers, 
• Parent understanding of postsecondary opportunities and processes, and 
• Teachers’ professional growth in evidence-based practices that better prepare students for postsecondary education opportunities. 

Project Coordination

The incumbent will independently lead project teams to support sponsored research initiatives, in supporting all grant-defined services in their effort to implement and effectively achieve performance excellence by: 

• Leveraging strong interpersonal skills to direct, coach, counsel, and motivate project staff members in implementing grant-defined services, and 
• Promoting staff members’ well-being and productivity.  

They will develop and maintain project goals, objectives, and procedures.  

• Monitoring and supporting project staff in the use of the participant management system (TREK);  
• Defining and monitoring annual process improvement plans grant and team strategic goals, objectives, and tactics. 
• Developing, monitoring, and reporting project operating budgets,  
• Serving as a liaison between project and center leadership and school and community partner, and 
• Coordinating staffing requirements associated with grant-based services. 

Evaluation and Reporting 

The incumbent will utilize tracking tools and risk management data found in K20 Center’s grant management platforms (TREK, PLANS, and LEARN) to establish service goals as well as monitoring and reporting progress by: 

• Communicating the goals, objectives, and outcomes of the project to stakeholders,  
• Gathering and communicating information to help make data-informed planning decisions about the project, and 
• Reviewing and implementing evaluation criteria to evaluate progress toward project goals, objectives, and outcomes. 

The incumbent will implement risk management practices using K20 Center’s grant management platforms (TREK, PLANS, and LEARN) and their data to identify and mitigate risks and challenges to grant-defined outputs and outcomes by: 

• Documenting, monitoring, and, when needed, refining evaluation procedures throughout the lifetime of the project,  
• Monitoring and communicating the extent to which the project goals, objectives, and outcomes were met; and 
• Developing criteria for program improvement. 

Project Management 

Develops, implements, and refines performance improvement methodology and project management methodology. 

The incumbent will manage the day-to-day responsibilities of grant-defined projects and develop long range strategic planning for following grant-based services. 

• Site-based action plans, 
• Campus visits, 
• Career exploration and mentoring, 
• Parent and family college access events, and 
• Teachers professional learning. 

Monitors project timelines to ensure resources are available and applied appropriately to achieve desired performance goals in a timely manner. 

Evidence-Based Practice 

Keeps abreast of recent trends and developments in process innovation and project management in a college-access federal program. 

• Determining the nature and extent of the information needed, selecting the most appropriate investigative methods or information retrieval systems, and evaluating information and its sources critically,  
• Preparing an annotated bibliography of selected sources that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article, and 
• Producing a summary and explanation of the complete and current state of knowledge on a selected topic as found in peer reviewed resource. 

Provides support for multiple process improvement efforts, which are expected to dramatically improve operating performance. Provides best practice examples from other organizations. 

Professional Learning Facilitation 

Provides consultative, coaching, or mentoring services to stakeholders as appropriate 

• Conducting/reviewing needs assessments to better understand partner schools and what school stakeholders hope to accomplish from the proposed learning experience,  
• Practicing learner-centered instructional methods and alternatives to lectures that accommodate the different learning styles of adults, and  
• Identifying challenges in the facilitation of professional learning experiences and demonstrating an ability to select and apply the most effective solutions. 

As Needed

Performs various duties as needed to successfully fulfill the function of the position.