Professional Learning Manager (Online and Career Connected Learning)

Who We Are: The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

Hello, World! CSTA is a non-profit membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science, providing opportunities for K–12 teachers and their students to better understand computer science and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn. We are fully remote with engaged teammates spread from California to Massachusetts and we blend our collective experience gained from our past roles in non-profits, K-12 schools, higher education, and hospitality to create high-quality teaching and learning experiences for teachers worldwide.

Who We Are Looking For: A Seasoned Professional Learning Specialist Committed to Equity in CS  

CSTA is looking for an experienced Professional Learning Manager who is passionate about computer science education and inclusive teaching practices. With a background and experience in creating and facilitating equity and inclusion focused professional development both in-person and online, you are excited about engaging in CSTA’s efforts towards embracing diversity, being purposefully inclusive, and addressing anti-racism in CS education through teacher development. 

How You’ll Contribute: Essential Duties and Responsibilities 

As a Professional Learning Manager at CSTA, you will develop, promote, sustain, and scale programs that support the ongoing professional development (PD) of teachers. These programs will develop teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and skills, and inclusive teaching practices in alignment with the 2020 CSTA Standards for CS Teachers, and ultimately improve the quality of teaching and learning of K-12 computer science. There are three primary components of this role: 

Online Professional Development Creator (50% time): In this role, you will develop a series of high-quality, asynchronous online PD courses that positively impact teacher practice in a scalable and sustainable way. You will: 

• Select curriculum-agnostic, high-leverage content aligned to the CSTA Standards for CS Teachers (content, pedagogy, and equity), including existing digital content to repurpose from other CSTA events
• Design modules with objectives, clear resources, and impactful activities that enable participants to apply their learning to their CS teaching practice
• Identify, recruit, develop, and coordinate with experts to develop content aligned to consistent principles and framework
• Partner closely with CSTA events and marketing/communication staff to project manage, market, and support successful implementation
• Disseminate and support the widespread use of CSTA student and teacher standards, and represent CSTA at conferences and events.
• Perform other duties as assigned, including managing or coordinating with volunteer committees and member communities.

Amazon Future Engineer – Career Exploration Research, Strategy, and Consulting (25% time): Research demonstrates that stereotypes and lack of career understanding lead many students to opt-out of STEM/CS career pathways prior to high school. To broaden access to the careers of the future, Amazon Future Engineer aims to develop products/programs that allow students to “explore what professionals in the careers of the future do” and foster students’ belief that “these careers are for me.” In this role, you will: 

• Collaborate directly with Amazon Future Engineer to build a collective career exploration vision (based on Amazon Future Engineer + Gallup’s Careers of the Future Research) that can be scaled across industries, organizations, and educational institutions.
• Conduct marketing research to determine and evaluate existing products/programs aimed at providing career exploration programs and advise Amazon on potential pathways to pursue.
• Work with Amazon Future Engineer to develop products/programs that provide career exploration opportunities to students such as in-person student externship curriculum, career talk programming and training for volunteers, and more.

Amazon Future Engineer – Career Tours Creation and Consulting (25% time): Amazon Future Engineer currently runs a virtual field trip program called Career Tours that aims to expose students to the diversity of careers and people working in technology. Over the next three years, CSTA and Amazon will partner to improve and scale Career Tours to reach millions of students around the globe. In this role, you will serve as the lead consultant for this partnership and will provide the following supports:

• Research: Support video production company in conducting interviews with subject matter experts and explore resources (Amazon provided and external) to identify the computer science learnings and careers students may learn about on each career tour. 
• Tour Design:  Backwards plan each Career Tour from CSTA and other STEM standards. Create a deliverable for each tour that includes standards, breakdown of narrative into stops, vocabulary, learning concepts, interactive questions, potential graphics and imagery, and careers to highlight. This will be done in partnership with a video production company. 
• Tour Production: Interview talent alongside production company to identify employees and external talent to feature in each Career Tour. Co-write and revise scripted portions of the tour with the production company to ensure content is appropriate for students. Provide 2 rounds of written feedback on edited videos before launch. Create supporting tour instructional materials. 

What You Bring to the Table: Experience & Qualifications 

As our ideal candidate, you are passionate about and have had success addressing issues of equity in CS education. You have designed and facilitated teacher professional development focused on equity and inclusion, and have prior experience designing online professional development. 

To be successful in this role, you also bring some combination of the following: 

• Deep knowledge of the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards and the CSTA Standards for Computer Science Teachers (preferred)
• Experience designing and facilitating teacher professional development focused on equity and inclusion (preferred)
• Experience as a CSTA volunteer, committee member, chapter leader, or similar leadership role in an organization for K-12 teachers (preferred)
• Experience teaching K-12 computer science
• Experience with developing curriculum and/or leading edtech products
• Experience providing professional development to K-12 teachers; experience with training computer science teachers is a plus
• Commitment to engaging in CSTA’s efforts towards embracing diversity, being purposefully inclusive, and addressing anti-racism in CS education
• Ability to manage a project with responsibilities shared across internal and external team members; ability to work effectively when under pressure and with tight timelines; flexibility and ability to continuously improve methods and procedures
• Strong communication skills; comfort with speaking to groups and presenting information
• Proficiency in working with the Google and Microsoft Office suites and ability to quickly learn how to use other communication and productivity tools
• Ability and willingness to shift work schedule at times to support or manage professional learning in afternoons, evenings, and weekends to accommodate teacher participants

In addition, all candidates:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen or authorized to work in the U.S.
• Must pass a pre-employment background check
• Must be able to travel up to 15% time within the U.S. and occasionally work outside normal business hours. Travel costs are covered by CSTA.

What We Offer 

As a nonprofit, we strive to be market competitive with similarly sized organizations, and internally fair in our pay practices. The hiring salary range for this role is $80,000 – $85,000 annually. This represents the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.  

In hiring, we are generally open to candidates in a varying range of experiences and levels, and recognize that as a candidate you may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If that’s the case, an updated salary range will be shared with you if you move forward in our hiring process.

CSTA is proud to provide a flexible, engaging working environment with a great team. Other perks and benefits include:  

• Flexible schedules with independent workday Fridays
• Paid time off: three weeks vacation annually, ten days sick leave, ten holidays, one-week office closure for summer break, and one-week office closure at the end of December
• Medical, dental and vision premiums paid at 100% for FT positions and subsidized dependent premiums
• Paid parental leave (8-12 weeks)
• Technology and work from home subsidy consistent with our bring-your-own-device environment
• Option to participate in retirement savings plan with generous employer match after six months of employment

CSTA Leads Through Our Values

CSTA is committed to disrupting systemic inequities and developing inclusive teaching and learning practices. This extends to our internal team and we regularly seek opportunities to expand our knowledge and better our practices to foster internal equity and a sense of belonging within our team. Read about our values here. 

CSTA is honored to be an equal opportunity workplace. We realize that by bringing together a team rich in diverse backgrounds, thoughts and experiences, our people, organization, and our members flourish. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), age, marital status, disability, military or veteran status; or any other protected classifications or characteristics under applicable local laws.

What to Expect From Us 

During the interview stage, you can expect:

• Step 1: An initial “phone” screen (30 minutes). If there’s a good mutual fit for the role, you’ll be invited to next steps in our process. 
• Step 2: We’ll schedule a virtual interview loop with the 4-6 team members you will work most closely with (4.5 hours total). 
• Step 3: Following these interviews, we’ll ask you to complete a brief exercise consistent with the typical work of this role. You can expect to spend about 60 minutes on this exercise.

All interviews will be remote via Zoom; we are happy to make accommodations you might need to feel set up for success in our process. 

Our Ideal Hiring Timeline:

January 3-21: Resumes accepted on a rolling basis (Cover letters are encouraged so we can get to know you!)

Week of January 22nd: Resumes reviewed and informational interviews scheduled

Weeks of January 29th, February 5th: Interview loops scheduled and completed

February 9: Exercise shared with selected candidates

February 15: Final candidate selections made for follow up 

February 21: Offer made

March 11 (or sooner, if possible!): Approximate start date for the role