Title: Associate Vice President of Product
Location: Remote with up to 10% travel
Start Date: September 2024
Who We Are
Blue Engine is an education non-profit focused on ending the long-standing pattern of disproportionate student outcomes by shifting the paradigm of “typical teaching.” Blue Engine works in partnership with schools and systems to elevate the mindsets and skills of educators to ensure that all students - especially those most marginalized by race, language, and neurodivergence- can access and engage in grade-level learning in every lesson. We support educators in effectively teaching to learner variability by supporting the development of 1) inclusive mindsets & practices, 2) effective co-teaching and educator collaboration, and 3) data-driven teacher development systems. Our product offerings support systems leaders in system-level planning and design, instructional leader development, and content-driven teacher development.
The Role
The Associate Vice President of Product reports to the Vice President of Product. As the lead designer for products that impact thousands of students’ educational experiences, the role requires someone who cares deeply about our country’s most marginalized learners. As Blue Engine grows its impact, the AVP of Product drives a vision for several of our core products. They will ensure that design, training, and infrastructure align with our product vision and lead to equitable classroom, school, and district outcomes. Additionally, the AVP of Product will oversee a portfolio of client services, ensuring that our team meets contract goals and outcomes. The AVP of Product will collaborate across teams to ensure we learn, create change, and remain steadfast to our core values.
1. Lead Product Design and Strategy (35%): Maintain and refine a Blue Engine product portfolio that leads to impact, satisfies our partners, and supports Blue Engine’s business objectives.
a) Spearhead the strategic design and functional strategy of a subset of Blue Engine’s core products, including the Inclusive Teaching Cohort, Instructional Leader Cohort, and Professional Development Workshops.
b) Ensure that product design aligns with principles of equity-centered design, driving intended impact by managing comprehensive product roadmaps.
c) Design product-specific tools, resources, and partner-facing activities (including meeting protocols, Community of Practice sessions, one-pagers, trackers, etc.).
d) Track progress towards product goals outlined in the product framework.
e) Support the development and execution of product roadmaps, ensuring alignment with relevant pricing and staffing tools.
2) Cross-Functional Collaboration (10%): Collaborate within and across teams to develop core infrastructure that supports Blue Engine as a product-led learning organization.
a) Facilitate seamless collaboration across teams to ensure cohesive delivery of core product objectives.
b) Collaborate with the VP of Product to embed considerations for evaluation and impact throughout the product design lifecycle.
c) Ensure the development of comprehensive internal and external collateral to support marketing and sales efforts.
d) Develop a support model plan for internal stakeholders and manage external contractors as needed to design learning experiences and tools.
3) Staff Development (10%): Train and support staff members to implement and represent our products with integrity.
a) Collaborate with team leaders to ensure all staff members comprehensively understand Blue Engine’s core products and planned improvements.
b) Partner with the Program Implementation team to provide training and technical assistance for coach development.
c) Support the execution of support model plans for core products, prioritizing content knowledge, skills, and resources required for successful implementation.
4) Program Implementation and Revenue Generation - (20%): Implement components of our products with a portfolio of partnerships and support ongoing revenue generation.
a) Lead design, coaching, and consulting activities with partners and extract insights to inform product design.
b) Support lead generation, partnership development, and fundraising efforts as a product expert.
5) Blue Engine Organizational Culture (20%): Contribute to Blue Engine staff culture by living out our core values.
a) Participate in internal meetings, training, and cross-functional collaboration.
b) Contribute to organizational health via surveys, working group participation, and feedback sessions.
6) Organizational Ambassadorship (5%): Serve as a Blue Engine organizational leader and represent our organization externally.
a) Represent Blue Engine’s mission and work with external stakeholders.
b) Conduct product learning and research with current and potential partners.
c) Cultivate relationships with mission-aligned organizations to elevate Blue Engine’s brand.
d) Support fundraising efforts for product design and improvement work by developing fundable projects and assisting with progress report development.
e) Contribute to key awareness-building activities to enhance Blue Engine’s brand visibility.
Specifically, we are searching for an individual who possesses the following experience and competencies:
- Coaching & Developing Others: Demonstrated track record of coaching at the teacher, school, and system leadership levels, leading to tangible shifts in mindsets and practices.
- 4+ years as a full-time teacher; co-teaching expertise and experience with diverse (students with disabilities, multilingual learners, etc) highly preferred
- 2+ years as an instructional coach or school leader required; experience coaching and building capacity in instructional coaches or school leaders highly preferred
- 2+ years experience in adult learning and design; preferable experience with equity-centered design frameworks; preferable experience designing and leading development for educators related explicitly to supporting students with disabilities and multilingual learners
- Managing through Change: Mitigates stakeholder resistance, boosts motivation, morale, and productivity
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Facilitates and encourages teams and individuals to work together on projects and interconnected work streams and functions
- Project Management: Organizing, planning, and managing the resources (people, time, money) to accomplish objectives across function
- Responsive Strategic Planning: Planning and designing tools, structures, and resources that yield impact, understanding system-level structures and dynamics
- Evaluating Talent Competency: Assessing expertise, skill, and values orientation against a standard
- Organizational Ambassadorship: Serving as a representative of Blue Engine's values, vision, and mission to stakeholders
Org-Wide Expectations & Core Values
- Mission Alignment: Believes in the infinite potential of all humans and in an educational system that works to liberate that potential; has a general understanding of education topics related to supporting diverse learners (including Students with Disabilities and Multilingual Learners)
- Community: Demonstrates self-awareness, empathy, and perspective-taking, ensuring an inclusive, supportive environment. Fosters belonging by communicating honestly and building authentic connections within internal and external communities. Acknowledges interdependence and collaborates to achieve outcomes.
- Inclusion: Understands and designs to meet the needs of all individuals, especially the most marginalized. Cultivates an inclusive culture by taking collective ownership, designing for differences, and ensuring that individuals from all backgrounds can contribute and lead. Prioritizes elevating human potential and embraces variability as the norm.
- Growth: Values improvement rate over absolute thresholds, demonstrating curiosity, humility, and adaptability. Uses data to inform decisions, bravely learns from successes and mistakes, and adjusts course when needed. Seeks opportunities for learning and development, contributing to collective improvement and redefining what is possible.
- Equity: Commits to eliminating barriers for historically marginalized and oppressed groups, interrogating personal and organizational actions, biases, and policies. Acts with courage, take risks and hold themselves accountable to address and disrupt inequity. Ensures those with marginalized identities do not disproportionately shoulder the burden.
- Impact: Driven by meaningful impact for students and teachers, relentlessly pursues a more just, inclusive education system. Holds high expectations and approaches obstacles with creativity and solutions-oriented thinking. Recognizes the need for disciplined, sustained effort, prioritizes self-care, and seeks joy in ambitious goals.
Compensation
This role sits in Job Level 4 within our compensation structure with a starting salary range of $125,029-135,901. Blue Engine employees are provided comprehensive benefits, including six weeks of paid time off. Compensation for this role will depend on experience, demonstrated performance on core competencies, and internal equity alignment. Blue Engine offers a comprehensive benefits plan (through JustWorks, a PEO), including employer-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and the majority of costs for dependents subsidized. Other benefits include six weeks of paid time off, a 403(b) plan with a 2% match, an FSA plan, commuter benefits, and a flexible work environment.
To Apply
Applicants should submit their applications (resumes and application questions) via down below. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
OUR APPROACH TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSIVITY
Blue Engine is more than an “equal opportunity employer.” We acknowledge the roles we play as educators and leaders in the systems of oppression and racism that exist in our city, our communities, and our classrooms, and we strive to become an actively anti-racist organization. We do this first by articulating the value of diversity, inclusivity, and equity as separate yet interwoven concepts; we evaluate decisions and policies through the lens of diversity, inclusivity, and equity; we pursue opportunities for continued learning about how historical and current systems of oppression manifest in individuals and organizations; we strive to increase our collective awareness of the cultural values, biases, and differences in self and others; we utilize skills of interruption to bring to bear cultural breaches along the lines of diversity, inclusivity, and anti-racism and combine these approaches to embrace and resolve conflict while fostering growth. We make this commitment because we know it enables us to more meaningfully connect, our students, and the communities in which we work.