Fast Facts

Join The Commit Partnership as a Manager of Early Childhood Education-12th Grade (EC-12) Policy, focusing on improving educational outcomes through strategic policy advancements and cross-sector collaboration.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include legislative communication, engagement with state agencies on rulemaking, coordination of policy coalitions, and conducting policy research to inform initiatives.

Skills: Candidates must possess strong communication skills, familiarity with Texas public education policy, coalition coordination experience, and project management skills.

Qualifications: A bachelor's degree and at least 2 years of experience in public policy, advocacy, or government relations are required, preferably in Texas.

Location: This position is located in the Dallas/Austin, TX area; some duties may be conducted outside a typical office setting.

Compensation: $80000 - $94500 / Annually

Position Overview:

The Commit Partnership, the largest regional educational “backbone” organization in the country with more than 70 employees and an annual operating budget exceeding $40 million, is seeking a passionate, strategic, and policy-driven team member to serve as Manager of Early Childhood Education-12th Grade (EC-12) Policy.

Under the general supervision of the Director of EC-12 Policy, the Manager will work to improve educational outcomes across the early childhood through high school continuum by advancing strategic investments in policies that improve student outcomes, facilitating cross-sector collaboration, and helping shape the state’s educational landscape through thoughtful engagement.

The Manager will play a pivotal role in executing Commit’s EC–12 policy strategy, most notably within the foundational years (ages 3-8), by leading legislative communication, engaging state agencies on rulemaking, and coordinating policy coalitions.

This role is ideal for a mid-career professional with at least 2+ years of direct experience in public policy, advocacy, or government relations, preferably in Texas, who is eager to translate local and regional insights into lasting statewide impact.

Salary Range

$80,000 - $94,500

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Legislative Communication and Engagement

Monitor and analyze relevant EC–12 education legislation, with an emphasis on early childhood and elementary policy issues.
Lead development of clear, persuasive policy briefs, testimony, and legislative updates.
Build and maintain constructive relationships with legislative staff and key committee members.

2. Rulemaking Engagement with State Agencies

Track relevant state agency rulemaking processes that impact EC–12 education.
Support input during public comment periods and serve as a liaison with agency staff to communicate stakeholder insights and recommendations.
Support Commit’s engagement in state workgroups and advisory committees, when applicable.

3. Advocacy Coalition Collaboration

Lead coordination and facilitation of the InvestEdTx public education coalition, including agenda setting, partner communications, and shared policy platform development.
Cultivate trusted relationships with a diverse set of practitioner stakeholders across the state.
Align coalition efforts with Commit’s broader advocacy campaigns, ensuring a coherent, strategic push for student-centered policy reforms.

4. Policy Research and Development

Stay informed on state and national trends in early childhood education, educator workforce issues, assessment and accountability, curriculum and instruction and other areas impacting student outcomes.
Collaborate with Commit team members working directly with school systems to identify potential policy solutions and support their work with policy expertise. Translate complex policy concepts into actionable recommendations for feedback from Commit team members and external audiences.

Performs other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience Required:

Bachelor's degree required
At least 2+ years of experience in public policy, government relations, or advocacy.

Qualifications and Skills Required:

A track record of successful engagement with elected officials and staff and/or state agencies.
Experience coordinating coalitions or stakeholder groups across diverse sectors.
Exceptional communication skills (written and verbal), especially when translating research and data into advocacy messaging.
Familiarity with Texas’ public education landscape, key performance metrics, and policy levers that influence EC–12 outcomes.
A strong student-centered and a commitment to inclusive stakeholder engagement.
Strong project management skills, attention to detail, and follow-through.
Passion for Commit’s mission and the role education plays in economic mobility

Preferred:

3–5+ years of experience in legislative advocacy, education policy, or nonprofit/government relations
Prior experience working in or with Texas state agencies, legislative offices, or school districts
Proficiency in using policy analysis tools, stakeholder management systems, or legislative tracking software
Experience synthesizing data for storytelling in education, policy, or equity contexts
Familiarity with Commit Partnership’s ecosystem or similar collective impact initiatives

Language Skills:

Ability to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate.
Ability to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
Ability to describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Ability to read and write in Standard English.
Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with others.
Ability to interact with persons of various social, cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds.
Ability to listen perceptively and convey awareness.
Ability to interact diplomatically with the public in a continuous public contact setting.
Ability to work as part of a team and in a team environment.
Ability to maintain level-headedness in the face of resistance and contrary opinions.

Work Environment:

The Manager generally works in an office environment but may occasionally be required to perform job duties outside of the typical office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate. The employee is not exposed to any adverse environmental conditions.

Physical Activity & Requirements:

While performing the responsibilities of the job, the employee is required to talk and hear. The employee is often required to sit and use repetitive motions of the wrists, hands and/or fingers. This is a sedentary position, however, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, reach with arms and hands, grasp, climb or balance, and to stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl and lift up to 10 pounds. Hearing, talking and vision abilities required by this job include perceiving the nature of sounds at normal speaking levels with or without correction, expressing or exchanging ideas be means of the spoken word and close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing, viewing a computer terminal and extensive reading.

Job Requirements:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed must be representative of the knowledge, skills, minimum education, training, licensure, experience and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The Commit Partnership is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to hire individuals with backgrounds similar to that of the stakeholders they serve. As an organization that embraces equity and inclusion, all employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

About The Commit Partnership:

Our Mission

We believe that through our collective actions, Dallas County—which educates 10% of Texas and 1% of the nation—can become an inclusive and prosperous region where economic opportunity is shared fairly. That’s why our True North Goal is that by 2040, at least half of all Dallas County residents ages 25–34, irrespective of race, will have the opportunity to earn a living wage.

To increase living wage attainment, we must equitably increase educational success aligned with high-demand, well-paying jobs—maximizing the cumulative impact from early education through college, career, and military readiness to strong postsecondary completion. Our team aligns community stakeholders around this shared roadmap for the future, using data to surface strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding. Together, we work to address the systemic root causes that hinder progress and strengthen our community’s capacity to serve every student effectively.

Our Story

Founded in 2012, the Commit Partnership has grown into the nation’s largest educational collective impact organization, uniting more than 70 backbone team members and over 200 partners across Dallas County and Texas—all working together to address the systemic education challenges facing our region and state. Our team brings community stakeholders together around a shared roadmap for the future, using data and practitioner insights to inform effective policy solutions that accelerate progress toward our goals and strengthen our collective capacity to serve every student well.

Together, we advocate for an excellent public education that ensures all students—regardless of race, place, or socioeconomic status—can shape their own futures, earn a living wage, and share in the prosperity of the world’s eighth-largest economy. We pursue this mission through several key initiatives, including Early Matters Dallas, Dallas County Promise, the Texas Urban Council, and the Texas Impact Network.

True North Traits

Our True North Traits creates a mission-driven environment and champions us to do our best work each day.

Systemic Impact: You understand the barriers and lived experiences that our students face and are skilled at delivering systemic solutions at scale that address these needs. You achieve significant, sustainable results that increase equitable outcomes through your work (including the reallocation or improvement in public funding), and you recognize the difference between activity and impact.

Judgment: You exhibit a relentless “students first” focus by thinking strategically about what data must be collected, analyzed, visualized, and activated (and what steps must be taken, in what order) to cause resources to be reallocated and actions to be taken to systemically overcome the root causes hindering achievement of the Partnership's mission.

Communication: By listening to understand before seeking to be understood, you’re able to build trust and facilitate collaboration across lines of difference, recognizing that both are essential to our success. You are also able to find common ground with diverse stakeholders and can tailor the organization's message to different audiences as needed to influence meaningful change.

Innovation: You can create or meaningfully contribute to the design and execution of a systemic and transformational strategic plan to solve complex problems, often at scale, that improves organizational effectiveness and/or closes equity gaps for our students and families.

Equity and Inclusion: You intentionally create spaces where relevant stakeholders have a seat or voice at the table, ensuring that each person at the table's thoughts and perspectives are shared, valued by all others at the table, and reflected in our work. You're excited to help build and/or contribute to teams where everyone feels welcomed, respected, valued, and highly supported.

Joy: You recognize that people are central to our work, striking a balance between people and process, and you inspire others with your optimism and thirst for substantive change in service to the mission.

Integrity: You admit mistakes openly, share learnings widely, and elevate bad news quickly, also capable of making difficult decisions in all situations to ensure the success of the organization.

Commit does not sponsor visas of any kind.

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Manager, EC-12 Policy