Senior Associate, K-12

Education Strategy Group (ESG) is hiring a Senior Associate to design and execute projects focused primarily on K-12 career readiness. The role leads research, policy analysis, technical assistance, and stakeholder engagement to help education systems prepare students for postsecondary pathways and align with workforce needs.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the execution of K-12 projects, which includes developing and overseeing work plans, managing project timelines, and leading high-quality implementation to ensure delivery of innovative and effective solutions to our clients’ career readiness challenges
• Use approved AI tools to accelerate research, drafting, and analysis, while owning the accuracy, framing, and verification of all AI-augmented work against primary sources
• Design and lead quantitative and qualitative research and policy analysis on key impact issues related to student readiness, including advising and navigation systems, market-driven pathways, work-based learning, early postsecondary coursework, social capital, and credential attainment, as well as the state funding and data-system infrastructure that supports this work ;Capture and share project insights for clients using visualization software like Tableau
• Develop tools and strategies to assess client needs and replicate national best practices
• Design and deploy delivery of high-quality technical assistance and facilitation to clients, including multi-agency state and local teams spanning K-12, higher education, workforce, and economic development
• Help plan and organize in-state and cross-state convenings of policymakers and practitioners to strengthen their policies and practices and enable them to strategize together
• Author and assist in publishing blogs, briefs, reports, and other documents for the general public, policymakers, media, and other stakeholders
• Develop and grow relationships with partners, clients, and national experts to identify opportunities for new projects
• Draft concept papers and proposals to help ESG secure new projects
• Represent ESG at external events and meetings
• Serve as a thought partner and engage in team problem solving across ESG
• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements:

• a minimum of five years' professional experience in education policy within a state education agency, intermediary organization, postsecondary institution, school district, or national nonprofit organization developing and leading work to build or expand career preparation opportunities for students
• Knowledge of educational efforts to increase students' readiness for a range of high-value postsecondary opportunities, with emphasis on building demand-driven pathways with early college experiences, supporting work-based learning and industry credentialing, and aligning pathways between K-12, higher education, and the workforce
• Understanding of the legislative and policy-making processes that lead to strong local implementation of education-to-workforce practices
• A master's degree in public policy, education policy, or related fields, or an equivalent level of knowledge and experience
• Strong qualitative research, data analysis, writing, and project management skills
• Strong facilitation skills and experience leading workgroups consisting of policymakers and/or practitioners in K-12 or postsecondary education
• Excellent organizational skills and a keen attention to detail—candidates should have the ability to prioritize work and manage time on multiple projects and tasks to meet deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively—candidates should be self-motivated, but also enthusiastic team players open to feedback and collaboration
• Well-rounded interpersonal skill set, with the presence and capacity to build relationships, work effectively in teams, and facilitate joint problem-solving with clients and within ESG
• Curiosity, eagerness, and ability to develop new knowledge and skills
• Comfort using AI tools for research, drafting, and analysis, paired with the judgment to verify outputs, flag uncertainty, and recognize when a task requires human method instead
• Maturity, flexibility and comfort working in a small, virtual organization