Confidential Position Specification
Texas High School Project
Chief Operating Officer
August 2009
Copyright 1992-2009. Korn/Ferry International and Lominger International. All Rights Reserved.
CONFIDENTIAL POSITION SPECIFICATION
Position
Chief Operating Officer
Company
Texas High School Project
Location
Dallas, TX
Reporting
Relationship
President & Chief Executive Officer
Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT)
Peer Relationship
Executive Director
Texas High School Project (THSP)
Website
www.thsp.org
COMPANY BACKGROUND/CULTURE
Created in 2003, the Texas High School Project (THSP) is a public-private alliance
committed to increasing graduation rates and college enrollment rates in every Texas
community. THSP’s mission is to significantly improve the postsecondary readiness of
low-income students in low-performing schools transitioning from middle school
through high school and into postsecondary programs. A $346 million public-private
initiative, THSP has supported the creation or redesign of 172 schools across the state,
serving more than 83,000 students. Almost two-thirds of these students are
economically disadvantaged and almost half are considered at risk. More than half (58
percent) are Hispanic, while 22 percent are African American, 18 percent are white or
other, and 2 percent are Asian. THSP’s school models include Texas Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (T-STEM) Academies, Early College High
Schools, the redesign of large comprehensive urban high schools and New and Charter
Schools. The Texas High School Project Alliance includes: from the public sector, the
Texas Education Agency (TEA), Office of the Governor, Texas Legislature, Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board (THECB); and from the private philanthropic sector, the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Communities
Foundation of Texas (CFT), National Instruments, Wallace Foundation, Greater Texas
Foundation and Meadows Foundation. CFT serves as the coordinating intermediary for
the public-private partners in the Alliance and manages the majority of the private
philanthropic investments. State and federal investments in Texas schools are managed
by TEA.
Since its founding in 1953, CFT has grown, along with North Texas, to become one of
the nation’s largest community foundations. Of more than 700 community foundations
across the country, CFT ranks in the top 20 for gifts received, assets managed and
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grants made. It serves as a hub for collaboration between donors, nonprofits and other
funding organizations to stimulate creative solutions to key community challenges.
This work is accomplished through a variety of donor-advised, designated and
discretionary funds. CFT strives to thoughtfully and effectively support its diverse
donors and grantees by providing exemplary service, by demonstrating accountability,
and by generating lasting impact in the community. The foundation professionally
manages almost 900 component funds and has awarded over $1 billion in grants.
ROLE PROFILE
The Texas High School Project (THSP) is a unique public/private sector initiative that
is, to date, unmatched in scope and scale by any other project of its type in the country.
The first four years of this project have been focused on implementing new and
innovative initiatives in urban and Texas-Mexico border regions of Texas. THSP has
formed partnerships with a majority of low income school districts in Texas in the
formation of various types of programs including Early College High School programs
(41 locations) and T-STEM schools (46 locations). THSP has also funded all the high
performing charter management organizations in Texas to support the opening of
additional campuses and in the building out of their central office capacity. THSP also
funds investments in innovative principal leadership at major universities, research and
professional development at education service centers and universities, and a data
diagnostic project for the eight large urban school districts which comprise the Big 8
Urban Superintendents Council. THSP has experienced major growth and success at
the campus level, especially for start-up school models, to date, and now the ”building
scale statewide” phase for THSP begins – prompting the need for a Chief Operating
Officer (COO).
This COO position is a peer to the THSP Executive Director and both officers will report
directly to the President/CEO of CFT located in Dallas, Texas. In addition to being a
funder in this initiative, CFT provides the primary coordination and programmatic
support for the private philanthropic resources of the THSP alliance.
While the Executive Director is independent in managing the strategic initiatives and
external relationships, both the COO and Executive Director must work in tandem to
achieve efficiencies in the operations and success in the bold execution of the strategy.
The COO leads the THSP in partnership with an Executive Director. Both positions
report to the President and CEO of CFT. The COO is responsible for the day-to-day
operations of THSP’s technical assistance, data analysis, and support functions.
Additionally, the COO is charged with integrating THSP’s core capabilities in ways that
position the organization to achieve its mission- developing insights for education
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reform that can be scaled statewide. The Executive Director is charged with leading
THSP’s overall strategic direction, relationship management with Alliance members
and external stakeholders, revenue generation, policy development and communication
of research, data and evidence-based insights which could be scaled across the state.
The new THSP strategy (which has been developed and approved by the THSP Alliance
partners) has critical components for which the COO will be responsible. The first key
component is the need to research, measure and analyze the previous activities of
THSP, determine what has worked and what hasn’t, and to then distribute the best-inclass learnings to Alliance members and other educational constituents in order to
quickly and widely scale these paradigm-shifting initiatives across Texas. The second
key component is to develop new research ideas, investment proposals for private
philanthropy and implementation structures aligned with the four public sector
strategies of teacher effectiveness, performance management, education leadership, and
delivery systems.
This is a unique opportunity for a mission oriented professional who is interested in
making a permanent difference and leaving a legacy in the college preparation of our
young people - one that will have ramifications throughout this country. The COO will
have extensive authority, responsibility and autonomy in how to manage the operations
of THSP in order to achieve the goals and objectives of the strategic plan. The core
operations consist of current and new program officers and support staff located at the
Dallas CFT headquarters.
This person must also understand how to synthesize information, cut through the chaff
and determine the keys to increasing student achievement and postsecondary readiness
statewide, all the while providing strong leadership in an organization yearning for
accountability, passion, innovation, and drive. This person must be an accomplished
collaborator who will use this leadership style both internally with the staff as well as
with the key alliance members with whom they will interact - such as program
managers at the TEA, THECB and others. She/he must consider their role as that of
adding value beyond what has been established and must be comfortable with
managing conflict that arises from well-intentioned attempts at finding solutions. This
conflict management piece will be helped, in great measure, by establishing effective
processes, building strong teams and keeping open channels of communication.
Equally important is this individual’s ability to be adaptable and highly responsive,
approachable with a high degree of credibility and integrity; open to suggestions and
new directions, while also maintaining high standards of delivery; and be decisive - a
“closer” of transactions and initiatives.
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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Leads a team of highly motivated individuals working together to find practical,
scalable solutions to improve student achievement and postsecondary readiness
across Texas.

Works with the Executive Director, builds strong relationships with private
philanthropic funders, state agencies, districts, higher education and secondary
campus leaders to collectively manage external relationships.

Collaborates with Executive Director to identify promising future investment
opportunities, oversees investment due diligence, and owns final internal approval
to move forward with recommended investments.

Manages the program portfolio for effectiveness and determines program success
criteria in collaboration with program officers and funders.

Oversees insight development across the portfolio from “experiment” design
through program implementation and analysis to final recommendations for scale
across Texas.

Coordinates relationship between project management and data analysis projects
and teams to ensure the effective identification of what is working in student
achievement and postsecondary readiness that has the potential for improving
educational outcomes statewide.

Provides thought leadership on optimal approaches for statewide scaling based on
what is learned from past, current and future investments in the program portfolio.

Oversees development and maintenance of database, analysis and performance
reporting across portfolio programs.

Ensures all analytic and reporting requirements are met in a timely and accurate
manner by the program, including regular and ad hoc reports to Alliance partners,
funders, state agencies, policymakers, and other external stakeholders as necessary.
SKILLS

Gifted and empowering manager of large cross-functional teams and multiple
reports, including individuals from different disciplinary backgrounds.

Exceptional problem-solving skills, including ability to structure complex problems,
identify key issues, and combine qualitative and quantitative data.

Strong presentation and facilitation skills, for both internal and external audiences.
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
Excels at building consensus to drive improved outcomes in the context of dynamic
stakeholder scenarios.

Ability to coordinate with externally-focused advocacy, marketing and
communications teams as well as internally support operations.

Experience with the national and statewide dialogue on education and the ability to
collaborate across public and private partners.

Dedication to the mission of Texas High School Project and to making THSP a
national leader and innovation center in identifying and scaling successful practices.
YEAR ONE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Effectively execute the THSP strategic plan - demonstrate progress by creating scale
across Texas and furthering the advancement and implementation of the programs’
goals.
Collect, synthesize and present factual evidence/conduct program-wide data
analyses to provide feedback and program results to communicate shared insights
and build consensus around informed solutions.
Develop ways to effectively articulate the “lessons learned”, best practices and next
steps to further engage the THSP partners within the Alliance membership and with
state leaders in policy, business, and philanthropy.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE / QUALIFICATIONS

Ten or more years of senior management experience, with strong preference for
individuals who have held roles of increasing responsibility within outcomeoriented organizations (from either, or both, the private and public sectors).

History of successfully leading organization-wide change management efforts,
including development of new functional capabilities and processes.

Background includes work with 1) data analysis and research methodologies, and 2)
management of multiple, simultaneous program implementation efforts.

Experience in education preferred, with preference for experience in Texas
education policy or public-private partnerships.

Demonstrated ability to manage operations of an independent business unit.
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LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS
Making Complex Decisions
 Can solve even the toughest and most complex of problems; great at gleaning
meaning from whatever data is available; is a quick study of the new and
different; adds personal wisdom and experience to come to the best conclusion
and solution, given the situation; uses multiple problem-solving tools and
techniques.
Keeping on Point
 Can quickly separate the mission-critical from the nice to dos and the trivials;
quickly senses what's the next most useful thing to work on; focuses on the
critical few tasks that really add value and puts aside or delays the rest.
Getting Organized
 Is well organized, resourceful, and planful; effective and efficient at marshalling
multiple resources to get things done; lays out tasks in sufficient detail to mark
the trail; is able to get things done with less and in less time; can work on
multiple tasks at once without losing track; foresees and plans around obstacles.
Getting Work Done Through Others
 Manages people well; gets the most and best out of the people he/she has; sets
and communicates guiding goals; measures accomplishments, holds people
accountable, and gives useful feedback; delegates and develops; keeps people
informed; provides coaching for today and for the future.
Managing Work Processes
 Is an effective process, work flow, and systems designer; is good at figuring out
what to measure to track progress; sets up systems that can almost manage
themselves; is a master at the effectiveness and efficiency of work systems; can
quickly diagnose and fix a work flow problem; always looking for incremental
process improvement.
Evaluating and Deploying People Accurately
 Reads people accurately; can diagnose strengths, weaknesses, and potential;
knows what skills are required to fill a job or role; hires the best.
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Focusing on Action and Outcomes
 Attacks everything with drive and energy with an eye on the bottom line; not
afraid to initiate action before all the facts are known; drives to finish everything
he/she starts.
Managing Diverse Relationships
 Relates well to a wide variety of diverse styles, types, and classes; open to
differences; effective up, down, sideways, inside, and outside; builds diverse
networks; quick to find common ground; treats differences fairly and equitably;
treats everyone as a preferred customer.
EDUCATION
Bachelor’s degree is required and an advanced degree in business or education
preferred.
COMPENSATION
Compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience.
KORN/FERRY CONTACTS
Ronald J. Zera
Senior Client Partner
Office Managing Director
2101 Cedar Springs Rd., Suite 1450
Dallas, TX 75201
214.665.3015
Ronald.Zera@kornferry.com
Victor Arias, Jr.
Senior Client Partner
2101 Cedar Springs Rd., Suite 1450
Dallas, TX 75201
214.665.3056
Victor.Arias@kornferry.com
Laura Duffy
Senior Associate
2101 Cedar Springs Rd., Suite 1450
Dallas, TX 75201
214.665.3072
Laura.duffy@kornferry.com
Leeza Carmichael
Project Coordinator
2101 Cedar Springs Rd., Suite 1450
Dallas, TX 75201
214.665.3024
Leeza.carmichael@kornferry.com
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