Sr. Director Strategic Initiatives & Public Affairs; CTY Strategic Initiatives​/Public Affairs

Founded in 1979, the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) is a center for innovation dedicated to advancing the field of gifted education through research, testing, programs, and other supports for advanced learners. On the premise that advanced learners come from every community and every demographic, we aim to understand and inform how these students need to be nurtured to achieve their full potential as learners and global citizens.

CTY also runs in-person and online academic programs for bright learners in order to cultivate a community of advanced learners and connect students in and outside the classroom.

We are seeking a Sr. Director Strategic Initiatives & Public Affairs who will serve as CTY’s chief strategy officer, focusing on mission‑aligned initiatives and outcomes. The role oversees strategic programming and leads the center’s public affairs functions, including its communications and marketing team, as well as its strategic partnerships. The incumbent has broad oversight over administrative and programmatic initiatives ranging from organizational change management and project execution to issues management and cross‑departmental coordination.

Working closely alongside the administrative and academic leaders of the center, the role helps execute and communicate the vision outlined in CTY’s strategic roadmap and maintains key internal and external relationships to achieve outcomes critical to the center’s success, including its focus on increasing access and sharing knowledge and expertise with the field.

The role provides strategic thought partnership to the executive director, including but not limited to creating structure and process; cohesion and alignment; and overseeing the implementation of critical priorities as needed. The senior director of strategic initiatives and public affairs supports CTY Research by facilitating connections to CTY programs and to the broader university community. This role, which reports to the Executive Director, requires strong organizational, communication, and management skills, including judgement, strategic planning, writing, project management, coordination of groups, implementation, and analysis.

As needed, the role will represent the executive director and center both internally and externally.

• Collaborate with the Executive Director and other senior leadership to develop and execute on institutional goals and priorities; ensure implementation plans and progress are effectively communicated to senior leaders and across the center, as well as to university stakeholders and leadership.
• Drive key strategic, cross‑unit initiatives to fruition via project leadership, serving as executive sponsor and as needed, project manager.
• Under the Executive Director’s direction, support a culture of continuous organizational improvement, integration, excellence, inclusion, and professionalism.
• Assess risk and issues that serve as barriers to the center’s operation and mission fulfillment; work with staff to develop and implement solutions.
• Anticipate and identify opportunities for CTY leadership and staff to participate in events, meetings, and other activities within the university community and within the broader educational field that the center serves.
• Serve as one of the executive director’s primary strategic liaisons to internal and external constituencies and committees, representing the executive director at the university level and elsewhere as appropriate.
• Monitor priorities and action items related to the center’s established goals and objectives.
• Provide budget oversight of multiple cost centers reporting up to this role.
• Build strong working relationships with the School of Education, relevant academic schools and centers, and university administration to facilitate connections for CTY’s research and programming.
• Advocate for integration of research in CTY programming.
• Support the planning of symposia and other research‑centered events.

• Oversee CTY’s principal access and partnership programs, taking the lead on high‑profile external relationships and ensuring…