Strategic Advisor Educational Initiatives

Company Description

By working at Harvard University, you join a vibrant community that advances Harvard's world-changing mission in meaningful ways, inspires innovation and collaboration, and builds skills and expertise. We are dedicated to creating a diverse and welcoming environment where everyone can thrive.

Why join the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences?

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is the historic heart of Harvard University. It is the home of Harvard’s undergraduate program (Harvard College, founded in 1636) as well as all of Harvard’s Ph.D. programs (the Harvard Kenneth

C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, founded in 1872), Harvard Athletics and the Division of Continuing Education. The 40 academic departments and 30+ centers of the FAS support a community unparalleled in its academic excellence across the broadest range of liberal arts and sciences disciplines. Together, the FAS seeks to foster an environment of ambition, curiosity and shared commitment to knowledge and truth that elicits excellence from all members of our community and prepares the next generation of leaders through a transformative educational experience.

Reporting to the Executive Director, the Strategic Advisor for Educational Initiatives leads the design and growth of Opportunity Insights’ K–12 and early-college education strategy, spanning research, program design, and partnership development. The role conducts landscape analyses of how OI research is used in schools and of comparable higher‑ed‑to‑K‑12 outreach models; designs and manages educator cohorts and the Opportunity Fellows Teacher Fellowship, including a year‑long curriculum and a four‑day summer institute;

and collaborates with an Educational Partnerships Advisory Group to shape and refine strategic direction. The position is responsible for adapting and expanding OI curricular resources for high school and community college contexts; creating assessment, documentation, and communication tools to track and strengthen impact; and building external partnerships (e.g., with Ed Equity Lab, Modern States, NEON, school districts, and networks) that support large‑scale offerings such as an open‑access statistics course and other direct‑to‑student opportunities.

• Conduct landscape analysis of current uses of OI research in high school (HS) contexts across the country, building on existing school partners and historical points of contact.
• Interview existing school partners about their experiences with OI curricular materials to identify patterns of engagement and promising directions for further development.
• Conduct preliminary landscape analysis of higher‑ed‑to‑K‑12 outreach models (e.g., Challenge Success, CS50), focusing on inputs, impact, and analogous use cases.
• Research pipeline engagement opportunities for HS and community college (CC) students (e.g., early‑career teacher training, summer enrichment, programs for underrepresented students).
• Identify key partners, platforms, and sequencing to advance the OI ed strategy and establish early proof points across independent, public, charter, and CC contexts.
• Build a concept note and initial strategic action plan for expanding access to OI research and materials for HS and college students, including impact models, timelines, potential partners, and anticipated challenges.

• Design and launch a cohort of eds. committed to using OI curric. resources in their schools (2025–2026 academic year).
• Provide ongoing curric. and pedagogical feedback to cohort members and convene online collaboration and reflection sessions as needed.
  
  Lead and support the Opportunity Fellows Teacher Fellowship program, including recruitment, selection, communication, and year‑long engagement.
• Develop a year‑long syllabus, curric., and impact plan for Teacher Fellows, with emphasis on ongoing mtgs., school‑year support, and leadership dev.
  
  Plan and design a four‑day professional dev. conference for Fellows, including research into analogous PD models and dev. of an experiential…