Director of Professional Learning

Communities In Schools of Tennessee (CISTN) is a nonprofit that partners with K-12 public schools to surround students with a community of support empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. As part of the CIS national network, CISTN achieves this mission by placing program managers in schools across the state to provide school-wide interventions and case managed services for students in need.

With a budget of $13M,in academic year 2026-27wewillsupport
98employeesin 74 schools and serve nearly
35,000studentsand families across Tennessee.

To best support the students, families, schools, community partners, and our staff members involved in this work, CISTN staff and board members center all decisions, actions, and services on the following core values:

• Integrity
  –We openly share how our work is done, and we hold ourselves accountabletothe commitments we make.
• Empathy
  –We intentionally build relationships so we can learn about people’s stories,validate their experiences, and deepen our understanding of situations different from our own.
• Equal Opportunity
  –We identify and work towards removing barriers, so everyone has the opportunity toachieve.
• Authenticity
  –We create space for the people we work with, and for, to be their truthful, complete selves without judgement.
• Collaboration
  –We bring people together to plan andtake actionin our work, understanding we make lastingchangein partnership with one another.

The Director of Professional Learning leads the design,implementation,and continuous improvement of Communities In Schools  of Tennessee’s(CISTN) statewide professional learning strategy for program staff. This role creates coherence and continuity across professional learning and development initiatives,balancing statewide priorities with differentiated regional and local needs.

The Director of Professional Learning strategicallypartnerswiththe Vice Presidents of Programs and Program Directors todevelopsystems, resources, and learning experiences that strengthen program staff preparedness, effectiveness, program quality, leadership capacity, and fidelity of implementationofthe Communities In Schools  model across Tennessee.

This rolealsopartners with the Director of People Operations to ensure complimentary and aligned practices that support high performance.

This roleis responsible for:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive statewide professional learning strategy for program staff, including Program Directors, Program Managers, and other direct-service team members.
• Establish andmaintaina multi-year professional learning framework aligned with organizational priorities, program quality standards, and staff development needs.
• Create andmaintaina coherent scope and sequence of core program-related training content to support consistent implementation of the Communities In Schools  model across all regions.
• Ensure an effective balancebetweenstatewide training prioritiesanddifferentiated regional and local learningneedsby partnering with VPsof Programs and Program Directorstodeeplyunderstandregional and local contexts.
• Collaboratively develop annual professional learning plans and calendars with program leadership.

• Develop relationships with external organizations, networks, and subject matter experts toidentifyemergingresearch,practices, resources, and learning opportunities relevant to program implementation and needs of students and families in consultation with the Chief Program Officer.
• Maintain awareness ofCIS national training and development resources,leveraging available tools and adapting strategies and resources to CISTN’s local contexts.
• Develop and manage partnerships with external trainers, consultants, and subject matter experts, overseeing selection, contracting,logistics, scheduling, and evaluation to deliver high-quality professional learning opportunities.
• Ensure external content aligns with organizational priorities, program standards, and staff development goals.
• Design, curate, andmaintaintraining materials, facilitator guides, toolkits, learning resources, and implementation supports,leveraging existing internal…