Literacy Specialist

Your Role

Working in close collaboration with the Ignite Reading team, and reporting to the Literacy Manager, the Literacy Specialist is responsible for ensuring and monitoring the instructional growth of students within their school partner portfolios. The Literacy Specialist meets monthly with school partners and uses collaboration with our partners to best serve students and support the school based ecosystem. In service of students' needs, the Literacy Specialist collaborates with the Academics and Tutor Operations team to ensure alignment between student instructional data and the tutor-led instructional journey. In service of the needs of school partners, the Literacy Specialist collaborates with the Customer Success and Partnerships team to ensure we are supporting their program implementation. 

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure and monitor the instructional growth of students within the assigned school partner portfolios. 
• Regularly review student progress, identifying areas of improvement, and implementing strategies to support their literacy development.
• The Literacy Specialist will meet monthly with school partners to discuss student progress, instructional strategies, and any challenges faced. Collaboration with school partners is essential to understand their specific needs and tailor support accordingly.
• Work within the school-based ecosystem to support the needs of both students and school partners. This may include providing guidance on curriculum implementation, facilitating professional development opportunities, and addressing any concerns or challenges that arise.
• Connect and discuss with members of the Customer Success and Partnerships team to support partners needs 
• Work closely with the Academics and Tutor Operations team to ensure alignment between student instructional data and the tutor-led instructional journey. This involves sharing insights from student assessments and coordinating efforts to optimize the effectiveness of instructional interventions.
• Use the Science of Reading to understand our core curriculum and collaborate to develop tools to support instruction and student strengths, weaknesses, in foundational skills 
• Model and reinforce the values and culture of Ignite in all internal and external interactions; build trusting relationships with strategic partners 
  • Partner-led meetings, partner priorities, etc. 
• Use data dashboards such as Tableau to identify students who are mastering content and students who may need additional support. 
• Based on student data, support tutors where needed with instruction through models and collaborate with the Academics team to create instructional resources. 
• Be flexible and ready to wear many hats

Core Competencies

• Ethics & Integrity: Behave in a fair and ethical manner towards peers, partners, tutors, and children; instill mutual trust and confidence; act with honesty and integrity. 
• Planning/Organizing/Goal Setting: Demonstrate the ability to organize people and tasks; develop realistic action plans while being sensitive to time constraints and resource availability; define realistic, specific goals and objectives; prioritize objectives. 
• Teamwork and Collaboration: Work with colleagues to build morale and team commitment to goals and objectives. 
• Diversity: Understand that each individual is unique and celebrate individual differences including race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, mental or physical (dis)ability, marital status, veteran status, education, training, position, level of authority, seniority, full-time or part-time status.  
• Collaboration: Cultivate a positive partner and customer service relationship; foster two-way communication; deliver experiences that exceed stakeholders’ expectations. 
• Continuous Improvement: Continuously seek opportunities for innovative approaches to address organizational opportunities. 
• Solution-Oriented: Exhibit initiative; take action in solving problems; positive attitude focused on collaboration and team problem solving.

Job Qualifications

• 3+ years of classroom experience teaching literacy 
• 3+ years of experience identifying instructional gaps and sharing recommendations to key stakeholders 
• Understanding of the importance of the Science of Reading (SOR) and willingness to become deeply knowledgeable about SOR. 
• Experience developing relationships and buy-in with external partners including superintendents, school leaders, and teachers 
• Strong emotional intelligence and ability to facilitate work with stakeholders, including building relationships in service of the mission of Ignite and Ignite’s strategic priorities
• Exceptional attention to detail and ability to straddle multiple strategic projects while also dipping into the nuts and bolts of the work (i.e., teaching children to read)
• Working knowledge of Google platform
• High expectations for what tutors and children can achieve and a relentless commitment to ensuring that Ignite achieves its mission in service of teaching children to read 
• Extraordinary communication skills; written, verbal, and interpersonal 
• Ability to self-managing and flexible while working in a remote environment 
• Nice to haves:
  • Multilingual experience 
  • Experience partnering with schools and/or districts

At Ignite Reading, we’ve decided to embrace a transparent compensation structure for a few reasons:

To promote fairness and equity: This approach supports fairness within our structure. When everyone knows how compensation decisions are made, it reduces the likelihood of pay discrimination based on factors like gender, race, relationships, or negotiation skills.

To provide accountability for our approach: The same role receives the same compensation, with no negotiation.

To build trust within the organization: When employees understand how their compensation is determined, they are more likely to trust organizational structures and decisions, which can lead to overall better culture.

To support legal considerations: Many states are moving to requiring compensation listed on job descriptions and we want to follow these rules. 

Salary: $75,000 (this is a full-time, exempt role)

We also ensure you have the tools you need to thrive both in and out of work.

• Employee Stock Options
• Medical, Dental, and Vision (80% employee coverage, 50% dependent coverage)
• Short-term disability (100% employer-paid) 
• Technology Stipend
• Unlimited PTO + 12 paid holidays 
• Professional Development Stipend
• Wellness Reimbursement
• Internet Stipend
• 12 Weeks of Parental Leave
• Yearly Staff Retreat
• Voluntary Life Insurance