Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the fourth-largest school district in the United States, serving over 320,000 students in 600 schools and employing nearly 40,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. To fulfill this mission, we make three commitments to our students, their families, and all Chicagoans: academic progress, financial stability, and integrity. Six core values are embedded within these commitments - student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning.
Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are part of the Department of Early College and Career Education (ECCE) within the Office of Career and College Success (OCCS). CTE programs for CPS high schools serve students across over 80 schools with the goal of enhancing student preparation for college and career success, as evidenced by increasing graduation rates, college enrollment rates, employment rates, and earning levels of CPS CTE students.
The Education for Employment (EFE) Manager leads several distinct workstreams within the EFE system to ensure approximately 15,000 secondary students participating in CTE have access to high-quality CTE programming though by securing and managing federal, state, and private grants. This role is the primary liaison to school-based staff, central office staff, and other departments with issues related to CTE policies and procedures (e.g., teacher certification requirements, course code usage procedures, program approval processes, etc.), staffing, and program funding. The EFE Manager will also liaise regularly with external stakeholders, including the Illinois State Board of Education, to ensure CPS CTE activities are aligned with state guidelines and nationally recognized frameworks. This position will oversee a team of direct reports and will report to the Director of Career and Technical Education.
The Education for Employment Manager will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:
• Manage all workstreams related to EFE system, including but not limited to CTE teacher recruitment, CTE grant operations, and CTE data management.
• Provide leadership, development, and supervision to the EFE team, including performance management.
• Ensure that CPS CTE teachers are staffed appropriately and salaries are consistent with Board policies and the CTU contract.
• Teacher credential tracking and school support -
o Build and maintain a CTE teacher credential database, ensuring all required information is included and up-to-date and in alignment with ISBE and CPS requirements.
o Utilize this enhanced CTE teacher credential database to identify teachers in need of remediation plans. Support schools in developing, implementing, and tracking remediation plans.
o Participate in semester enrollment and staffing analysis to identify CTE teacher hiring needs by school; address student retention issues, and collaborate with CTE staff to ensure principals remain continuously apprised of enrollment and staffing concerns.
o Provide supplemental central office support to school-level CTE teacher recruiting (e.g., centralized internal and external advertising and recruiting, resume pre-screening, etc.)
• Drive the development and ongoing review and monitoring of CTE's budget. This includes extensive collaboration and coordination with all CTE staff and central office units such as the Office of Management and Budget, Grants Management, General Revenue and Procurement.
• Manage the Perkins and CTEI grants application plus all amendments. Liaise closely with the CTE Data and Business Operations Manager to make sure that all expenses met the guidelines of the grant; any financial needs or requirements for grant writing are supported.
• Drive the implementation of a comprehensive budgeting model for all CTE program clusters in collaboration with CTE stakeholders.
• Drive program and staff budget development as well as timely and appropriate expenditure of funds.
• Collect and warehouse all supporting documentation required for the Perkins and CTEI grants and the activities they provide.
• Ensure course offerings are correctly provisioned to schools in ASPEN, CPS's course database that houses all current course codes and enrollment data, ensuring alignment with course decisions approved by the CTE Director.
• Manage the CTE course code and course description database, ensuring up-to-date information is available across all CTE course codes, in collaboration with CPS's Teaching & Learning Department.
• Support schools in resolving scheduling issues that affect CTE program delivery.
• Provide support/oversight as needed to ensure effective implementation of CTE-related contracts (e.g., program agreements, vendor contracts, charter school contracts, etc.)
• Monitor the use of CTE courses, verifying teacher credential is appropriate, and course sequencing is within ISBE guidelines.
• Ensure that the data reported by CPS IT appropriately reflects CTE enrollment data and course codes to ISBE as required, and troubleshoot and correct data discrepancies. The timeline is based on ISBE requirements.
• Provide additional support to ongoing operations within the department as appropriate (e.g., board report development, school career academy application review, Perkins grant planning, etc.)
• Liaise between the Chicago Teacher's Union (CTU) and CTE regarding CTE policy and procedures, program support, etc.
• Participate in CTU CTE Joint committee meetings
• Perform duties of the district's ISBE "EFE Director"

• Serve as the EFE Designee/Director for Chicago Public Schools
• Liaise between ISBE, Region 1 EFE Directors, and SDLC (System Directors Leadership Council)
• Attend all meetings of Region 1 EFE Directors and SDLC (System Directors Leadership Council) and other meetings ISBE as required (some are out of Cook County)

• Other duties and workstreams as assigned
In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Education for Employment Manager must possess the following qualifications:
Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree in education, social sciences, business, public policy, or related field from an accredited college or university
• Master's degree preferred

Experience Required:
• Minimum of five (5) years of professional experience administering large, system-wide grants from sourcing to reporting is required.
• Experience in Career and Technical Education (CTE), whether in a classroom teaching capacity and/or leading the administration of CTE programs is preferred.
• Experience in a large organization, managing complex projects requiring significant cross-functional collaboration is preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Strong financial management and reporting skills, including grant management expertise
• Ability and willingness to learn and adapt in the midst of new and shifting priorities with a 'can-do,' solutions-oriented approach to problem-solving.
• Strong written and verbal communication, organizational, and technology skills.
• Understanding of educational policy and how policy informs programming
• Strong project management skillset, including the ability to coordinate multiple projects and stakeholders in order to successfully complete time-sensitive projects and/or reports
• Strong leadership and team building skills, e.g. ability to develop high-performing teams united around a clear vision for serving schools and achieving student success
• Ability to build collaborative relationships with a variety of constituent groups, including external partners, to ensure the entire system operates in the most effective manner possible to support schools and principals
• Capable of accurate, detailed record keeping and reporting; Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps
• Knowledge of CTE, including employment trends and/or educational best practices preferred.

Conditions of Employment
As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions, however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.
• Be Fully Vaccinated Against COVID-19 - Unless approved for a medical or religious exemption, all employees are required to be up-to-date on COVID-19 vaccinations, including boosters, and to submit proof of vaccination to the district within 30 days of hire. "Up-to-date" on vaccination is defined as being at least two weeks past all primary vaccine doses and any applicable boosters.