Program Lead, Leadership and Instructional Foundations for Texas (Education Specialist V) (00051904)
Organization: TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
Primary Location: Texas-Austin
Work Locations: Texas Education Agency 1701 NORTH CONGRESS AVENUE Austin 78701
Job: Education, Training, and Library
Employee Status: Regular
Schedule: Full-time
Standard Hours Per Week: 40.00
Travel: Yes, 10 % of the Time
State Job Code: 0824
Salary Admin Plan: B
Grade: 25
Salary (Pay Basis): 5,797.66 - 7,653.00 (Monthly)
Number of Openings: 1
Overtime Status: Exempt
Job Posting: Aug 18, 2025, 8:29:34 AM
Closing Date: Aug 29, 2025, 11:59:00 PM
Description
MISSION: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.
Core Values:
- We are Determined: We are committed and intentional in the pursuit of our main purpose, to improve outcomes for students.
- We are People-Centered: We strive to attract, develop, and retain the most committed talent, representing the diversity of Texas, each contributing to our common vision for students.
- We are Learners: We seek evidence, reflect on success and failure, and try new approaches in the pursuit of excellence for our students.
- We are Servant Leaders: Above all else, we are public servants working to improve opportunities for students and provide support to those who serve them.
New hires, re-hires, and internal hires will typically receive a starting salary between the posted minimum and the average pay of employees in their same classification. Offers will be commensurate with the candidate’s experience and qualifications and will thoughtfully consider internal pay equity for agency staff who perform similar duties and have similar qualifications. The top half of the posted salary range is generally reserved for candidates who exceed the requirements and qualifications for the role. The maximum salary range is reserved for candidates that far exceed the required and preferred qualifications for the role.
This is a 10-day posting, which will close on August 29, 2025 at 11:59pm.
Position Overview: LIFT (Leadership and Instructional Foundations for Texas) is a three-year program designed to support Texas school systems in building the instructional and systems-level capacity needed to deliver high-quality learning experiences for all students. LIFT brings together the highest leverage components of Strong Foundations, Texas Instructional Leadership, and Texas Lesson Study, providing comprehensive support for districts to adopt HQIM and implement Bluebonnet Learning over multiple years.
The Program Lead of Leadership and Instructional Foundations for Texas (LIFT) is responsible for developing and refining the initial and ongoing certification of Approved Providers (APs) (such as Education Service Centers and vendors) in the field to ensure all districts in the program receive the necessary support for strong planning, adoption, and implementation of high-quality instructional materials (HQIM) and instructional leadership systems. This role is also responsible for building a system for monitoring upfront and ongoing training in the field as it relates to the overall quality of Approved Providers. The Program Lead will directly manage and coach the Program Specialist to support the LIFT program.
This role will collaborate across not only the LIFT division, but also across the agency to ensure that the system building and tracking aligns to best practices and other data collection systems. This role will ensure alignment between the following teams: Content and Capacity Building, Coaching, and District Engagement and Operations to ensure alignment in the vetting, support, monitoring, and evaluation of Approved Providers. They will gather input and feedback across teams to ensure certification processes meet the needs of all stakeholders and make strategic adjustments based on feedback. This role will be embedded in and a valued contributor to the strategy of ongoing training, tracking and monitoring and use data to drive decision making. They will serve as a liaison across the division to ensure that internal systems are set up to be integrated and equipped to share data across teams. Additionally, this role will have close collaboration with approved provider leaders to ensure that they understand the tracking systems and can interact with them in a matter to support their organization and LEAs (Local Education Agencies) they support.
This role will report directly to the Principal Director, Content and Capacity Building and will work with a variety of stakeholders including, but not limited to, school district leaders, other TEA teams, external vendors, and Education Service Centers.
Flexible work location within the state of Texas may be considered for qualified candidates.
Please note that a resume and short answer responses are required attachments for applying to this position. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants who are strongly being considered for employment must submit to a national criminal history background check.
Essential Functions
Job duties are not limited to the essential functions mentioned below. You may perform other functions as assigned.
1. Initial and Ongoing AP Certification Pathway Management: Develop and refine system for tracking initial and ongoing certification for Approved Providers that feed into larger AP management data tracking system. Use data to drive decision-making when it comes to initial and ongoing certification of Approved Providers.
2. LEA Upfront Training Redelivery Management: Develop and refine system for monitoring upfront training for LEAs in the field to ensure overall quality of Approved Providers. Collaborate with District Engagement and Operations team to schedule field visits of Content and Capacity Building Team redelivery to support monitoring upfront training and overall AP quality. Use data to drive decision-making when it comes to redelivery of upfront training in the field.
3. LEA Grant Deliverables Tracking and Management: Develop and refine system for tracking grant deliverables that feed into larger AP management data tracking system. Manage vendor support of initial and ongoing communication with APs related to grant deliverables and use data to drive decision-making as it relates to ongoing grant deliverables.
4. AP Management and Communications: Develop and refine systems between the following teams: Content and Capacity Building, Coaching, and District Engagement and Operations to ensure alignment in the vetting, support, monitoring, and evaluation of Approved Providers. Use data to drive decision-making when it comes to the overall support and development of Approved Providers. Develop and refine systems for ongoing communication with District and Campus Coaches.
5. Management of Program Specialist: Directly manage and develop Program Specialist to support systems that track and monitor Approved Provider certification, LEA upfront training redelivery, LEA deliverable submission and support the overall management of the Approved Providers.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications
- Education: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university
- Experience: At least five (5) years of experience in strategy or implementation of large programs
- Substitutions: An advanced degree may substitute for two years of required experience
Other Qualifications
- Share the belief that all Texas students can achieve at high levels and are able to succeed in college, career, or the military
- Relentless focus on improving quantitative and qualitative student outcomes
- Share the belief that all Texas students can achieve at high levels and are able to succeed in college, career or the military
- Understanding of innovative learning models, high quality instructional materials, and performance management systems
- Data-driven decision maker with the ability to structure ambiguity into actionable, value-added plans
- Ability to handle multiple, shifting, and competing priorities, and drive team towards results
- Strong project and time management skills and ability to juggle competing priorities and drive team towards results
- Consistent ability to produce high-quality, accurate, and appropriately detailed work products for a diverse set of audiences
- Experience authentically engaging stakeholders and leveraging feedback for continuous improvement
- Inherent desire to self-reflect, give/receive feedback and continuously improve
As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or veteran status, unless an applicant is entitled to the military employment preference.
To review the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to each job classification series in the State’s Position Classification Plan (provided by the State Auditor's Office), please access the Military Crosswalk (occupational specialty code) Guide and click on the military “occupational category” that corresponds with the state classification in this job posting title.
This position requires the applicant to meet Agency standards and criteria which may include passing a pre-employment criminal background check, prior to being offered employment by the Agency.
No phone calls or emails, please. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not accept telephone calls and cannot reply to all email inquiries. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted. Please add "capps.recruiting@cpa.texas.gov" and "@tea.texas.gov" to your safe senders list to ensure you receive email notifications from our talent acquisition team and/or hiring division regarding your candidacy.