---
title: 'Associate Director, Talent Management at Rocketship Public Schools'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/associate-director-talent-management-rocketship-public-schools-open-to-multiple-cw3chm7cy970'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-08'
---

# Associate Director, Talent Management at Rocketship Public Schools

- **Company:** Rocketship Public Schools
- **Location:** Open To Multiple Regions
- **Compensation:** $100k–$119k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** hybrid
- **Posted:** 2026-07-17
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-08
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/rocketship/53f5abc6-dfe3-4a47-90bf-3ae0edf535e6

## Job description

At Rocketship Public Schools, we believe in the infinite possibility of human potential. We believe that every student deserves the right to dream, to discover, and to develop their unique potential and it is our responsibility and our privilege to unleash the potential inside every Rocketeer we serve. Our non-profit network of public elementary charter schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. We are a collective of parents, teachers, leaders, and students working together to transform the future for underserved communities across our country. At Rocketship Public Schools, we are unleashing potential.

Position Description

The Associate Director of Talent Management will play a critical role in advancing Rocketship’s priority to attract, develop, and retain high-performing staff. This position will support the design and implementation of Rocketship’s performance management systems and talent architecture to ensure the organization continually develops and retains top talent. The Associate Director will report to the Senior Director of Talent Performance & Analytics and work closely with cross-functional teams across the organization. The ideal candidate enjoys both strategic thinking about the big picture and supporting details through strong project management and communication skills.

This role can be based in any of Rocketship's 4 operating regions: Bay Area, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Nashville, TN; or Washington, DC.

Essential Functions Performance Evaluation (40%)

- Leads the implementation of staff performance evaluation systems through systems management and collaboration with internal stakeholders.
- Collaborates with stakeholders to ensure school evaluations are executed with high-quality and fidelity, including roster verification, collecting and uploading of qualitative data, completion tracking and follow up, etc.
- Collaborates with regional leaders to meet all requirements for equivalent state evaluation systems in applicable Rocketship regions.
- Maintains a deep understanding of Rocketship’s performance management structures and implementation steps.
- Facilitate processes to ensure performance evaluation processes provide meaningful feedback for all staff.
- Leads the annual PGP (Professional Growth Plan) process for NeST staff, including manager training, employee communications, and completion checks.

Talent Architecture (20%)

- Implement and continuously improve RPS’ talent architecture, including job families, leveling frameworks, and competencies.
- Support hiring managers and the Talent Acquisition team in scoping new roles and ensuring consistent application of job levels, titles, and compensation bands across NeST departments.
- Partner with the Senior Director of Talent Performance & Analytics to lead manager training sessions to build understanding of the talent architecture and competency frameworks.
- Develop and manage employee communications and rollout plans to promote transparency and understanding of the talent architecture.
- Conduct regular audits of job structures and leveling decisions to maintain internal equity and organizational consistency.
- Collaborate with HR, Talent, and leadership to ensure the talent architecture supports strategic workforce planning and career development initiatives.

Talent Management Processes (20%)

- Support with the collection of evaluation data needed to calculate mid-year compensation projections and annual comp increases for staff.
- Collaborate with HRBPs on People Partner Meetings (PPMs)
- Partner with HRBPs to identify and address development needs for district staff, including supporting planning and execution of professional learning
- Advise on promotion requests from managers, ensuring decisions are grounded in the organization’s talent architecture and promotion policies.
- Provide guidance and tools to managers and HRBPs to ensure consistent use of talent frameworks in performance, growth, and promotion conversations.

## Team Management (20%)

- Manage the Senior Manager of Talent Management & Analytics
- Support the Senior Manager with leading Rocketship’s annual staff surveys which drive key organizational priority-setting and initiatives.

## Qualifications

Required Experience

- Bachelor's degree
- 7+ years of progressively responsible experience managing talent and/or HR systems, processes, and/or teams

## Skills and Characteristics

- School, district, or charter network leadership experience preferred
- Superb project management skills including the ability to juggle multiple priorities and navigate complex cross-functional teams
- Strong verbal and written communication skills; ability to turn policies and ideas into clear communication, tools, and resources in multiple formats
- Experience designing and implementing policies with a focus on equity and transparency
- Skilled at building strong and trusting working relationships with people in both senior- and junior-level roles as well as external stakeholders
- Deep commitment to Rocketship’s mission to eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetime
- Demonstrated commitment to creating an equitable and inclusive workplace
- Exceptional judgement and ability to navigate conflict and manage confidential information
- Demonstrated ability to be detail-oriented and organized
- Skilled at communicating respectfully and empathetically with staff
- Team player with high tolerance for ambiguity and comfort in rapidly changing environment
- Proficient in Google Docs, excel, PPT, and Zoom

Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, and communicate with both adults and children. The employee frequently is required to use hands or fingers, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee is frequently required to stand; walk; sit; and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally climb ladders. Specific vision abilities required by this position include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus. The noise level in the work environment is moderate to high.

Rocketship Public Schools provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, amnesty, or status as a covered veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Rocketship Public Schools complies with applicable state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Rocketship Public Schools expressly prohibits any form of unlawful employee harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Rocketship Public Schools’ employees to perform their expected job duties is absolutely not tolerated. Click here for our Sexual Harassment Policy.  For questions, concerns, or complaints, please contact Human Resources.

## About Rocketship Public Schools

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Rocketship Public Schools is a national nonprofit network of high-performing public charter elementary schools serving underserved communities, focused on closing the achievement gap through personalized learning, talent development, and community partnerships.
- **Entity Type**: Private (nonprofit charter school network; not publicly traded)
- **Headquarters**: Redwood City, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2006
- **Founders**: John Danner and Preston Smith

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: K-12 public education (charter schools)
- **Target customers**: Students and families in low-income communities (pre-K through 5th grade), B2C (publicly funded, tuition-free)
- **Mission or purpose**: "To catalyze transformative change in underserved communities through a scalable and sustainable public school model that propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community."

## Products & Services
- **Public Charter Elementary Schools**: A network of high-performing, tuition-free public elementary schools (pre-K to grade 5) operating in California, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Washington D.C. The model includes personalized learning, content-specialized teachers (STEM/Humanities), Learning Lab (adaptive technology), enrichment classes, and family engagement. [rocketshipschools.org](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/about/our-mission-and-model/)
- **Teacher Residency & PD Launchpad**: Professional development programs offering real-time coaching, instructional frameworks, and dedicated weekly PD for teachers. [rocketshipschools.org](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/join-our-team/)
- **Career Pathways**: Clear advancement opportunities from teacher to school leader, with roles in integrated special education, school support, leadership, and network support (HR, IT, finance, strategy, etc.). [rocketshipschools.org](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/join-our-team/)

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not applicable (nonprofit organization)
- **Key Metric**: 33,567 total lifetime students served (as of 2023-2024); network of 23+ schools across four regions
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not publicly listed as a funded startup; funding comes from public per-pupil revenue, grants, and philanthropic donations. The network is recognized as a "gap busting" charter network by the Stanford CREDO study (2023).
- **Growth Signals**: The 2023 Stanford CREDO study found Rocketship students gained the equivalent of 5–7 months of additional learning in a single school year; expansion beyond California into Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Washington D.C.; ongoing hiring for 2026-2027 school year with signing bonuses (e.g., $5,000 for 5th Grade Math Teacher). [rocketshipschools.org](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/) and [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/rocketship)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Proven academic impact**: Data from Stanford CREDO shows outsized learning gains for low-income students, positioning Rocketship as one of the charter sector's most effective networks.
- **Specialized teacher model**: Teachers focus on either STEM or Humanities, enabling deeper expertise and collaboration, unlike traditional elementary generalist model.
- **Strong family engagement**: Home visits before each school year, parent input on school naming and enrichment, and a culture of partnership that increases accountability and support.
- **Personalized learning at scale**: Combination of whole-group instruction, small-group tutoring, and adaptive online learning, driven by real-time data on student mastery.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling model**: Expanding to serve more students across current regions and potentially new markets, while maintaining high fidelity to the Rocketship model.
- **Talent development**: Investing heavily in teacher coaching, residency programs, and clear career ladders to retain and grow educators.
- **Community power**: Deepening parent and community organizing to advocate for high-quality public school options and policy change.
- **Whole-child education**: Integrating social-emotional learning, character values (persistence, empathy, responsibility, respect), and enrichment classes alongside core academics.

## Why Work Here
- **Mission-driven culture**: Join a team committed to educational equity in low-income communities, with a strong sense of purpose and partnership among teachers, parents, and leaders.
- **Career growth**: Clear pathways from teacher to school leader, with internal promotion and support for leadership roles; network support roles offer diverse functions (HR, IT, finance, strategy).
- **Professional development**: Weekly coaching, real-time feedback, instructional frameworks, and dedicated PD time through programs like Teacher Residency and PD Launchpad.
- **Exceptional benefits**: Competitive health, dental, and vision coverage; retirement plans; signing bonuses for certain roles (e.g., $5,000 for 5th Grade Math Teacher in Tennessee).
- **Work environment**: Hybrid/onsite roles depending on position (e.g., school-based roles are onsite; some network support roles may be hybrid). Emphasis on collaboration, data-driven instruction, and a supportive school community.
- **Locations**: Schools in California (Bay Area, Sacramento), Wisconsin (Milwaukee), Tennessee (Nashville area), and Washington D.C.

## Sources
1. [rocketshipschools.org - Join Our Team](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/join-our-team/)
2. [rocketshipschools.org - Homepage](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/)
3. [rocketshipschools.org - Mission & Model](https://www.rocketshipschools.org/en/about/our-mission-and-model/)
4. [jobs.lever.co - Rocketship Careers](https://jobs.lever.co/rocketship)

## Other roles at Rocketship Public Schools

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- [5th Grade Math Teacher-$5,000 Signing Bonus](https://feeny.ai/job/5th-grade-math-teacher-5-000-signing-bonus-rocketship-public-schools-nashville-zmd64sk0b6cd) — Nashville, TN
- [Operations Specialist - Northeast Nashville](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-specialist-northeast-nashville-rocketship-public-schools-nashville-ede88qdv0ceb) — Nashville, TN
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