Jobs at GreatSchools

Parents choose GreatSchools to connect with each other - to find the right schools, to share stories and advice, and to get their parenting questions answered. In the past year alone, more than 35 million people visited GreatSchools (www.greatschools.net). With hundreds of thousands of ratings and parent reviews about schools across the country, GreatSchools is the paramount parent-to-parent education community.

A Webby award-winning site, GreatSchools is supported by foundations and corporations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robertson Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation.

Unless otherwise specified, all of our open positions are headquartered in our San Francisco, CA office. Sorry, we do not offer relocation assistance.

We are an equal opportunity employer and actively seek to recruit a diverse workforce.

Positions Available:

Program Director

Interaction Designer

Software Engineer

Vice President - Online Ad Sales

Business Development Manager

Vice President of Growth Strategy and Development

Release Manager

Milwaukee Community Organizer - Milwaukee, WI (part-time)

Bilingual (Spanish/English or Hmong/English) Milwaukee Community Organizer - Milwaukee, WI (part-time)

Program Director

GreatSchools has raised significant capital to begin the next phase of our mission. We are looking for a driven, innovative and results-oriented Program Director to lead the effort to design, implement and evaluate a brand new Internet-based parent training program targeting low- and moderate-income parents. This mission critical position will report to the COO of GreatSchools. The person in this highly visible and newly-created role will be responsible for the following:

• Initiate and drive all market research efforts to ensure that this initiative meets the needs of the target audience.
• Drawing on market research, expert advice, and the talents of the GreatSchools staff, refine the program concept and develop a roadmap for program creation and launch.
• Project manage the development of the program, including the budget.
• Work with the CEO and funders to create and track program success metrics.
• Work with the editorial team to develop program content, including video, in English and Spanish.
• Work with the product management and engineering teams to identify technologies to support program; work with product management to specify the features and look-and-feel of the program.
• Work with the business development group to develop content and distribution partnerships that support this program.
• Collaborate with the Director of Marketing to create branding and positioning of this program to internal and external parties. Work with the Director of Marketing to identify appropriate acquisition and repeat usage strategies.
• Solicit feedback from potential users throughout all stages of program development, including product conception, beta testing, and launch.

This is a fabulous opportunity for someone with the following qualifications:

• Demonstrable and successful record of creating and launching online educational programs, including market research, concept development, project management, marketing and performance assessment.
• A demonstrated leader and effective manager capable of working within a matrixed organization to achieve results.
• Exceptional interpersonal, strategic, analytical, written, oral communication and presentation skills.
• A demonstrated passion for the education arena and a strong belief and connection to GreatSchools mission.
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple responsibilities; comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and committed to meeting deadlines and creating and improving processes.
• Adaptability, flexibility, and creativity, especially in conceiving, testing and adjusting ideas rapidly, and in handling varying deadlines, shifts in priorities, or other unforeseen events.
• Self-motivated individual who delivers results with minimal supervision and limited resources.
• Undergraduate degree required; advanced degree preferred.

How To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs+progdir.gs@greatschools.net, with "Program Director" in the subject line. Applications without cover letters will not be considered. No calls please.

Interaction Designer

This person will work in cross-functional teams to create interactive designs for high-traffic, advertising-supported consumer web applications. Experience with interface design, information architecture, software application design, and interactive content design is required. A passion for user-centered design and creating intuitive and engaging user interfaces is key for this position.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Work closely with product management and development teams to produce innovative, engaging, and effective designs and interactions that help customers solve problems and locate relevant information.
• Develop information design, user profiles or personas, user task flows, and user experience strategies as needed for complex, data-driven web applications.
• Help ensure quality and effectiveness of visual design by participating in the design process, managing user testing, and collaborating with the development team.
• Create rapid prototypes and mock-ups to validate design concepts with stakeholders and customers.
• Develop style guides and design specifications that developers will use to implement and validate interaction designs.
• Help define multivariant tests and integrate learnings from web analytics into UI development.

Job Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in visual design, human factors, interaction design, or related discipline. Advanced degree in Design or HCI a plus.
• 4+ years interaction and visual design experience in web application product design. Experience with interaction design in distributed, open source, and agile development teams is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in information architecture, interactivity, prototyping for innovative product design.
• Ability to translate business requirements into effective UI solutions, manage the development of usable design standards and visual style guides, identify conflicting design requirements and constructively solve problems for the end-user's best interests.
• Thorough understanding of widgets, controls, and feedback mechanisms used on the web, their appropriate uses and what they communicate to users.
• Extensive knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and AJAX.
• Solid presentation skills and experience presenting design scenarios and solutions confidently and credibly to internal stakeholders and executives.
• Ability to manage time and resources on multiple projects with multiple timelines and multiple missions. Ability to deal with changing priorities as needs dictate.
• Experience with running multivariant tests is desirable.
• Experience integrating video and interactive technologies is highly desirable.

How To Apply:

Please send a COVER LETTER and RESUME to jobs-ue@greatschools.net with "Interaction Designer" in the subject line.

A portfolio demonstrating interaction design experience is required. Please send a URL in the body of your application.

We're looking for an all around web application developer to work on our Java and Perl based site. If you have a good grasp of UI development using HTML, JSP, and CSS, are well grounded in Object Oriented Analysis and Design, and have a passion for Test Driven Development, we are looking for you.

At GreatSchools you will:

• Create new and refine existing functionality on our website
• Find solutions for Usability Issues and Search Engine Optimization
• Refactor on an ongoing basis to keep our codebase as clean as possible
• Opportunistically port functionality from Perl scripts to Java and JSP
• Provide feedback on and make suggestions to improve our processes
• Participate in architecture discussions and code reviews

The ideal candidate will have a B.S. in Computer Science or equivalent degree and excellent problem-solving skills. Work experience must include:

• Several years experience designing and developing robust, scalable web applications
• Technical depth in OOD methodology, Java, XML, MVC, ORM, and relational databases
• Agile software development experience
• Must possess high level of enthusiasm and be a strong team player
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Experience with PostgreSQL or MySQL
• Experience with JSP and Perl -- PHP is a plus

How To Apply:

Take the next step and send us an e-mail telling us why you think you would be a great candidate for this opportunity to jobs-software.gs@greatschools.net. Be sure to include your resume, and use "Software Engineer" in the subject line.

Vice President - Online Ad Sales

We are looking for a talented and experienced online advertising sales executive to manage online advertising sales and corporate sponsorships for the nation's leading education web site for parents, www.greatschools.net. For the right candidate, we offer a unique opportunity - to leverage your sales skills to make a social difference.

The VP of Advertising Sales will be responsible for setting the advertising strategy, leading the efforts of our growing online advertising sales team and ensuring that targets are met and exceeded. In addition, this role will be directly responsible for crafting our Corporate Sponsorship program and executing to meet these revenue targets.

GreatSchools has established a successful online advertising business. Our advertisers include Disney, LeapFrog, Clorox, Quaker, Fidelity, Target, Walmart, Honda, Sylvan, General Mills, Qwest and many others.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a great attitude, willingness to be hands on and proven track record of setting advertising strategy and meeting and exceeding sales targets. The ideal candidate will enjoy a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, have great ability to analyze information and set priorities and be committed to the GreatSchools mission.

This position will sit on our Leadership Team and be responsible for communicating to the team the advertising strategies, team priorities and provide an advertising point of view.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Work with sales team to drive and set advertising strategy.
• Manage and coach advertising sales team to ensure targets are met.
• Establish objectives, perform analysis, and work with our ad sales team to optimize advertising performance.
• Lead team in assessing customer needs; developing effective sales proposals; providing guidance when needed in negotiating deals; and ensuring successful delivery of advertising campaigns.
• Manage client communication process ensuring a great end-to-end client experience from initial contact through contract negotiation and ultimately delivery.
• Develop and implement corporate sponsorship program.
• Directly drive corporate sponsorship revenue.
• Provide management level reporting and analysis of Advertising results.
• Manage advertising team budget.
• Additionally, this person will work with the product team to develop unique ad vehicles and programs that build value for our partners.
• Develop strong relationships with key teams including Product Management, Editorial, Engineering, and Finance.

Experience/Education/Skills Required:

• 5+ years combined related ad sales experience (print, radio, broadcast, etc.) with 3+ years online ad sales and management experience.
• Great ability to lead and motivate a sales team
• Strong track record of meeting and exceeding sales targets
• Knowledge of business and advertising trends and the ability to translate this knowledge into advertising solutions for clients
• Solid understanding of online advertising and marketing, including pricing structures (CPM, CPC, CPA, CPL) and media types (e.g., banners, skyscrapers, box ads, interstitials, email newsletters)
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Solid ability to work cross-functionality and collaboratively with other teams
• Excellent attention to detail, highly organized and flexible
• Outstanding oral and written communication skills
• Ability to handle multiple priorities
• Proficiency with Powerpoint, MS Excel, MS Word and the Web

Experience/Education/Skills Preferred:

• Experience working in a small business or a start-up environment
• Ad agency experience is highly desirable
• Working knowledge of 3rd party research tools (e.g., MediaMetrix; Nielsen @Plan)

Essential Qualities:

• Positive work ethic and ability to exercise mature judgment
• Ability to work independently as a motivated team player
• Preference for a fast-paced, results-oriented environment
• Ability to think analytically, set priorities and meet deadlines
• A strong commitment to GreatSchools' mission

How To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, including salary requirements and resume to jobs+VPAdSales.gs@greatschools.net, with "VP Ad Sales" in the subject line. Resumes without cover letters will not be considered. No phone calls please.

Business Development Manager

The Business Development Manager will primarily be responsible for identifying, negotiating, and managing online distribution partnerships for GreatSchools on a national, state, and regional level. This experienced dealmaker will be expected to effectively present the value and benefits of serving as a co-brand partner of GreatSchools.net. Target partners include major companies that provide online products and services for media companies, realtors, relocation companies, parenting and community-based organizations, and others that value high-quality school information.

This position reports to the VP of Business Development.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Negotiate online distribution partnerships with Business Managers and Advertising Directors of major companies.
• Perform all activities associated with the sales cycle (prospecting, presenting, closing, renewing and servicing accounts).
• Prepare proposals and negotiate licenses to establish and maintain distribution partnerships.
• Evaluate internal resources requirements versus expected benefits of partnerships and prioritize efforts to focus on initiatives that offer the highest probability of significant returns.
• Develop strong relationships with Advertising Sales, Marketing, and Product Development teams to effectively implement business development initiatives.
• Manage relationships with existing distribution partners to improve associated performance (e.g. revenue and traffic) through license compliance and/or renegotiations, joint marketing, and addressing ongoing co-brand maintenance issues.
• Analyze performance of accounts and report results.

Experience/Education/Skills Required:

• B.A. degree in business, finance, or marketing, or equivalent experience in the field.
• Minimum four years of applicable sales and marketing experience in developing partnerships, including prospecting and cold calling for lead generation.
• Excellent presentation, communication, analytic, and interpersonal skills.
• Experience selling online consumer products and/or services desirable.
• In-depth knowledge or experience associated with online media and real estate industries.
• Experience in relationship building and account management.
• Experience developing distribution licensing agreements.
• Experience managing a large prospect and client base.

Essential Qualities:

• Action-oriented, resourceful, and with a high degree of integrity.
• Flexible and creative problem-solving abilities.
• Leadership, ownership, passion and a positive work ethic.
• Independently motivated team player.
• Preference for a fast-paced, results-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated record of success working in an entrepreneurial environment.
• Experience working in a small start-up environment is a strong plus.
• A strong commitment to GreatSchools' mission.

How To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs+busdev.gs@greatschools.net with "Business Development Manager" in the subject line. Resumes without cover letters will not be considered. No calls please.

Vice President of Growth Strategy and Development

Over the past 10 years, GreatSchools has emerged as the leading national organization bringing performance transparency to American K-12 education. One-third of K-12 families use GreatSchools in a given year to help them compare school options or to track their school's performance.

Looking ahead, we aim to build a national movement of parents and citizens participating more fully in their children's education, raising their expectations of what children can achieve and demanding that schools improve their performance. We have recently raised $20M from national funders to pursue this vision.

The VP of Growth Strategy and Development will lead the organization's strategic planning process and develop the resources required to support our work, approximately $18M per year by 2012.

Responsibilities:

• Work with the CEO, executive team, board members and external advisors to continually refine and improve our strategic plan.
• Build relationships with people and organizations that can help us refine our strategy and extend our impact.
• Develop and oversee program evaluation efforts designed to help GreatSchools improve the quality of its programs and demonstrate that we are having the impact we seek.

• Manage all communications with foundation, corporate and individual investors; ensure that investors understand GreatSchools' programs and achievements.
• Develop and produce the organization's annual report and annual funder event.
• Build relationships with new potential foundation, individual and corporate investors.
• Hire, develop and support a small team of development professionals, including grant writers.
• Supervise the development team's activities, including developing relationships with new potential funders (foundation, corporate and individual); writing letters of intent; writing grant proposals; and writing grant reports.
• When necessary, write letters of intent, grant applications and grant reports.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrated record of contributing to a successful organization's strategic development.
• Understanding of PK-12 education issues.
• Experience raising funds for nonprofit organizations.
• Previous management experience; one who is an effective and demonstrated leader with experience recruiting, managing and developing team members.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing; excellent written, oral communication and presentation skills.
• Excellent collaboration skills and successful track record working with cross-functional teams.
• A demonstrated passion for the education arena and a strong belief and connection to GreatSchools' mission.
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple responsibilities; comfortable working in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and committed to meeting deadlines and creating and improving processes.
• Travel required: approx. 25% - 40% of time.
• Undergraduate degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• Strong commitment to the organization's mission of helping parents make better decisions about their children's education and improving public schools

How To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs+vpdev.gs@greatschools.net, with "VP of Growth Strategy and Development" in the subject line. Resumes without cover letters will not be considered. No calls please.

Release Manager

This newly created role will be a critical member of the GreatSchools web product development team and will be highly involved in successfully implementing ongoing improvements to the Web site, redesigns and new functionality. This is a fabulous opportunity for somebody who has experience with project management and wants to participate more in strategic product release planning. This position will report into the Director of Product Management.

Responsibilities:

• Act as the liaison between varying business units to guarantee smooth and timely delivery of software products or updates.
• Work with product managers to understand product goals, timelines and dependencies.
• Coordinate and plan details of medium-term development timeline and work with product managers, designers and engineers to ensure requirements and assets are developed accordingly and in line with the product roadmap.
• Schedule projects for each product release to maximize the use of available resources and meet implementation deadlines while managing complex dependencies.
• Frame trade-offs and prioritization decisions to ensure goals are met across various products.
• Communicate with product stakeholders and staff about new product releases, upcoming priorities and progress towards short and medium term goals.
• Take projects from stakeholder signoff to release to live by managing the implementation process in partnership with product management and engineering, utilizing agile development methodologies.
• Continually monitor, evaluate and communicate project risks, issues, scope, and timeline and provide guidance accordingly to team members. Ensure roadmap implementation occurs successfully. Regularly communicate if changes to schedule or scope are needed.
• As needed, work with external HTML or Flash coders to translate graphic design into HTML or Flash.
• Perform initial review against product user stories, UI and visual designs. Ensure that products will delight our users and are built to the design. Support QA in completing full review.
• Coordinate issue resolution with project owners during project implementation phase, as needed.
• Work with the broader teams to be continually improving process.

Qualifications:

• 4-6 years in a web project management capacity.
• Combination of technical competence and business skills to help develop business requirements and coordinate implementation.
• Knowledge of web standards, design and usability.
• Experience working with basic agile development principles such as XP or Scrum.
• Strong detail-oriented project management skills or demonstrated aptitude.
• Self-starter with ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Enthusiastic team player with ability to exercise good judgment.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communications skills.
• Great problem solver.
• Undergraduate degree preferred.

How To Apply:

Please email a cover letter, resume and salary requirements to jobs+releasemgr.gs@greatschools.net, with "Web Release Manager" in the subject line. Resumes without cover letters will not be considered. No contract offers and no phone calls please.

Milwaukee Community Organizer - Milwaukee, WI (part-time)

We are embarking on an ambitious new project to provide quality educational information to Milwaukee parents. This project, a part of the GreatSchools Network, will bring comprehensive, audience-appropriate material to Milwaukee parents in conjunction with personalized workshops to help parents choose the right school for their children and support their children's educational success.

Community organizers will work to bring these resources and services to Milwaukee parents.

This position reports to the Director - GreatSchools Milwaukee.

Responsibilities:

• Seek out and work with community-based organizations to jointly and independently hold workshops, training classes, and events for Milwaukee parents
• Sign up eligible parents for free internet access
• Promote, use and teach basic technology usage to parents regarding the GreatSchools Web site
• Localize information and resources designed to help parents guide their educational decisions and support their children's education (e.g. the Milwaukee School Chooser, any tools created to help parents become more involved in their children's education)
• Be an on-call resource for Milwaukee parents through the GreatSchools parent hotlines
• Maintain accurate records of family contacts and coaching events
• Support the Director's efforts to maintain the program's fiscal sustainability and effectiveness

Job Requirements and Related Experience:

The successful candidate for this position will have demonstrated experience in community mobilization and training. Experience in education is a plus. He or she will also have strong verbal and written communication and organizational skills.

• Has 2-3 years experience in community organizing, preferably in the City of Milwaukee
• Demonstrates an understanding of how parents should support and guide their children's education
• Is familiar with current educational events and issues
• Has a strong knowledge of the Milwaukee, WI community
• Has the ability to build relationships with Milwaukee public, private, and charter K-12 schools
• Is able to mobilize and work with low-income and low-literacy communities and parents
• Displays a proven commitment to education and educational development
• Is self-motivated with the ability to work effectively both independently and within a team
• Pays close attention to detail
• Meets deadlines and follows through on all assigned responsibilities

Compensation:

$15.00 -$22.00 per hour, depending upon credentials and experience. This is a part-time position (approximately 10 - 15 hours per week). This position will require scheduling flexibility around evenings and weekends. We are asking for a commitment of at least one year.

How To Apply:

Submit cover letter and resume in an email to milwaukee@greatschools.net, using "Milwaukee Community Organizer" in the subject line. Resumes without cover letters will not be considered. This is a part-time position based in MILWAUKEE, WI. Please only apply if this is what you're looking for.

Bilingual (Spanish/English OR Hmong/English) Milwaukee Community Organizer - Milwaukee, WI (part-time)

We are embarking on an ambitious new project to provide quality educational information to Milwaukee parents. This project, a part of the GreatSchools Network, will bring comprehensive, audience-appropriate material to Milwaukee parents in conjunction with personalized workshops to help parents choose the right school for their children and support their children's educational success.

Our bilingual community organizers will work to bring these resources and services to Milwaukee parents.

This position reports to the Director - GreatSchools Milwaukee.

Responsibilities:

• Seek out and work with community-based organizations to jointly and independently hold workshops, training classes, and events for Milwaukee parents
• Translate school selection information in Spanish/English OR Hmong/English at and for family events
• Sign up eligible parents for free internet access
• Promote, use and teach basic technology usage to parents regarding the GreatSchools Web site
• Localize information and resources designed to help parents guide their educational decisions and support their children's education (e.g. the Milwaukee School Chooser, any tools created to help parents become more involved in their children's education)
• Be an on-call resource for Milwaukee parents through the GreatSchools parent hotlines
• Maintain accurate records of family contacts and coaching events
• Support the Director's efforts to maintain the program's fiscal sustainability and effectiveness

Job Requirements and Related Experience:

The successful candidate for this position will have demonstrated experience in community mobilization and training. Experience in education is a plus. He or she will also have strong verbal and written communication and organizational skills.

• Has 2-3 years experience in community organizing, preferably in the City of Milwaukee
• Demonstrates an understanding of how parents should support and guide their children's education
• Is familiar with current educational events and issues
• Has a strong knowledge of the Milwaukee, WI community
• Has the ability to build relationships with Milwaukee public, private, and charter K-12 schools
• Is able to mobilize and work with low-income and low-literacy communities and parents
• Displays a proven commitment to education and educational development
• Is self-motivated with the ability to work effectively both independently and within a team
• Pays close attention to detail
• Meets deadlines and follows through on all assigned responsibilities

Compensation:

$15.00 -$22.00 per hour, depending upon credentials and experience. This is a part-time position (approximately 10 - 15 hours per week). This position will require scheduling flexibility around evenings and weekends. We are asking for a commitment of at least one year.

How To Apply:

Submit cover letter and resume in an email to milwaukee@greatschools.net, using "Milwaukee Community Organizer" in the subject line. Resumes without cover letters will not be considered. This is a part-time position based in MILWAUKEE, WI. Please only apply if this is what you're looking for.