the client is seeking a Chief Schools Officer to lead its Ohio virtual school through a major growth phase, scaling from 1,200 to 7,500+ students while maintaining quality outcomes and building systems that can be replicated across multiple states. This role is designed for operational leadership rather than a traditional superintendent function, with responsibility for creating the infrastructure, leadership capacity, and processes needed to support vulnerable students at unprecedented scale. the Chief Schools Officer will help pioneer AI-enhanced coaching tools, establish proof points to support broader expansion, and drive sustained focus on student outcomes.
Key responsibilities include owning execution of the Ohio growth strategy, developing and managing annual operating budgets with accountability for financial performance, and building an organizational blueprint for multi-state expansion, including efforts to secure licensure in additional states. The role will ensure compliance with Ohio education requirements and oversee all core school operations, including enrollment, student services, academics, testing, and recordkeeping. The Chief Schools Officer will implement data-driven decision-making across departments, manage vendor and service provider relationships, and partner with shared-services leadership (such as HR, finance, technology, and marketing) to align scalable functions.
The Chief Schools Officer will lead and scale the organization by expanding the Ohio team from 60 to 100+ employees in the first year, evaluating and optimizing the leadership structure as needed. The position requires building a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and student-centered service through rigorous performance management and professional development. The role will partner with the product team to define requirements for coaching tools and student engagement platforms, support deployment of AI-enhanced coaching tools (including a pilot), and drive organization-wide technology adoption while identifying opportunities for automation and efficiency gains. Required qualifications include an Ohio superintendent license (or ability to obtain before starting), at least 5+ years of school or district leadership experience, virtual/online school leadership experience, charter or community school experience, familiarity with educational technology and/or AI applications in education, demonstrated experience scaling educational operations (ideally from roughly 1,000 to 5,000+ students), strong financial acumen, experience building high-performing teams, and a data-driven approach.