Position: Confidential Secretary (40 hours per week/12 months)

Office of Academics & Schools

Overview:

Cambridge is a vibrant, diverse city and a central hub and driver of the nation’s innovation economy. Home of the renowned educational institutions of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge is also the center of an impressive array of biotechnology, science, and information technology companies. Educating about 8,000 students JK-12, the Cambridge Public Schools includes award winning faculty, cutting edge technology, and innovative programs. Our public schools shared a vision of rigorous, joyful, and culturally responsive learning plus personalized support for every student. Over 30% of CPS students speak a language other than English at home, and over 70 languages are spoken by our families. Among the most common are Spanish, Haitian Creole, Amharic, Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, and Portuguese. Our schools proudly embrace and respect this diversity. The structure of our school system supports the developmental growth of students over time. Our twelve elementary schools feed into five “Upper Schools”. The Upper Schools then feed into one high school, the eclectic and innovative Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Our goal is to provide a high quality educational experience for every scholar.

The Role:

The Confidential Secretary’s primary responsibility is supporting the Chief of Academics and Schools in their work to help ensure that the Cambridge Public Schools, in partnership with families and community, provide all students with high quality learning that is inclusive, culturally responsive, and provides the social, emotional and academic supports each student needs to achieve their goals. Together we promote collaboration among educators and leaders within and across schools, levels, and content areas to design, implement, and support learning experiences for students and adults that make authentic connections across disciplines, are meaningful and relevant to our students, our community, and our world, and lead to growth in student understanding.

Working together, the offices provide leadership and direct supervision of the leaders of CPS schools, including 11 JK-5 elementary schools, a K-8 English/Spanish bilingual school, 4 grade 6-8 upper Schools, and the Cambridge Rindge and Latin high school, Rindge Avenue School of Technical Arts, and the High School Extension program. The Confidential Secretary reports to the Chief of Academics and Schools and will work collaboratively with school and program leaders that service our diverse student body and their families. This role requires excellent project management oversight, interpersonal and writing skills, the ability to think and work strategically and flexibility to manage change, and engage multiple stakeholders.

As a new department, the Confidential Secretary to the Chief of Academics and Schools will play a crucial role in supporting the development of the department.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Manage annual and special projects, including scheduling meetings, liaising with stakeholders, managing budget, and tracking deadlines.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure that all parties are on track with project requirements, deadlines, and schedules.
• Meet with project team members to identify and resolve issues.
• Submit project deliverables and ensure that they adhere to quality standards.
• Prepare status reports by gathering, analyzing, and summarizing relevant information.
• Establish effective project communication plans and ensure their execution.
• Conduct post-project evaluation and identify successful and unsuccessful project elements.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Provide support in the school improvement planning process and develop ways to track progress toward goals throughout the school year.
• Support professional development sessions with district and school administrators, including budgeting, reserving space, ordering food.
• Manages departmental financial activities, including monitoring office budgets, processing requests for and actual purchase of goods and services; continually monitors funds to ensure monies are spent as allocated; tracks budget transfers and adjustments; and completes contracts, requisitions, and reimbursement in coordination with budget, purchasing and payroll departments.
• Support personnel needs, including consultant contracts.
• Additional duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Your Skill Set:

As the incoming Confidential Secretary for Academics & Schools, you will possess many, though perhaps not all, of the following characteristics and qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree
• 2 or more years of work experience in an education setting
• 5-7 years of work experience, with strong track record leveraging Microsoft Office (especially Word & Excel) and/or Google/G Suite (especially Google Docs & Sheets) to manage information
• Proficiency in video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams
• Keen attention to detail
• Ability to think strategically and communicate thoughtfully
• Creative disposition, able to tackle challenges with persistence and a sense of humor
• Ability to be flexible in fast-paced, environments
• Possess a growth mindset and embrace risk-taking and innovation
• Team-player who also has the ability to work independently and be self-directed
• Skilled in working with a variety of stakeholders, including educators, families, and community partners Customer service orientation
• Alignment with CPS mission

Cambridge Public Schools is committed to slowing and/or stopping the spread of COVID-19. Therefore, as a condition of employment with Cambridge Public Schools, all new hires will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 no later than their first day of work. Written requests for either a religious exemption from this requirement based on sincerely held religious beliefs, or for a medical exemption based upon clear documentation from a medical provider should be submitted to the attention of the Chief Talent Officer.

Salary: $ 35.28 – $ 39.10 per hour

Terms of Employment: 40 hours per week/12 months per year, non-union position

How to Join Our Team:

Please upload a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills, experience, and commitment to equity in education meet the qualifications of the position as well as stating how you heard about this opportunity.