Director of Innovation School

Position Description

The Director of Innovation School is a founding leader responsible for designing, launching, leading and scaling Rocketship's Innovation School, a first-of-its-kind lab school opening in Fall 2026 within an existing Rocketship campus. The Innovation School serves as a learning laboratory for Rocketship, providing a unique opportunity to design and pilot new instructional models that leverage fresh approaches to optimize instruction, AI-enabled learning, staffing, and school day structure while ensuring a rigorous, joyful, and equitable experience for students. These new models and the lessons learned from this program will drive future system-wide innovation.

This role encompasses two ongoing, interconnected bodies of work: design and planning, focused on translating a bold instructional vision into a coherent, executable school model; and implementation and iteration, leading high-quality execution while stewarding disciplined learning as the school grows. Over time, a third dimension of the work emerges: scaling, translating the lessons and practices developed in the Innovation School into guidance and models that can inform Rocketship's broader network. The Director operates at the intersection of instruction, talent, operations, and technology, partnering closely with cross-functional teams while leading in high ambiguity.

Essential Functions

School Model Design and Planning Translate the Innovation School blueprint into a fully executable school model, ready for Day 1.

Design instructional structures (grade levels, rotations, schedules, learning environments) aligned to Rocketship best practices, with a focus on high-quality implementation across learning spaces

Draw from a range of instructional innovations including play-based learning, project-based learning, AI-enabled learning and more to drive high quality learning experiences for students

Define adult roles and responsibilities, including how instructional work is intentionally unbundled across teachers, instructional support staff, and systems

Identify required systems, tools, and workflows and partner with central teams to prepare them for launch

Make disciplined design tradeoffs to balance ambition, feasibility, and instructional quality

Talent Strategy and Adult Readiness Build and prepare a high-performing team for the demands of an innovative school model.

Partner with Talent and Regional teams to define role profiles, hiring criteria, and onboarding plans for Innovation School staff

Design professional learning experiences that prepare adults for new roles and mindsets, particularly around specialization, student ownership, and AI-supported instruction

Build adult culture rooted in clarity, trust, and shared ownership

Project Management Serve as the central integrator across teams to ensure full readiness for launch.

Own the Innovation School launch plan, including milestones, dependencies, risks, and decision points

Coordinate across Academic Program, Innovation, Technology, Operations, Talent, and Regional teams

Proactively identify and resolve design and implementation risks prior to Day 1

Program Leadership and Instructional Excellence Lead high-quality implementation in order to ensure a rigorous, joyful student experience.

Lead implementation of the Innovation School model across classrooms and other learning spaces, ensuring adult roles are enacted as designed

Monitor student mastery, engagement, executive function development, and overall experience; partner with instructional leaders to identify strengths and gaps

Coach, supervise, and develop program staffing including the AP of Innovation and instructional staff

Support staff in navigating new practices, tools, and expectations during early implementation

Build trusting relationships with students and families, recognizing parents as their child's first teacher and essential partners in student success; create a school community that proactively communicates with families and involves them in student achievement through multiple outlets

Continuous Learning and Improvement Drive disciplined learning and iteration. 

Use student achievement data and a structured learning agenda to identify what is working, what is not, and why; translate findings into targeted adjustments while preserving core design intent

Analyze qualitative and quantitative data from classroom observation, assessments, and family and staff feedback to prioritize areas for improvement

Foster an adult learning culture that embraces experimentation, reflection, and improvement; support staff through ambiguity and early challenges with empathy and clarity

Develop internal leaders who can model and sustain Innovation School practices

Program Growth and Scalability Translate Innovation School learning into insight and guidance for the broader Rocketship network.

Document insights, lessons learned, and emerging best practices from implementation into a cohesive and detailed playbook

Partner with central teams to translate learning into artifacts, guidance, and implications for broader Rocketship innovation

Support site visits and learning sessions that responsibly showcase the Innovation School

Qualifications

Experience

7+ years in education, school leadership, or system-level instructional leadership

Demonstrated success leading complex initiatives in ambiguous, build-from-scratch environments

Deep understanding of elementary instruction and mastery-based learning

Experience launching a new school, program, or major instructional model (preferred)

Familiarity with innovative instructional approaches such as personalized, project-based, or competency-based learning (preferred)

Comfort working alongside technology, product, or data teams (preferred)

Skills

Proven ability to lead cross-functional work and influence without direct authority

Expertise in using student achievement data to drive decision making

Strong systems thinker who can move from vision to execution

Track record of leading adults through significant role or practice shifts

Leadership competencies Successful candidates will demonstrate the following in their leadership and instructional practice:

Builder's mindset: Thrives in ambiguity; creates clarity where none exists

Instructional judgment: Protects rigor, coherence, and student learning above all

Change leadership: Leads adults through uncertainty with trust and urgency

Systems thinking: Anticipates downstream impacts of decisions

Execution excellence: Turns complex plans into operational reality

Learning orientation: Uses data and feedback to continuously improve