About this role
ROLE TITLE: Director, Regional Team Initiatives (Full time)
POSITION REPORTS TO: Joshua Lee , SMD, Data, Strategy & Operations
APPLICATION DEADLINE : Applications are due on Monday, October 19, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.
LOCATION: Honolulu, HI
WHAT YOU’LL DO
We are looking for a candidate who can bring strong project management, relationship-building, and operational judgment to a role that sits at the intersection of External Affairs and regional staff support. You will help advance the Hawai‘i region’s 2030 vision as the regional lead for the implementation and expansion of virtual tutoring through the Ignite Fellowship as well as other early literacy-related work. This will include securing new Ignite partners, supporting school partnerships and literacy events, and conducting community research to surface early education needs. You will also play a critical operational role in providing support to our executive director and the internal structures and systems that keep our regional team connected, equipped, and effective.
The ideal candidate will be passionate about locally rooted work that expands opportunity for all students and advances educational excellence. You will be able to translate big-picture strategy into clear plans, accurate data, strong partner follow-through, and well-run staff experiences. The goal of this role is to manage the essential projects, partnerships, communications, and operations that help TFA Hawaiʻi strengthen early literacy outcomes, steward community relationships, and support a thriving regional staff team.
WHAT YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR
External Affairs (60%)
- Lead Ignite and other early literacy initiatives across school, community, and regional partners by securing new strategic partnerships, coordinating comprehensive needs assessment, tracking progress of key initiatives, and helping mobilize community and network support for the most promising and effective interventions.
- Manage external affairs project execution and communications support by contributing to media campaigns, supporting literacy- and community-centered events, helping collect participant and demographic data, and preparing materials that amplify Teach For America Hawaiʻi’s impact with partners, board members, and our broader network.
Internal Operations (40%)
- Provide Executive Director and Board support by managing calendaring, meeting logistics, tracking, materials preparation, expense support, and follow-up that help the Executive Director and regional board operate effectively.
- Maintain regional operations, office systems, and financial processes by serving as a point of contact for office needs, emergency plans, parking, vendors, technology, supplies, purchase and invoice processes, and expense documentation in alignment with organizational expectations.
- Strengthen staff culture and internal communications by planning monthly team meetings; coordinating regional events; and maintaining team structures that help staff stay connected to one another, their work, and the region’s strategic priorities.
A WEEK IN THE LIFE
Over the course of any week, the Director of Regional Team of Initiatives will spend time across a variety of workstreams. Each day will look different. Some days you may spend calling school partners to schedule meetings with principals; other days you may be compiling updates from functional teams to prepare packets for an upcoming Board meeting; other days you may be matching up credit card expenses with receipts and budget line items to file expense reports; and other days you may find yourself at a school to provide logistical support for a literacy event or Ignite tutoring session.
YOUR EXPERIENCE
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Your areas of knowledge and expertise that matter most for this role (minimum qualifications):
At least 4 years of related professional experience in project management, operations, partnerships, education, community engagement, communications, or a related field.
- Demonstrated ability to manage complex projects from planning through execution, including creating timelines, coordinating stakeholders, tracking progress, solving problems, and meeting deadlines.
- Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to work effectively with school, community, staff, board, and organizational partners.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare clear updates, meeting materials, stakeholder communications, and project documentation.
- Strong operational judgment and attention to detail in managing schedules, logistics, expenses, records, data, and tracking systems.
- Commitment to expanding opportunity for all students and advancing educational excellence in Hawaiʻi.
- Ability to work occasional evening or weekend hours for school, board, staff, or community events.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience working in or alongside schools, early literacy initiatives, tutoring programs, youth-serving organizations, or community-based education efforts.
- Experience supporting grants, needs assessments, program evaluation, data collection, surveys, focus groups, or stakeholder interviews.
- Familiarity with Hawaiʻi educational, cultural, and community contexts, especially Leeward Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island, early childhood, literacy, or public education partnerships.
- Experience planning or executing events, board meetings, staff meetings, community gatherings, or partner convenings.
- Experience with communications, storytelling, social media, newsletters, or campaign support.
- Experience with Google Workspace, Excel, SharePoint, Pencil Spaces, expense systems (Workday), Slack, Salesforce, or Microsoft Dynamics.
YOUR FUTURE TEAM
You will work across TFA Hawaiʻi’s External Affairs and Internal Team structures, both of which are focused on building the relationships, systems, and supports needed to expand opportunity for all students and advance educational excellence in Hawaiʻi. The External Affairs team amplifies TFA Hawaiʻi’s story and impact, strengthens strategic partnerships and coalitions, engages policymakers and board members, and advances early literacy to advance our region’s 2030 goal. The Internal Team creates the staff culture, communications, meetings, systems, and operational support that help regional staff thrive and contribute to shared priorities. Across both teams, you will help turn strategy into well-run projects, strong stakeholder experiences, and practical support for staff and partners.
YOUR COMPENSATION
The applicable salary range for each U.S.-based role is based on where the employee works and is aligned to one of 3 tiers according to a cost of labor index in that geographic area. Starting pay for the successful applicant will depend on a variety of job-related factors, which may include education, training, experience, location, business needs, or market demands. New hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint depending on qualifications, internal equity, and the budgeted amount for the role. The expected salary ranges for this role are set forth below. These ranges may be modified in the future.
Tier B: $81,000 – $106,300
You can view which tier applies to where you plan to work here .