Notice of Vacancy

• Own a clear, statewide academic vision that defines what high-quality teaching and learning look like across all content areas and grade levels.
• Translate that vision into a coherent instructional strategy spanning curriculum, assessment, student supports, and educator development.
• Ensure alignment across priority initiatives (e.g., literacy, tutoring, early childhood, career pathways) so districts experience a unified academic framework.
• Continuously refine strategy based on research, field engagement, and evidence of implementation and impact.

• Oversee the development and implementation of academic standards aligned to current research and equity-centered practice.
• Lead the statewide system for high-quality instructional materials (HQIM), including review, and adoption support.
• Design and drive implementation models that connect curriculum, assessment, and professional learning into coherent instructional systems.
• Ensure consistency across content areas so schools are not navigating fragmented or competing instructional priorities.
• Translate national research on instructional quality into actionable state policy, guidance, and tools.

• Define and lead a statewide approach to integrated student supports that ensures all students can access grade-level content and succeed.
• Oversee alignment of academic interventions (e.g., tutoring, MTSS) with core instruction to create cohesive systems at the school level.
• Ensure strong integration of supports for students with disabilities, multilingual learners, and other special populations into the academic strategy—not as separate systems.
• Coordinate across divisions to align academic, mental health, and school climate supports around student needs.
• Drive clarity on how districts implement supports so that policy translates into effective, consistent practice in schools.

• Oversee a coherent strategy for the educator pipeline spanning preparation, certification, induction, professional learning, and career development.
• Design and implement statewide professional learning systems that are job-embedded, evidence-based, and aligned to instructional priorities.
• Establish rigorous standards for selecting and evaluating professional learning providers and programs.
• Ensure educators have access to high-quality tools, resources, and digital platforms aligned to current academic priorities.
• Align educator workforce strategy with instructional goals, ensuring teachers and leaders are equipped to deliver high-quality instruction at scale.

• Establish clear success metrics tied to academic outcomes (e.g., proficiency, growth, access to supports) and monitor progress through regular performance routines.
• Lead the design and execution of academic initiatives, ensuring effective implementation across diverse district contexts.
• Serve as the Department’s academic lead with districts, educators, and stakeholders, building trust and ensuring state strategy reflects classroom realities.
• Provide executive-level leadership to a division spanning teaching and learning, students support, and the educator pipeline to ensure coherence across the department’s academic agenda and avoid fragmentation.
• Recruit, develop, and retain top instructional talent, building a team culture that is collaborative, evidence-driven, equity-centered, and accountable for results.
• Develop and manage the division’s budget, including federal education grants, state appropriations, and contracted services, and ensure resources are allocated in alignment with strategic priorities.

Education

Experience

Preferred Education/Experience

Authorization to Work

The New Jersey State Department of Education is an Equal Opportunity Employer, has an Affirmative Action Program, and will not discriminate against any person because of race, creed, religion, color, national origin/nationality, ancestry, age, sex/gender (including pregnancy), marital status/civil union partnership, familial status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, domestic partnership status, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, disability, (including perceived disability, physical, mental, and/or intellectual disabilities), or liability for service in the Armed Forces of the United States, and is committed to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act.