Program Manager - The Baker Accelerator

Founding Program Manager, The Baker AcceleratorLocation: Baker College Prep (Noble Schools), Chicago, IL 60617

Start Date: Late Spring 2026

About Noble

Noble is Chicago’s highest-performing and largest network of public charter schools. Our 17 campuses and 1,600 employees currently serve 12,000 students, 98% of whom identify as persons of color, 90% as low-income, and 81% as first-generation college attendees.

Noble’s mission is to ensure that all students have equitable and positive school experiences that equip them to complete college and lead choice-filled lives.

We are proud to be recognized nationally for college access and persistence. Noble supports more than 31,000 alumni with 98% of Noble students accepted into college and almost 94% choosing to enroll.

About the RoleBaker College Prep, a Noble campus serving Chicago's Southeast Side, is launching The Baker Accelerator (The Accelerator) - a four-week, pre-ninth-grade summer program designed to shift students' academic starting point before their first day of high school. The program is funded through a competitive Charter School Program (CSP) grant from the Illinois Network of Charter Schools.

Nothing like it currently exists at Noble. This role builds it.

The Founding Program Manager is the single full-time leader of The Accelerator from design through execution. Reporting to the Baker Campus Principal and coordinating with Noble's central academic, operations, and grant management teams, the Program Manager owns the planning, launch, and continuous improvement of a program intended to become a flagship model for the network.

This role exists to do three things exceptionally well

• Design and execute a three-year strategic plan for the creation and implementation of The Accelerator - from curriculum adaptation and assessment design through staffing, family engagement, and college campus logistics.
• Build and run the program - recruiting the first cohort, managing summer staff, owning the data, and connecting what students gain in the summer directly to their 9th-grade experience at Baker.
• Deliver measurable results - in student attendance, academic readiness, and 9th-grade on-track outcomes, in partnership with Baker leadership and Noble's academic team.

This is not summer school. The Accelerator is a cohort-based experience that combines rigorous academics with the culture, routines, and relationships that define Baker. Students do not just prepare for high school - they begin living it. They work with many of the same teachers and are exposed to the very same expectations they will encounter throughout high school.

They build connections with peers and staff before the pressure of 9th grade begins. And they leave with measurable academic gains and the confidence that comes from knowing they are part of the Baker community before the first day of freshman year.

Key Responsibilities

Program Design and Strategic Planning

• Develop the three-year strategic plan for The Accelerator covering the planning year and first two implementation years.
• Secure and formalize the college campus partnership for summer programming.
• Adapt Baker's 9th-grade curriculum for accelerated summer delivery in math, reading, writing, and English immersion, in coordination with Noble's central academics team.
• Design the assessment protocol - pre/post diagnostics, formative checks, and subgroup reporting.
• Build the family engagement cadence from pre-program orientation through in-program communication to end-of-program conferences.

Execution and Program Management

• Develop the staffing model and supervise summer staff (estimated at 8-10 people when the program is live).
• Support a student recruitment strategy that yields 90 rising 9th graders for the first cohort.
• Run the program - managing daily operations, staff, logistics, and student experience during the four-week summer session.
• Stand up the data infrastructure to track readiness, on-track status, attendance, and subgroup outcomes from summer through 9th grade.

Accountability and Continuous Improvement

• Own program outcomes, including student attendance, academic readiness gains, and 9th-grade on-track indicators, with specific targets to be set during the planning year in alignment with CSP grant goals.
• Use data to monitor progress, surface problems early, and refine the model across cohorts.
• Coordinate with Noble's grant manager on CSP compliance and reporting.

Candidate Qualifications

• Direct experience designing and leading complex programs or initiatives from concept through execution - not assisting, not supporting, but owning.
• Strong instructional knowledge and familiarity with data-driven practices in a school or network setting.
• Proven ability to manage multiple workstreams, stakeholders, and tight timelines simultaneously.
• Comfort operating as the sole full-time employee of a program that does not yet exist, within a large organization with established systems.
• Strong relationship-building skills with families, school staff, college partners, and network leadership.
• Deep alignment with Noble's mission, core values, and commitment to equity.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.

At least seven years of experience in education leadership, program management, or school operations.

• Demonstrated success managing teams and delivering measurable outcomes.

Compensation

We strive to be the best place to work, and our employee benefits are thoughtfully designed to support us in this ambition. Compensation for this role falls between $85,000 and $105,000 per year, which represents the average for staff in this role. Factors such as years of experience and skill sets may impact placement within, or outside, this range.

Application Timeline & Process

Applicants are encouraged to complete the short application, which includes two short-answer questions. Initial application reviews will take place on a rolling basis.

Select candidates will be notified of initial interviews and moved through various stages of our selection process, including virtual and in-person interviews with a variety of Noble stakeholders, reference checks, and opportunities for both the candidate and Noble to assess fit.

Statement of Non Discrimination

Noble is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, making all employment decisions, including recruiting, hiring, training, and promoting without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status or any other characteristic or classification protected by law.

Skills

Bakery, Cadence, Centralized Operations/Management, Charter Schools, Conferences, Continuous Improvement, English Language, Grant Administration/Management, Leadership, Logistics, Mathematics, Operations, Operations Management, People Management, Project Tracking, Project/Program Management, Protocol Design, Recruiting Strategy, Reference Verification, School Attendance, Secondary School, Strategic Planning, Team Lead/Manager

About the Company

The Noble Network of Charter Schools