Program Executive Director

Role: Program Executive Director 

Location: Remote

AERDF (Advanced Education Research & Development Fund) is a national nonprofit organization launched in 2021 that advances scientific discovery & inventions that further learners’ brilliance and transform their PreK-12 futures. For more information, see What is an AERDF Program? Or visit our website: https://aerdf.org/

AERDF is hiring an Executive Director to lead its next program on Neuroscience and the Future of Learning. This program vision has been collaboratively designed through a fellowship process with leaders in education and neuroscience. To learn more, see the Program Map Executive Summary. Finalists for the role will receive the full Program Map during the interview process. 

• Lead an Advanced Inclusive R&D program on neuroscience and the future of learning. This program should be audacious in its vision to unlock dramatic impact for one or more of AERDFs priority populations (PreK-12 students who are Black, Latino, or experiencing poverty) through a collaborative process among neuroscientists, education leaders, and other key stakeholders in the education R&D ecosystem. This will include vision and execution of the program map’s three key moves:
  • Make the Invisible Visible: Direct investments in multimodal measurement infrastructure (integrating mobile EEG/neural imaging, wearable physiology sensors, and classroom observational data in real-world learning contexts). 
  • Make the Visible Actionable: Steward translation mechanisms such as spark grants, public narrative campaigns to turn neuroscience insights into practical education levers.
  • Make the Actionable Impactful: Build shared social and technical infrastructure to allow interdisciplinary communities to carry forward the impact within their systems. 

• Narrow the focus of the Neuroscience and the Future of Learning Program Map to lead and execute a 4 year, advanced, inclusive R&D program to solve a targeted aspect of the prioritized problems adolescents are facing through establishing disprovable hypotheses and key learning goals that fit an AERDF program. In the first year, the Program Executive Director is expected to: 
  • Refine the program map into specific testable hypotheses
  • Develop milestones and timelines for the program
  • Launch initial funding opportunities
  • Establish education, research, and development partnerships 

• Direct funding and actively manage an Advanced Inclusive R&D portfolio of projects and partners
  • Build on and advance a vision, set goals and metrics, assemble a team and set of collaborative relationships and pursue program outcomes
  • Develop and use shared measurement and learning infrastructure across a portfolio of R&D investments 
  • Continuously refine learning and steward the R&D process within communities, partnering districts, private sector partners and other stakeholders
  • Develop and manage a multi-million dollar budget across the duration of the program
  • Hire and manage a nimble team to execute on program goals

• Drive to a convincing demonstration of the program’s breakthrough goal through varied implementations with a significant number of our priority learners. 
  • As a program produces evidence their hypothesis should be revisited; this may lead to pivoting on individual projects, and modifying or even disproving the original hypothesis. A disproved hypothesis is not a program failure –  it is information for society
  • Program EDs should understand the limitations preventing the breakthrough from being possible at this time, communicate them, and propose a revised hypothesis and program plan that is consistent with the original breakthrough vision
  • Create a cross-sector community who participate in the R&D (e.g. researchers, educators, learners, intermediaries, developers, policy-makers), are inspired with the program’s goal, and are able to carry it forward 
  • Define and enact an approach to diversity and inclusion alongside an engaged community that will help fulfill the program’s goals 

• Serve as a visible culture carrier, reinforcing and exemplifying AERDF’s values while operating with a builder’s mindset, bringing a hands-on, start-up mentality prioritizing agility and ownership in a dynamic, evolving environment

• Has expertise in neuroscience research 
• Has experience in translating research into education or youth development
• Has worked in collaboration with high poverty communities and/or Black or Latino communities  
• Has experience with research and development in any sector
• Has managed large budgets
• Has managed people

The person in this role will be uniquely positioned to pursue and build on our Neuroscience and the Future of Learning Program. Exceptional candidates may come from research, philanthropy, industry, or adjacent sectors, provided they demonstrate a track record of translating scientific insights into real-world impact, and translating real world experiences of learners and their communities into research and development, particularly in neuroscience and related fields.

Expertise and technical acumen

• Experience with or understanding of neuroimaging techniques, ideally including real-world, field based neuroscience methods like mobile neural imaging, wearable sensors, or naturalistic data collection outside of traditional lab settings. 
• Experience translating research into practical, equitable, and effective applications for education or youth development.
• Experience translating the needs and assets of youth and their learning communities into research and development.
• Knowledgeable about educational neuroscience or related fields and unambiguous in articulating questions they seek to answer within the scope of this program.
• Rigorous and evidence based in setting, measuring, and evaluating metrics and milestones.
• Transparent and objective when making decisions, and able to change direction quickly when the evidence suggests another course may yield better results. 

Track record of “bridging” and collaboration

• Track record of engaging students, teachers, and communities not just as research participants, but as authentic codesigners and equal partners.
• Ability and deep experience with communicating effectively across a wide array of audiences.
• History of building productive relationships outside of a primary sector or function and utilizing those relationships to move work forward. 
• Consistent and active role in stewarding ideas back and forth between research and application.
• Specific experience working inclusively in collaboration with populations AERDF seeks to serve: Black and Latino students and students experiencing poverty, or their communities (e.g., parents, teachers). 

Established leadership

• Demonstrated bold and visionary leadership with a track record of building ambitious programs successfully.
• Seen as a respected leader in educational neuroscience or a closely related field.
• Experience effectively managing people and multi-million dollar budgets. 
• Experience effectively managing a portfolio of projects, often across more than one organization, lab, or grant.
• Effective people and resource manager with experience making sound decisions in complex and dynamic environments.
• Agility to pivot projects or disprove hypotheses quickly without losing sight of the core vision.

• Equity Focus
  • Belief that the most transformative opportunities will come from those that have been the most impacted. 
  • Understanding that structural racism and other forms of inequity must be confronted actively throughout their work.
• Systems Thinking
  • Head in the clouds, feet on the ground. Able to toggle between big picture and detail work. 
• Insatiable Curiosity 
  • Begin from a place of true curiosity rather than with a specific solution in mind.
  • Constant peeling of the layers of a problem and its impact on different groups
• Flexible Problem Solving
  • Expects challenges and proactively avoids or confronts them as the situation requires.
  • Agile and adept at pivoting when something is not working. 
• Appetite for Risk
  • Excited about pursuing bold ideas and creative approaches, even when the chances of success are low. 
  • Willingly to openly face failure and criticism as part of what is necessary to identify true breakthroughs.

This role will report to Sasha Rabkin, Chief of Program Strategy and Innovation. The hiring manager, Kyla Haimovitz, Deputy Chief of Research & Development, will be available for questions at [email protected]. 

Timeframes

The process to identify the next Program Executive Director is expected to unfold primarily in early fall of 2026. We encourage interested candidates to submit their application as soon as possible.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation package including base salary and comprehensive benefits. AERDF is a remote and flexible work environment. Our base compensation levels vary depending on location, experience, and qualifications.

The base salary range for this role is $212,000 - $362,000.

AERDF is deeply committed to the diversity of their workforce. People of all backgrounds, particularly those with the lived experience of the students and communities they serve, are encouraged to apply.  Please do not hesitate to apply even if you do not meet all of the qualifications. Candidates of all backgrounds and identities are encouraged to apply.

We also acknowledge this role is unique.  Very few people have done it, and it can feel intimidating.  We hope to support you through the learning curve as a candidate.

As a condition of employment, the selected candidate will be required to enter into AERDF's standard employment agreements, including provisions relating to confidentiality, intellectual property, and other customary terms and conditions of employment.