Chief Operating Officer

Chief Operating Officer

WIDA

Madison, WI

WIDA, the international leader in the research and development of products and services to support multilingual learners (MLLs) and their educators, seeks a mission-focused and results-oriented strategic leader to serve as the organization’s next Chief Operating Officer (COO). WIDA offers a fully integrated, research-based academic language development system, including language standards, assessments, professional learning, and technical assistance, delivered through its unique consortium model currently serving 42 states, territories, and federal agencies. The organization is housed in the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at the top-ranked School of Education (SOE) within the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). Since its founding in 2003, WIDA has experienced impressive growth and currently employs 150 staff members with annual revenues of $90 million.

Reporting to the Executive Director of WIDA, the Chief Operating Officer will join the organization at a moment of tremendous opportunity. Over the past 21 years, WIDA has evolved from a grant proposal involving three states into the nation’s foremost provider of language development resources for MLLs and their educators. WIDA’s products are unmatched, as is its commitment to providing world class educational opportunities for MLLs. In recent years, the business landscape of multilingual learning has transformed, leading to greater competition in the language assessment market. The political landscape has similarly evolved, reinforcing the need for WIDA to ensure its educational philosophy is reflected in its products and services.

The Chief Operating Officer will work with Executive Director Jenni Torres and the WIDA senior leadership team on overall strategic planning and execution as well as organization-wide operations and initiatives. In addition to these functions, the COO will oversee finance and contracts, project management, and information technology, and will be charged with bridging WIDA’s mission and business needs while operating in the context of the University of Wisconsin system; assessing and strengthening WIDA’s technology infrastructure to ensure a competitive edge in the marketplace; and partnering with the Executive Director and other senior leaders to ensure WIDA’s products and services continue to meet the needs of clients and educators.

A mission-focused and strategic operations leader, the Chief Operating Officer will bring a deep knowledge of strategic planning, administration processes, information technology, and business operations. The successful candidate will have at least seven years of leadership experience in operations-focused roles and will have a well-developed capacity for systematic analysis, relationship-building, and leading teams of committed mission-driven professionals.

WIDA has retained the national search firm Isaacson, Miller to assist in this important search. Inquiries, nominations, and applications should be sent in strict confidence to: imsearch.com/open-searches/WIDA/chief-operating-officer. Electronic submission of materials is strongly encouraged.

Jeff Kessner, Diana Carmona, and Jenny Rubin

Isaacson, Miller

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7). Candidates who are selected as finalists will be invited for campus interviews and their names will be announced publicly.

The University of Wisconsin is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. We promote excellence through diversity and encourage all qualified individuals to apply.

If you need to request an accommodation because of a disability, you can find information about how to make a request at the following website: https://oed.wisc.edu/disability-accommodation-information-for-applicants/

Employment will require a criminal background check. It will also require you and your references to answer questions regarding sexual violence and sexual harassment.

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