Chief Strategy Officer

Chief Strategy Officer
Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools (ACCS) 
Location: Connecticut/hybrid

Who We Are

The Alliance for Connecticut Charter Schools (ACCS) is a statewide advocacy and support organization working to strengthen Connecticut’s charter sector, expand access to high-quality schools, and ensure charter students receive equitable opportunities. ACCS operates at the intersection of school quality, growth, compliance, and policy advocacy to deliver results for families and schools across the state. We work closely with our community engagement arm, LEAD, to build and mobilize grassroots support that informs and strengthens our efforts.

Position Summary

The Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) is a senior leader and the CEO’s primary partner in designing and executing strategy across ACCS, LEAD, and the organization’s future C4 arm, Empower CT. This role is built for a high-capacity operator and strategist who can translate vision into clear priorities, align departments around measurable outcomes, and build systems that scale.

The CSO will lead cross-functional execution, drive organizational performance management, strengthen internal operating rhythms, and ensure that ACCS’s advocacy, communications, organizing, school support, and fundraising functions move as one integrated strategy. The CSO will also help manage high-stakes relationships with funders, partners, and other key stakeholders, and will serve as a representative of ACCS when needed.

Based in Connecticut, this hybrid role includes weekly in-person team time in Danbury, with flexibility to work from ACCS sites in other parts of the state. The position requires regular in-state travel and occasional out-of-state travel and reports to the CEO.

How You’ll Help

The Chief Strategy Officer will drive impact across five core areas:

Enterprise Strategy, Planning, and Performance

• Lead annual and quarterly strategic planning across ACCS, LEAD, and Empower CT
• Translate vision into clear strategic priorities, objectives and key results, and department workplans
• Establish a strong execution cadence (weekly leadership rhythm, monthly scorecards, quarterly reviews)
• Build and maintain performance management systems that track outcomes, risks, and course corrections
• Ensure leadership alignment and decision quality through strong briefings and structured recommendations

Executive Team Alignment and Organizational Execution

• Serve as the day-to-day integrator across departments, removing roadblocks and accelerating delivery
• Manage and align the executive team around shared priorities, timelines, and results
• Drive cross-functional planning and accountability to ensure consistent follow-through
• Lead special projects as assigned by the CEO, particularly high-stakes or time-sensitive initiatives

Internal Operations, Systems, and Organizational Capacity

• Lead the development and implementation of data systems, CRM platforms, and organizational technologies to optimize operations, improve performance, and enable real-time decision-making across the organization
• Support hiring, onboarding, team structure, and role clarity across departments
• Strengthen leadership team effectiveness through coaching, feedback loops, and clear expectations

External Strategy, Partnerships, and Stakeholder Management

• Support the CEO in managing key relationships with funders, state leaders, operators, and coalition partners
• Prepare high-quality strategy memos, briefings, and stakeholder communications
• Coordinate cross-partner workstreams to ensure commitments are clear, tracked, and delivered
• Represent ACCS in high-level external meetings as needed

Policy, Advocacy, and C4 Integration 

• Ensure legislative strategy, community organizing, and communications operate as one integrated plan
• Coordinate rapid internal response to legislative moments, narrative risks, and sector opportunities
• Drive message discipline across testimony, materials, and public engagement
• Lead C4 (Empower CT) readiness and buildout, including governance, compliance, operations, and launch planning
• Coordinate with legal/compliance partners to maintain proper entity separation and controls

Preferred Qualifications

• 10 - 15+ years of experience in strategy, operations, government affairs, education advocacy, or similarly complex, multi-team environments, with a demonstrated track record of leading cross-functional teams and delivering results under deadline
• Experience supporting senior executives, boards, or funders in high-stakes decision-making, and building or scaling organizations, systems, or new initiatives across multiple workstreams
• Experience in education policy, the charter sector, or public-sector/nonprofit systems strongly preferred

• Exceptional strategic thinking with the ability to translate strategy into execution, supported by strong project and program management across multiple concurrent priorities
• Strong relationship management and communication with key stakeholders and cross-sector partners
• Strong judgment, discretion, and ability to operate calmly in high-pressure environments, with attention to detail while maintaining a big-picture perspective

• Commitment to high-quality public education and strong student outcomes, with a builder mentality and comfort creating structure in ambiguous or fast-changing environments
• Solutions-first leadership with a strong inclination toward action and follow-through, alongside a collaborative style that builds trust across diverse stakeholders
• Personal accountability and high standards for excellence

• Bachelor’s Degree Required; Master’s Degree In Public Policy, Education, Business, Law, Or Related Field Preferred

The salary range for this role is $160,000–$190,000 annually. ACCS offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health care, a 401(k) with employer matching, and generous paid time off.

Application

Interested and qualified applicants should apply here. Note: the application deadline for this position is May 21, 2026. We do not guarantee review of applications submitted after this date.

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to equity, inclusion, and belonging. We actively seek to build a diverse team and strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.