Design and Coaching Specialist, ELA

What We Do

At Leading Educators (LE) , we know that excellent teaching is the most important driver of student success. The moment a student steps foot in the classroom, their opportunity to learn depends on how prepared their teacher is to translate complex content knowledge, standards, and their knowledge of that student into lessons that help them learn deeply and apply their thinking to the real world.

That’s a big lift, and it often happens alone. As a national nonprofit, we partner with school systems to overcome persistent instructional challenges, foster intentional collaboration and adult learning by design, and ignite new possibilities through systemic solutions at the intersection of teaching, talent, and technology.

We work shoulder-to-shoulder with educators at every level of the education system to strengthen their instructional and leadership practices, bring a vision for excellent instruction to life with consistency, and ensure every student reaches their full potential.

Through direct support, strategic advising, innovation pilots, and best-in-class research, we help educators work toward a future where every student is ready to thrive. Learn more about our work at leadingeducators.org.

Internal & External Candidate Application Deadline: Ongoing

Position

Leading Educators is seeking a Design and Coaching Specialist - ELA to drive measurable improvements in K-8 literacy instruction across New York City schools. In this dual-focused role, you’ll combine school-based coaching with instructional design to ensure our programming translates directly into stronger teacher practice and student outcomes.

You’ll serve as the main point of contact for school leaders, coaches, teacher leaders, and instructional leadership teams—acting as the project’s expert in instructional coaching, adult learning, and classroom assessment. You’ll provide direct coaching to teachers and leaders while designing professional learning tools and resources tailored to each school’s unique context and needs. Rather than treating design and coaching as separate functions, you’ll integrate them seamlessly—using classroom observations, student work, and leadership data to inform both your coaching conversations and your professional learning designs. Your work will strengthen Professional Learning Communities, build distributed leadership, and create the conditions for sustainable instructional improvement at the school level.

Reporting to the Director of Implementation, Design, and Coaching, you’ll work in close partnership to ensure that school-level implementation aligns with district priorities while remaining grounded in the realities of classroom practice. This is a role where your expertise, relationships, and commitment to excellence directly shape how students experience literacy instruction.

Do you have expertise in…

• Providing high-impact coaching to teachers, teacher leaders, and school leaders focused on lesson internalization, student work analysis, goal-setting, and reflective improvement cycles?
• Designing and facilitating professional learning aligned to curriculum, standards, and observable instructional practice—adapting resources based on school context and district priorities?
• Analyzing student work, classroom observation data, and instructional artifacts to inform both coaching decisions and professional learning design?
• Building trusting relationships with school leaders and instructional teams while maintaining instructional credibility and reliability?

Do you enjoy…

• Conducting classroom observations and co-observations to assess instruction and provide actionable, growth-oriented feedback grounded in literacy best practices?
• Facilitating learning walks, grade team meetings, and Professional Learning Communities that strengthen instructional leadership capacity in ELA?
• Integrating design and coaching to create coherent cycles of learning that deepen teacher knowledge and shift literacy practice?
• Analyzing ongoing evidence of student learning, teacher practice, and PLC leader development to monitor and refine program impact?

If you’ve answered affirmatively to these questions and meet the following prerequisites, we urge you to seize this opportunity. This role calls for the following:

• 7+ years of professional experience in education, including experience teaching, leading instructional practice, or supporting curriculum implementation
• K-8 lit…