Director, Education

Description

ICF seeks a Director, Education to work within our Child Welfare and Education Line of Business. This Line of Business provides federal, state, and other clients with a wide range of technical assistance, research, and evaluation services. Our work focuses on important education policy issues; uses proven and innovative methods for delivering high‑quality, timely technical assistance; seeks to inform education stakeholders of promising practices; and involves working closely with clients to ensure that training and technical assistance support services are relevant, useful, and make a positive impact.

The Director, Education will work with clients such as the U.S. Department of Education as well as state and local educational agencies in VA, TN, KY, or WV to provide high‑quality services and products.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain strong, collegial relationships with state education agencies (SEAs) and other clients to provide high‑quality, relevant, and useful capacity‑building technical assistance.
• Conduct needs assessments, develop and deliver technical assistance that clearly addresses client needs, monitor and course‑correct technical assistance as needed, coordinate with project evaluators to curate evidence, and liaise with clients.
• Lead and coordinate TA teams to ensure the provision of high‑quality services to clients.

Basic Qualifications

• Doctorate in education, social sciences, public administration, or related subjects.
• 10+ years of experience at the state and/or national level working with K‑12 education policies, regulations, and systems.
• 10+ years of experience developing and delivering technical assistance to state and district educators and leaders.
• 10+ years of conducting needs assessments and delivering technical assistance that clearly addresses client needs, monitoring and course‑correcting technical assistance as needed.
• 10+ years developing high‑quality technical assistance materials, including information briefs, white papers, tools, presentations, and processes.
• 5+ years of experience working with multiple states in the region (VA, TN, KY, or WV).
• 5+ years of experience directing or managing large‑scale federal grants or contracts.
• 3+ years of managing teams of up to 40, including sub‑contractors, with personnel management responsibilities.

Preferred Skills/Experience

• Experience working with multiple stakeholder groups as a participant, content advisor, and technical assistance provider.
• Content knowledge related to state education systems, key policy issues (e.g., assessment, accountability, college and career readiness, school turnaround, diverse learners, educator development and evaluation), capacity building, coaching, and/or consultation.
• Experience working in VA, TN, KY, or WV.
• Working with MS Office and other standard office applications (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel, SharePoint, and Adobe Connect).

Professional Skills

• Excellent verbal, interpersonal, and written communication skills.
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and decision‑making capabilities.
• Ability to align project activities with federal priorities, performance measures, and approved scopes of work.
• Project management skills, including managing complex budgets, federal reporting, staff management, and continuous improvement.
• Exceptional leadership with a track record of fostering collaboration, effectively managing diverse priorities, perspectives, and stakeholder needs.
• Ability to work independently and lead tasks.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in‑person or virtual) is not permitted. This policy is in place to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the interview process. However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodation that involves the use of AI. If such an accommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance at We are dedicated to providing the necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Employment and Equal Opportunity

We are an equal opportunity employer. We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Reasonable accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process. To request an accommodation, please email and we will be happy to assist. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Pay Range

The pay range for this position based on full‑time employment is: $107,959.00 - $183,531.00 . Tennessee Remote Office (TN99).