Job Description

Posting number: 27553

Department: Superintendent's Office

Job classification: Asst Superintendent Student & Fam Sppt

Posting type: Open

Categories: Administration

This position is open until filled. Interested candidates are encouraged to apply immediately. First review of applications will begin the week of August 24, 2026.

The Assistant Superintendent of Student and Family Support provides executive leadership, strategic direction, and districtwide oversight for a comprehensive portfolio of services designed to promote student well-being, safety, engagement, belonging, and success. Reporting directly to the Superintendent and serving as a member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet, this position works collaboratively with district and school leaders, families, community organizations, government agencies, and external partners to ensure students and families have access to coordinated, equitable, and effective supports.

The Assistant Superintendent provides leadership and oversight for departments and functions including, but not limited to, Safety and Security, Coordinated School Health, Student Discipline, Family Outreach and Engagement, and district partnerships, including tutoring, mentoring, community-based programs, and partnerships with the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL).

The position requires a highly collaborative and community-centered leader with demonstrated experience developing and sustaining partnerships, supporting students and families, navigating complex student discipline and safety matters, and leading large-scale initiatives across a diverse school system. The Assistant Superintendent plays a critical role in strengthening relationships among the District, students, families, community partners, the City of Seattle, and other organizations that support student success.

Examples of duties

20% Executive and Strategic Leadership

• Serve as a member of the Superintendent’s Cabinet and advise the Superintendent on matters related to student and family support, student discipline, school safety and security, coordinated school health, family engagement, and community partnerships.
• Provide strategic leadership and direction for assigned departments, programs, services, and initiatives.
• Develop and lead an integrated districtwide framework for student and family support that connects student intervention, discipline, safety and security, health and wellness, family engagement, and community partnerships to improve student access, engagement, belonging, and academic success.
• Collaborate with school leaders and central office departments to ensure academic, behavioral, social-emotional, health, safety, and family-support needs are addressed through coordinated systems of support.
• Ensure assigned programs and services align with District priorities, policies, strategic goals, and commitments to educational equity and student success.
• Establish performance goals, measures, and accountability structures for assigned departments and programs; regularly evaluate effectiveness, identify areas for improvement, and communicate results to the Superintendent and other stakeholders.
• Review and recommend changes to District policies, procedures, and practices within assigned areas based on data, applicable legal and regulatory requirements, emerging needs, and evidence-informed practices.
• Provide leadership for continuous improvement and organizational capacity building across assigned departments and functions.

20% Student Support, Discipline, Safety, and Intervention

• Provide executive oversight and strategic direction for districtwide student discipline practices, promoting consistency, equity, legal compliance, and alignment with District policies and expectations.
• Provide leadership for the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of student support and intervention systems, including Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).
• Work collaboratively with school and district leaders to strengthen approaches to behavioral intervention, student discipline, school climate, student well-being, safety, and security.
• Ensure student discipline and intervention practices support positive student outcomes while maintaining safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments.
• Provide executive leadership for Safety and Security functions and collaborate with appropriate departments and external agencies regarding student, school, and community safety.
• Lead and coordinate district-level responses to significant student, school, family, or community crises within assigned areas of responsibility.
• Develop systems for evaluating the effectiveness of student interventions, discipline practices, safety initiatives, and related student-support programs.
• Promote coordination among behavioral, mental health, health and wellness, safety, and other student-support services to advance districtwide academic and student-success goals.
• Ensure assigned programs and services comply with applicable federal and state laws and regulations, Board policies, and District procedures.

10% Family Outreach and Engagement

• Provide strategic leadership for family outreach, engagement, and support initiatives across the District.
• Develop strategies to strengthen relationships, communication, and collaboration among schools, District departments, students, parents, guardians, and families.
• Build trust and strengthen engagement with historically underserved communities and families, including families whose primary language is not English.
• Ensure family engagement and support strategies are culturally responsive, inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the diverse needs of District families.
• Provide leadership and guidance in addressing complex, sensitive, or highly conflicted family and community concerns.
• Develop systems for measuring the effectiveness and impact of family engagement and outreach initiatives.
• Partner with school leaders and District departments to identify barriers to family engagement and develop strategies to increase meaningful family participation in support of student success.

10% Community and Government Partnerships

• Lead the District’s strategy for developing, strengthening, coordinating, and evaluating external partnerships that support students and families.
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with the City of Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL), City Council, community-based organizations, social service agencies, foundations, and other public and private partners.
• Provide oversight and strategic direction for partnerships including, but not limited to, tutoring programs, mentoring programs, student-support programs, and other community-based initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to leverage community resources, public-sector partnerships, grants, and other external resources to expand services and improve outcomes for students and families.
• Develop processes for evaluating existing and prospective partnerships to ensure alignment with District priorities, measurable outcomes, equity commitments, and responsible use of District resources.
• Represent the District and Superintendent in meetings with community organizations, government agencies, elected officials, families, and other external stakeholders, as appropriate.
• Promote collaboration among District departments and external organizations to reduce duplication, address service gaps, and maximize resources available to students and families.
• Build sustainable partnerships that are based on shared goals, clearly defined expectations, accountability, and measurable benefits for students.

10% Coordinated School Health and Student Well-Being

• Provide executive oversight for Coordinated School Health and related student health and wellness initiatives.
• Promote integrated approaches to student physical health, mental and behavioral health, social-emotional well-being, safety, and academic success.
• Collaborate with District leaders, schools, families, health providers, and community partners to identify and respond to student health and wellness needs.
• Ensure student health and wellness initiatives are coordinated with broader student-support, safety, intervention, family engagement, and academic strategies.
• Use relevant data and stakeholder input to identify needs, evaluate program effectiveness, and inform districtwide health and wellness strategies.

10% Budget, Contracts, Grants, and Resource Management

• Provide executive oversight for significant departmental and program budgets within assigned areas of responsibility.
• Develop and monitor budgets to ensure resources are aligned with District priorities and produce measurable benefits for students and families.
• Provide leadership and oversight for Requests for Proposals (RFPs), contracts, grants, interagency agreements, and other mechanisms used to establish or maintain external partnerships and services.
• Identify and support grant and external funding opportunities that advance District priorities for students and families.
• Provide appropriate oversight for the implementation, monitoring, compliance, and evaluation of externally funded initiatives within assigned areas.
• Work collaboratively with Finance, Procurement, Legal, and other departments to ensure appropriate stewardship, compliance, accountability, and effective use of District resources.
• Evaluate programs, contracts, and partnerships using appropriate performance measures and recommend continuation, expansion, modification, or discontinuation based on outcomes and District priorities.

10% Organizational and Staff Leadership:

• Lead, supervise, develop, support, and evaluate leaders and staff within assigned areas of responsibility.
• Assess organizational and staffing needs and participate in the recruitment, selection, assignment, development, and evaluation of assigned leaders and staff.
• Establish clear expectations and accountability for department and program leaders while promoting collaboration, professional growth, and continuous improvement.
• Provide leadership for professional learning and organizational capacity building related to student support, discipline, safety, family engagement, partnerships, and other assigned areas.
• Promote effective collaboration across departments and schools and develop structures that support shared responsibility for student and family outcomes.
• Foster an organizational culture that values service, responsiveness, equity, collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.

5% Data, Accountability, and Continuous Improvement

• Establish measurable outcomes and use quantitative and qualitative data to evaluate student support, discipline, family engagement, safety, health, and partnership initiatives.
• Monitor trends and identify disparities in access, participation, discipline, services, and outcomes and develop strategies to address identified needs.
• Use data, research, stakeholder feedback, and program evaluation to inform recommendations and decision-making.
• Assess the effectiveness of assigned departments and programs and establish improvement priorities based on District goals and student and family needs.
• Maintain current knowledge of relevant legislation, regulations, research, emerging practices, and national and regional trends related to student support, family engagement, school safety, discipline, health and wellness, and community partnerships.

5% Communication and Community Leadership

• Communicate complex, sensitive, and high-profile information effectively to the Superintendent, School Board, District leaders, employees, students, families, community organizations, government agencies, and other stakeholders.
• Prepare and deliver reports and presentations regarding student and family support programs, initiatives, outcomes, emerging needs, and other assigned areas.
• Represent the District at local, regional, state, and community meetings, conferences, committees, and other forums, as appropriate.
• Facilitate productive dialogue among stakeholders with differing perspectives and interests.
• Promote transparency and clear communication regarding District strategies, programs, expectations, and outcomes within assigned areas.
• Perform other related duties as assigned by the Superintendent.

OTHER FUNCTIONSSupervisory ResponsibilitiesProvides executive leadership and supervision for assigned departments and functions, including but not limited to:

• Safety and Security
• Coordinated School Health
• Student Discipline
• Community and District Partnerships
• Tutoring and Mentoring Partnerships
• DEEL and other governmental and community partnerships
• Family Outreach and Engagement
• Other student and family support functions as assigned by the Superintendent

RELEVANT COMPETENCIES
Managing Through Processes and Systems
Designs practices, processes, and procedures necessary to get things done; simplifies complex processes; gets more out of fewer resources; creates systems that manage themselves.

• Sets clear, well-defined outcomes for desired results and tracks progress.
• Breaks down objectives into actionable steps with targeted deadlines.
• Leverages and uses resources efficiently and creatively to achieve desired outcomes.

Building Effective Teams
Builds cohesive teams of people within the organization; shares wins and success such that each team member feels valuable and appreciated; guides teams to establish and achieve goals.

• Creates high performance environment where others pull together to get things done.
• Promotes collaboration and removes obstacles to teamwork.
• Celebrates successes and rewards team achievements.
• Monitors and evaluates team successes and challenges while providing productive feedback

Developing Others
Is a people builder; provides challenging and stretching tasks and assignments; constructs compelling development plans and executes them; pushes direct reports to accept developmental moves.

• Gives people assignments that help to develop their abilities.
• Work collaboratively with direct reports to set meaningful performance objectives.
• Meets regularly with direct reports to review developmental progress.
• Recognizes and reinforces developmental efforts and improvements.

Managerial Courage
Tactfully dispenses direct and actionable feedback; is open and direct with others without being intimidating; deals head- on with people problems and prickly situations.

• Lets people know where they stand and faces up to people problems quickly, directly and respectfully.
• Responds constructively to challenging situations or people even under stress.
• Does not hold back on anything that needs be said or done in a productive and constructive way.

Strategic Agility & Innovation Management
Anticipates future consequences and trends accurately; brings creative ideas to market; recognizes strategic opportunities for change; creates competitive and breakthrough strategies.

• Sees ahead clearly and accurately anticipates how potential ideas may play out.
• Thinks holistically by combining ideas in unique ways or making connection between different ideas.
• Examines and evaluates potential solutions to determine where the greatest gain can be achieved.
• Creates new ways of thinking to address complex issues.

CABINET CORE COMPETENCIES:
Managing Vision and Purpose:

• Develops a clear sense of purpose and mission that captures the imagination of others.
• Shares vision in a way that influences others as demonstrated by their words and actions.
• Anticipates and identifies long-term, future organizational needs and opportunities.

Accountability:

• Takes responsibility and action as if the risks (financial or otherwise) are his/her own.
• Holds individuals and team accountable for their actions and results.
• Initiates action even if outcome is uncertain and is willing to accept the consequences of failure.
• Aligns own activities and priorities to meet broader organizational needs.
• Demonstrates courage and confidence in his/her own ability.

Planning:

• Allocates and coordinates time effectively and efficiently to avoid conflicts.
• Anticipates potential problems and develops plans to address them.
• Develops an appropriate work plan to achieve results.
• Monitors progress, responds to problems and measures performance.

Getting Results (Action Oriented):

• Demonstrates a strong sense of urgency about solving problems and getting work done.
• Focuses on achieving the goal even in the face of obstacles
• Assumes responsibility for starting and finishing work with minimal supervision.
• Strives for new levels of performance.

Collaboration:

• Is seen as a team player who encourages efficient and effective collaborations.
• Works skillfully in difficult situations with both internal and external groups.
• Represents his/her own interests while being open-minded to other groups.
• Builds respectful and productive relationships internally and externally.

Decision Quality & Problem Solving:

• Weighs the consequences of options before making a decision.
• Applies appropriate criteria to situations for the purpose of making decisions.
• Displays self-confidence in own judgment.
• Focuses on the facts and solutions instead of opinions and problems.

Integrity:

• Deals with people and situations in an honest and forthright manner.
• Represents information and data accurately and completely.
• Represents the confidentiality of information and concerns shared by others.
• Takes ownership if a mistake is his/her own, and does not blame others.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

• Deep understanding of student-support systems, family engagement, community outreach, student discipline, school safety and security, coordinated school health, and community partnerships.
• Ability to develop and lead a coherent districtwide strategy across multiple departments and functional areas.
• Strong understanding of culturally responsive and equitable approaches to student and family support.
• Demonstrated ability to establish trust and build productive relationships with students, families, community leaders, elected officials, government agencies, and community-based organizations.
• Ability to navigate highly sensitive, complex, and potentially adversarial situations with sound judgment, diplomacy, and professionalism.
• Strong crisis-management, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Ability to exercise decisive, inclusive, collaborative, and transparent leadership.
• Ability to lead organizational change and build alignment across departments and schools.
• Ability to establish measurable goals and use data to evaluate program effectiveness and student outcomes.
• Knowledge of large-scale budgeting, contracting, procurement, grant administration, and RFP processes.
• Ability to evaluate programs and systems and develop and implement strategies for improvement.
• Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal, facilitation, and public-presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with diverse audiences and translate complex issues into clear strategies and actions.
• Demonstrated commitment to educational equity and improving outcomes for historically underserved students and families.
• Ability to manage multiple high-priority initiatives simultaneously in a complex and rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to build effective relationships and promote collaboration among school leaders, staff, families, community members, government agencies, and external partners.

Qualifications

EXPERIENCE/EDUCATION:

• Master’s degree in education, educational leadership, public administration, social work, organizational leadership, or a related field from an accredited institution.

• Significant progressively responsible leadership experience in a large, complex educational, governmental, nonprofit, or public-sector organization.
• Demonstrated senior-level experience leading programs or departments related to student support, family engagement, community partnerships, student discipline, safety, health and wellness, or related services.
• Demonstrated experience developing and sustaining partnerships with community organizations, government agencies, families, and other external stakeholders.
• Experience supervising, developing, and evaluating leaders and managing multiple departments, programs, or functional areas.
• Experience managing significant budgets and allocating resources across multiple programs or priorities.
• Experience with contracts, Requests for Proposals (RFPs), grants, interagency agreements, or other formal procurement and partnership processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience serving in an executive or senior leadership role within a large urban school district or similarly complex public organization.
• Deep knowledge of the Seattle community and demonstrated experience building relationships with organizations and agencies serving Seattle students and families.
• Demonstrated experience working collaboratively with municipal government, including education agencies, elected officials, and community-based partners.
• Experience implementing districtwide or organization-wide systems of student support, including MTSS or comparable intervention frameworks.
• Extensive knowledge of student discipline, behavioral interventions, school safety and security, family engagement, and student-support systems.
• Experience leading organizational responses to complex student, school, family, or community crises.
• Demonstrated success working with culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students, families, and communities.
• Experience evaluating programs and implementing systemic improvements based on data, research, and stakeholder feedback.

Any equivalent combination of education, experience and training that provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the work will be considered.

CLEARANCES:
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