Manager, External Affairs

THE ORGANIZATION

The Charter School Growth Fund (CSGF) is a leading nonprofit venture philanthropy fund dedicated to identifying the nation’s best public charter schools, investing in their expansion, and helping to increase their impact. Our “portfolio” includes 200+ charter school networks that operate 1,700+ schools and serve more than 800,000 students. We are committed to expanding the impact of schools that are closing achievement and opportunity gaps. CSGF operates with the same strategies, discipline, and focus as a venture capital firm by awarding multi-year grants and loans to talented education entrepreneurs building networks of high-quality charter schools that enroll traditionally underserved students. Our goal is to serve 1,000,000 students by 2030 and 1.4 million by 2035.

This is an exciting time to join the Charter School Growth Fund. We are launching Fund V, our most ambitious fund yet, building on our 20-year track record of success. Fund V will add 250,000 new high-quality seats while helping our portfolio become durable, bedrock institutions in their communities for decades to come. We invest in the strongest charter leaders and networks in the country, and we partner closely with them to sustain excellent outcomes as they grow. Our portfolio continues to serve student populations of roughly 90% students of color and 75% students from low-income backgrounds, and we remain committed to being proximate to the lived experiences of the students and communities we serve.

THE OPPORTUNITY

CSGF is seeking a full-time Manager, External Affairs to serve on the External Relations team. This role reports to the Managing Director of Policy, Communications, and Advocacy (PCA), with a dotted-line relationship to the Managing Director of Investor Relations (IR).

The Manager, External Affairs plans, owns, and drives high-quality execution across CSGF’s most visible external communications and investor-facing content — including the Annual Investor Report, issue briefs, social media strategy, and executive communications. This is an individual contributor role that operates at the intersection of content, creative strategy, and project management. The ideal candidate designs and executes CSGF’s social media presence independently, owns complex multi-stakeholder workstreams end-to-end, and brings strong judgment and initiative to solve problems as they arise. They are a skilled written communicator who produces compelling, high-quality work with minimal oversight and takes pride in delivering results that advance CSGF’s mission and strengthen its relationships with investors, portfolio members, and the broader charter sector.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Investor & Executive Communications

• Own the development of CSGF’s Annual Investor Report — managing the full project plan, identifying key themes, drafting narrative content, and setting the vision for data visualizations; coordinates with internal stakeholders and external contractors to deliver a compelling, high-quality report on time. 
• Develop and produce investor-facing content, board materials, and executive communications in close partnership with senior leadership, including ghostwriting support for key organizational communications.
• Partner with cross-functional teams and senior leadership to maintain a consistent editorial voice and narrative across all external-facing and investor-facing materials.

Social Media Strategy & Execution

• Design and execute CSGF’s social media strategy across all platforms (LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram,etc.) — developing and publishing timely content, amplifying portfolio member contributions, and engaging in real-time with relevant sector conversations.
• Track, analyze, and report on social media performance metrics; use data-informed insights to continuously improve content strategy, platform approach, and significantly increase audience engagement, including supporting Seed applicant pipeline and podcast outreach goals.

Content Development & Knowledge Management

• Drive the identification, development, and maintenance of issue briefs that provide timely, succinct updates on topics of greatest interest to CSGF’s external stakeholders.
• Own and continuously improve team systems and knowledge management processes that enable the External Relations team to operate efficiently and deliver high-quality work.

Media Monitoring & Design

• Monitor media coverage of CSGF and portfolio members and produce two annual reports analyzing media trends and coverage quality to inform CSGF’s communications strategy.
• Execute graphics design, microsite development, short-form video editing, and list management in support of external communications deliverables.

Portfolio Member Support

• Coordinate with external contractors and internal CSGF teams to connect portfolio members with fundraising resources and skill-building opportunities that advance their organizational capacity.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Skills and Characteristics

• Deep commitment to CSGF’s mission and passion for K-12 education; excitement about expanding access to excellent public charter schools for underserved students.
• Exemplary written communication skills: synthesizes complex information into clear, compelling narratives; demonstrates consistently high-quality, accurate work across diverse content types including reports, investor briefs, and executive communications.
• Strong ownership and project management: plans, designs, and independently executes multiple high-stakes, time-sensitive workstreams; proactively identifies dependencies and risks, develops process-level solutions, and manages well upward to ensure team meets ambitious outcomes.
• High attention to quality and detail: sets a high bar for accuracy in written work and data analysis; navigates ambiguity and incorporates feedback from multiple stakeholders without compromising quality or timelines.
• Demonstrated expertise across social media platforms (LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram) and design tools (Canva, Adobe Express); proficiency with Boolean search codes and media monitoring tools.
• Motivated to build relationships and influence teammates and senior leadership to take action; proactively communicates project status, risks, and recommendations across cross-functional teams.
• Experience with Salesforce or similar CRM platforms.

Educational Background and Work Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 3–7 years of relevant experience in communications, content strategy, journalism, or a related field; experience in education, nonprofit, or social sector strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience owning high-visibility content deliverables — such as annual reports, investor communications, or editorial publications — with evidence of strong stakeholder satisfaction and on-time delivery.
• Proven ability to design and execute social media strategy, with measurable impact on audience growth and engagement.
• Experience with AI tools (i.e. ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) in building reports, conducting research, analyzing data, creating dashboards, etc. to maximize efficiency while ensuring high-quality, accurate information 

COMPENSATION

Compensation is commensurate with experience and education. The target salary range for this role is $75,000-$85,000 annually. CSGF offers a very competitive package of benefits, including: health, life, disability, and dental insurance coverage; vacation/holidays and parental leave; and participation in CSGF’s 403(b) plan. Candidates must have permanent authorization to work in the US.

START DATE

CSGF is seeking candidates who can start as soon as possible; flexible for the ideal candidate.

WORKING AT CSGF 

We are focused on hiring and developing great people and believe that building diverse perspectives  across our team makes us more effective in expanding our impact. (This is reflected in Our Commitment Statement.) Our core values are:

Why you'll love working here:

• Join a team driven by purpose, collaboration, and a commitment to identifying and responding to the needs of the public charter schools that we support
• Access to professional development and learning opportunities

Our core values are:

Results

• We believe that student success is the ultimate measure of our performance.
• We work with urgency and intentionality for the portfolio and their schools. 
• We hold ourselves accountable to strong outcomes.
• We relentlessly prioritize our resources to drive positive, measurable, attributable impact for the charter leaders, their schools, and ultimately students.
• We believe strong results come from good decisions, and the best decisions are made when we use data - both quantitative and qualitative - and gather input from diverse perspectives, especially those most impacted by the work.  
• We celebrate our wins and learn from our losses.

Teamwork

• We value organization over team, and we value team over individual.
• We actively break down silos and collaborate across teams.
• We believe building strong, healthy relationships is critical to move our work forward.
• We seek to proactively communicate across teams to strengthen our outcomes and add value for the portfolio.

Integrity

• We believe that trust is our most important asset, and we must earn and maintain the trust of the portfolio member leaders, investors, and our team to achieve our goals.
• We are often entrusted with sensitive and confidential information about the portfolio - we do not ever violate these confidences.
• We show ownership for our successes and our failures. 
• We speak directly to the person, even when it's messy and hard, and get ahead of potential problems.
• We do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

Respect 

• We understand and acknowledge our place in the value chain – the students, teachers, principals, and other leaders at portfolio networks are doing the hardest, direct, and most impactful work in their schools each day.
• We prioritize humility and embrace getting better every day.
• We are curious and open-minded.
• We are aware of our own biases and how they might affect our judgment, and we take ownership to mitigate their impact.

Entrepreneurship

• We take calculated risks, looking for new ways to add value and improve how we work.
• We are problem solvers in all aspects of our work.
• We actively connect people and ideas in strategic ways to foster new ideas and learning. 
• We acknowledge not all investments will succeed and embrace failure as it facilitates deeper learning for our organization and the portfolio.

E-VERIFY STATEMENT

This employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you. Including terminating employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 form.

Charter School Growth Fund provides equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees.