Director of Student Leadership Development

The Director of Student Leadership Development serves as the strategic, visionary champion of all initiatives dedicated to student leadership development from Transitional Kindergarten through Grade 12. The Director will oversee a program that effectively merges proven leadership skill-building practices and the school's commitment to service with intentional pedagogical interventions that operationalize the Portrait of the Latin Leader, Charlotte Latin Schools' strategic foundation for comprehensive student leadership development.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Build upon the strengths of the Portrait of the Latin Leader framework to craft and vertically integrate the leadership curriculum in grades TK-12.
• Develop appropriate metrics to measure the effectiveness of the leadership program.
• Partner with the Academic Leadership Team to organize appropriate faculty professional learning opportunities to enhance the student leadership development experience across all grade levels and content areas.
• Design new courses and modify existing ones to increase students’ access to high-quality leadership development opportunities.
• Teach courses within the Student Leadership Development program. Possible teaching may include the Grade 7 and Grade 8 Leadership Lab, Grade 10 Leadership & Social Responsibility, or Grade 12 Leadership for the 21st Century.

• Oversee the service and community-engaged learning program, including a team of faculty divisional coordinators, with the intentional effort given to engaging Latin students in the broader Charlotte community through volunteerism and other initiatives that foster civic and social impact.
• Organize Sunny’s Day, a yearly community day event connecting students, faculty, staff, and alumni in shared experiential learning.
• Partner with the athletics department in support of the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). 
• Collaborate with the Advancement Team to craft mission-centered messaging that educates prospective and current families and other constituents about the student leadership program.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise the Student Leadership Development Team, which comprises the Director of Speech & Debate, the Experiential Education Coordinator, one Teaching Fellow, and the Student Leadership Development Administrative Assistant.

Education and Experience

• A bachelor's degree is required. The ideal candidate possesses an advanced degree and extensive experience with curriculum design, instructional practices, and programming focused on student leadership development in an independent school setting.

The ideal candidate doesn't just teach leadership — they embody it emotionally. This role requires someone who deeply understands their own leadership style, blind spots, and sensitivities as outlined in the following core leadership competencies:

• Self-Awareness: Regulates urgency, adapts tone to the audience, and knows when to defer vision.
• High Empathy: Understands diverse perspectives (e.g., Lower School vs. varsity coach), anticipates resistance, and responds to pushback with curiosity.
• Interpersonal Relationship Skills: Builds coalitions, tailors influence (1:1 vs. public), and maintains relationships through productive tension.
• Influence Without Authority: Frames development as support, uses data/narrative to persuade, and knows when to push or plant seeds.
• Emotional Self-Regulation: Stays steady amid change/feedback, avoids taking resistance personally, and models program behaviors.
• Adaptability / Flexibility: Leads selflessly, comfortable with iteration, balances long-term vision with short-term adjustment.
• Systems Thinking with Emotional Insight: Designs growth-focused metrics, spots systems that exclude/overwhelm, and considers the faculty's cognitive and emotional load.
• Conflict Management: Names tension early, facilitates dialogue over avoidance, and keeps disagreements mission-focused.
• Authenticity & Moral Compass: Models values visibly, makes values-based decisions, and holds students accountable with dignity.