Youth Development Director, Alpha - $200,000/year USD at Crossover

• On-site at an Alpha campus in New York City, NY; Miami, FL; or San Francisco, CA — relocation assistance available
• $200,000/year
• Full-time

Traditional elementary schools reduce expectations when students face challenges. You do the opposite. You know a six-year-old has untapped potential that conventional classrooms rarely access, and you have used evidence to demonstrate this repeatedly.

Alpha operates on a two-hour learning framework. Adaptive software handles academic instruction each morning, freeing your time for what truly transforms a child: motivation, life skills, coaching, and accountability. You directly manage a cohort of K-3 students while also coaching the Guides (Alpha's name for the adults who mentor and inspire students) who drive their daily development. You remain hands-on daily, not leading from an office removed from the action.

Your typical day alternates between three priorities. You analyze performance data and Coachbot analytics to identify which students and Guides need support. You conduct coaching sessions that equip people with specific action steps rather than generic encouragement. And you capture and hold the focus of a room filled with five- to nine-year-olds during workshops on public speaking, focus, or feedback exchange.

When you identify effective approaches, you document them. The playbooks you create set the standard for all other Guides to follow, extending your influence from a single cohort to the entire grade level. Demonstrating your ability to replicate that quality is your pathway to expanded leadership responsibility.

If reducing expectations seems compassionate to you, this role is not a fit. If elevating them feels like dignity, apply.

What You Will Be Doing

• Coaching both Guides and students through performance data review, classroom observation, and direct feedback, then maintaining accountability to quantifiable objectives
• Leading one-hour live workshops for K-3 students focused on life skills including public speaking, focus, collaboration, resilience, accountability, and feedback exchange
• Conducting individual and small-group motivation sessions that link each child's interests and aspirations to measurable academic advancement
• Creating and iterating on playbooks that convert your successful methods into replicable systems other Guides can implement reliably
• Training Guides on these playbooks and demonstrating exemplary facilitation so standards remain consistent as the team expands

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Providing academic instruction or lecturing; adaptive apps manage content delivery while you coach people
• Reducing expectations when students encounter difficulty
• Managing remotely like traditional instructional coaches and principals; you remain embedded with your cohort every day
• Managing the full campus budget, operations, and parent relations; a Campus Lead handles those responsibilities so you can concentrate on student and Guide results
• Advocating for traditional teaching approaches or adhering to a standard K-12 curriculum

Youth Development Director Key Responsibilities

Fulfill Alpha's three commitments to every K-3 student: they love school, learn twice as fast, and develop exceptional life skills and independence.

Basic Requirements

• Willing to work on-site at an Alpha campus in New York City, NY; Miami, FL; or San Francisco, CA; relocation assistance is provided
• Bachelor's degree in Education, Psychology, Business, Organizational Leadership, Child Development, or a related field
• At least 5 years working with elementary-aged children (roughly ages 5 to 9)
• Experience leading a team of 5 or more people, including authority to hire and to remove people based on performance outcomes
• Experience building, launching, or significantly growing a program, team, school, or initiative from the ground up, not inheriting an existing one
• Comfortable working in a school that rejects traditional teaching methods
• Legally authorized to work in the United States

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Master's degree in a related field
• Demonstrated experience using metrics, dashboards, or analytics to diagnose challenges and achieve measurable improvement
• Experience coaching or managing other adults toward quantifiable outcomes, not just performing the work directly
• Background in youth development, camp leadership, competitive coaching, tutoring, or enrichment programs where motivation was essential
• Confidence and ability facilitating or public speaking before groups of young children

About Alpha

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Roles with real student impact: Alpha hires teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members.

Education work that pays like it matters: Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience.

A culture built for builders: Alpha is fast-moving, ambitious, and student focused. It’s for people who want to improve the system, not maintain it.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $100 USD/hour, which equates to $200,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5814-US-Hialeah-YouthDevelopme