Director of Regional Operations

Job Description

Job Description

Company Description

About KIPP New Jersey

KIPP New Jersey is part of the nationally recognized “Knowledge Is Power Program” network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students for success in college and in life. In 2002, KIPP New Jersey first opened its doors in Newark’s South Ward as a single class of 80 fifth graders and has since grown to educate students in grades K-12 across 17 schools in Newark and Camden. More than 90% of KIPP New Jersey students currently qualify for free or reduced meals.

The Director of Regional Operations leads and owns operational functions that directly impact schools in each region, including but not limited to, transportation, nutrition, technology, purchasing, budgeting  and regional data. The DRO also leads special projects and initiatives that improve the region’s operations and create better delivery of services and create operational efficiencies across the region. These could include attendance or student persistence initiatives, or special projects such as tutoring or summer school programming. The DRO  also oversees and implements  key enrollment processes and procedures for the region. The DRO supports the Managing Director of Operations in their work leading the region to achieve operational excellence in our schools.

The Director of Regional Operations (DRO)  leads and manages operational areas as delegated by the MDO of the region which may include, but is not limited to transportation, purchasing, budgeting, nutrition, technology, regional data, and summer school. Manage all aspects of vendor relationships as necessary (e.g. food service, transportation, after school provider), including:

• Liaise between vendor and school-based ops teams and troubleshoot problem areas.
• Work with the compliance team to ensure vendors are procured according to state and local laws.
• Define standards for internal functions such as technology and nutrition
• Roll out region-wide policies and initiatives related to the operational areas that the DRO manages.

The DRO will support the MDO in running point for centralized support teams such as technology, facilities, data, compliance, finance/budget, HR Ops, purchasing, academic operations,  and student recruitment. The MDO will manage some of these directly and will delegate to the DRO or DROs as necessary. 

• Work with KTAF support teams to define regional and school based roles in service level agreements.
• Liaise between school-based ops teams and KTAF teams as necessary. 
• Develop region-wide efficiencies to better support school operations leads in these areas.
• Facilitate communication and build structures to ensure both DSOs and department leads can do their best work.

The DRO supports the MDO in managing the local board, which may include:

• Schedule all local board  and committee meetings.
• Work with a compliance team to ensure compliance with state and local laws; post meetings on website as necessary.
• Ensure quorum for board meetings.
• Lead efforts to prepare agenda items for board meetings and ensure presenters are assigned tasks and prepared to present; run board prep meetings.
• Assemble all board books and ensure resolutions are accurate and vetted by MDO and key KTAF stakeholders.
• Manage board meeting minutes and resolutions and file in google drive, in coordination with the compliance team.
• Manage all logistics for all board meetings.

The DRO leads enrollment systems and routines for the region:

• Managing all aspects of Power School including student transfers, withdrawals and pushing new students into Power School
• Managing HHIS SOM training and application process. 
• Managing and ensuring fidelity of FinalSite in collaboration with the SRE team 
• Meet regularly and as needed with the SRE team and other regional DOE
• Leading the 8th to 9th transition project plan and driving towards regional metrics of success 
• Identifying and implementing needed systems, data reports, etc to ensure the seamless and accurate implementation of student data systems
• Support the monitoring of student registration and conversion data across the region including regular progress update emails to key stakeholders
• Support ongoing student recruitment initiatives.

In support of the MDO, the DRO will work with the Finance team to determine how regional school budgets are developed and managed. The regional team will provide input on the budgets and will work with the Finance team to determine the roles and responsibilities of the regional team for regional budgeting.  The DRO will support with the following:

• Support MDO and finance team with annual resource allocation and budgeting process. 
• Act as an accountability partner with monthly budget deadlines for regional partners (e.g. SPED, Facilities, etc). 
• Manage one or more regional budgets, e.g. associated with an operations function that the DRO more broadly manages (such as food service) and/or for regional team-wide categories (such as supplies/events). 
• Coordinate and complete purchases for the region. 
• Manage tracking of emergency funding requests and expenses.
• Manage all regional stipend pay outs and/ or any other salary adjustments and support all payroll and HR functional areas.

A key part of the DRO role will be to assume special regional projects and initiatives that arise from time to time, including but not limited to:

• Lead/project management charter renewals on behalf of region.
• Lead special initiatives to tackle a problem such as attendance or student persistence.
• Manage  grant funded programs that are specific to the region.
• Lead network wide ops efforts under the direction of the COO/MDO/MDSO
• Lead communications during emergencies/inclimate weather as directed by the MDO/MDSO
• Maintaining a centralized regional operations launch/resource site

In addition to the above, the DRO may support the MDO in the following ways:

• Identify opportunities for cross team collaboration, systemization and efficiencies to support effective, efficient and sustainable  cross regional systems implementation  and communication.  
• Develop regional systems and structures across regional teams to streamline processes, communicate effectively with key stakeholders, and hold teams accountable for executing the systems with fidelity.
• Prepare presentations and data to guide regularly occurring and one-off meetings including, initiative launches, etc.
• In conjunction with MDO and MDSO, co-plan materials for retreats, PDs, strategics and goal-step backs, etc.
• Plan and lead weekly DSO Tactical Huddle with MDSO
• Support MDO/MDS with reimbursements and calendar management as requested

The DRO may support the MDO and the region with events, which may include:

• Co-manage any large regionally mandated travel (TEAMSPYs, Leader Summit, Heartbeat Summit, KSS, etc.) with the KTAF events team
• Manage regional events such as but not limited to regional PDs, New Staff Orientation, holiday party,etc. 
• Ensure that regional events are executed according to project plan and milestones are hit.
• Manage school and regional calendar and communications. 
• Plan logistics for various meetings and special events. 

As job descriptions cannot be exhaustive, the position holder may be required to undertake other duties that are broadly in line with the above essential duties and responsibilities.

Required Education and Experience

• 5+ years of progressively increasing operational management experience in the context of a growing organization or business, required
• Bachelor’s degree, required
• Previous experience in education and/or nonprofit environment, strongly preferred
• Familiarity with school-based operational structures, strongly preferred

Skills and Abilities

• Maintains an unrelenting commitment to continuous improvement,  results-orientation and unwavering determination to ensure students and teachers succeed
• Always makes decisions in the best interest of students, striking the right balance with external constraints
• Possesses a constant focus on excellence
• Builds positive and collaborative relationships with all stakeholders
• Influences others to achieve outcomes that best support kids
• Knows what’s important and what to prioritize at all times
• Is the fastest of learners and synthesizes information quickly
• Maintains supreme flexibility, with an ability to maneuver effectively in the face of uncertainty and transition and to continuously adapt priorities while maintaining focus on goals
• Demonstrated ability to develop, implement and manage business systems and processes to support a growing region
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with a demonstrated ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment, lead projects, meet multiple concurrent deadlines and organize time and priorities
• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of constituents and to build partnerships around common interests and goals
• Robust knowledge of public education, education reform initiatives and the charter school movement
• Sense of humor and strong interpersonal skills that contribute to a collegial working environment

The usual and customary methods of performing the job’s functions require the following physical demands:

• Weekend and evening work will be necessary to carry out the requirements of this job
• Period presence in person will be required for events, training, events and applicable meetings. 
• Travel to other KTAF regions or for work-related conferences and professional development will be required from time to time

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

Compensation & Benefits
The salary for this role is $125,000-$140,000, based on relevant experience. Salary ranges at KIPP are set based upon the role level and function, using benchmarks in the education and non-profit sectors, and allow for growth within the role.  Individual compensation will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to; relevant professional experience and qualifications; education, skills, and training; and market conditions.  

In addition to a competitive salary, KIPP offers a generous benefits package, including, but not limited to, the following:  

• Robust benefits that include medical, dental, and vision 
• KIPP 403b retirement plan, including matching contributions
• A school-issued laptop
• Generous Time-Off Policy
• Up to 12 weeks 100% parental leave for primary caregivers
• Employer paid life insurance
• Extensive optional ancillary benefits including, short term and long term disability and accident and hospital indemnity

Our organization is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, sex, gender, age, religion, national origin, citizen status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Our organization will make a reasonable accommodation to known physical or mental limitations of a qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of the organization. No questions on this application are asked for any unlawful purpose.

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