Chief Operating Officer

The Organization
Prospect Schools is a high performing, intentionally diverse (“diverse by design”) K-12 college preparatory charter network serving ~3,000 students across seven (soon to be 9!) schools in Brooklyn. Prospect models its curriculum on the renowned International Baccalaureate Program, a rigorous program that raises the level of academic responsibility for students while preparing them to be global citizens.

Our experienced team is dedicated to our mission to prepare a diverse student body to have a positive impact on society and develop a lifelong passion for learning. We have a vision to become the leading network of intentionally diverse schools where all students and educators can learn, work and thrive. Our network is guided by our core values:

• Curiosity : Develop sound judgment and intellect by asking questions confidently and thinking critically
• Care : Support others by grounding every action in empathy while championing equity and inclusion
• Persistence : Grow and learn by solving problems with determination, creativity and tenacity
• Passion : Succeed by approaching challenges with excitement, enthusiasm and self-assurance

Find out more about who we are and what we believe by spending a few minutes reading our Prospector Principles and viewing this peek inside our schools .

About the Position:
Over the past 4+ years we have strengthened the operational function of each school, and our overall network, by establishing a shared definition of “gold standard” school operations helping us evolve school operations following COVID and our rapid growth from 4 to 7 schools. This has included building aligned roles, systems, and accountability structures to ensure each school meets this vision. As a functional department, we have also strengthened and evolved foundational systems and processes in IT, student recruitment and enrollment, after school programming, and professional development for operational leaders at our schools. Prospect Schools is now seeking an seasoned executive operational leader who possesses an uncanny ability to see the potential in people and processes, and can identify interconnected opportunities across multiple functional areas for acceleration and advancing our impact, truly enabling us to be an exceptionally run organization. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year and over the next 5, this leader will work to accomplish the following goals:

1. Elevate and excel our impact by refining, advancing and scaling our network and school operations.
2. Invest in the development of our seasoned operations functional Directors (ie; School operations, IT, Extended day programming, recruitment and enrollment) and ensure the launch of a pipeline development program for future operations leaders.
3. Own and advance communications, marketing, development, and community affairs. Develop a strategic approach to advance these key functions in support of elevating Prospect’s mission, vision, and external profile.
4. Eliminate any existing silos and deepen the cross functional connectivity of operations with all other functions including academics, finance, HR, strategy, etc.

Prospect School’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) will be a critical partner to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tresha Ward, and the larger Executive Leadership Team (E-Team), in driving these priorities across several functions impacting our entire Prospect Schools community. They will set vision, advance, manage, and optimize non-instructional systems and structures within our organization as a means to improve outcomes for our students. As a senior member of the organization, the COO will be looked to as a model of professionalism, integrity, strategic thinking and talent development and as someone who will drive the organization toward achieving significant results. In this role, we are seeking someone who can learn about what has made our program successful thus far, and work thoughtfully to develop a best-in-class approach to scaling our systems as we move to our next phase as a high performing and enduring school network.

As part of the Prospect Schools’ Executive Leadership Team, the COO will report directly to and collaborate with the CEO, and will work closely with the leaders on the E-team. This person will also work directly with the Prospect Schools’ and Brooklyn Prospect Charter School’s boards, functional directors, school leaders, faculty and staff across our network, external partners, foundation partners, members of the press/media and elected officials.

In the first year the COO will...

• Effectively partner with the CEO . Be expected to rapidly earn the confidence of the CEO with effective decision making aligned with organizational values and priorities.
• Evaluate and advance current functional areas .
  • Assess current functional team readiness for planned growth and expansion. Develop and implement a vision and strategy for codifying, strengthening, and scaling critical infrastructure and systems including IT, student recruitment and enrollment, staff recruitment and retention, and school and network operations. Identify opportunities for integration of Generative AI to maximize efficiency and potential; Develop a vision and strategy for underdeveloped areas of operations including crisis management, compliance, and across external/community affairs (communications, marketing, development) functional teams ensuring effective integration under COO leadership;
  • Develop a vision, strategy and departmental orientation towards codifying practices and effective knowledge management to support Prospect’s long term sustainability;
  • Assess and strengthen our community affairs capacity, including media relations protocols, crisis communications infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement strategies.
• Invest in our leaders. Strengthen and advance the culture of the operations functional department. Advance the development and coaching of current functional leaders to carry out the short- and long-term priorities of the organization. Oversee the development and launch of an internal Operations Fellowship to identify and train future operations leaders.
• Break down any existing silos. Deepen collaboration between operations and all functional areas including finance, facilities, academics, talent and strategy in support of highly effective, proactive network and school function.

Job Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

Executive Leadership

• Serve as a critical partner to the CEO on non-instructional operational functions of the organization. Including but not limited to appropriately leveraging CEO’s time and capacity on high impact initiatives.
• Actively serve as an executive leader within the organization modeling our organizational values and actively engaging in critical decision making;
• Proactively collaborate with the full Executive team, sharing information, breaking down silos and driving cross functional work;
• Represent the Executive leadership during external meetings with our authorizer, VIPs, and our boards by providing critical updates. Engage board members on committees and external partners in support of the organization;
• Ensure culturally competent and equitable practices are intentionally woven into decisions, systems, and processes;
• Represent Prospect Schools as a designee to the CEO at external communications conferences and events.

People Management

• Directly develop, manage and hold accountable the leaders of all functional teams under purview including: network and school operations, student recruitment and enrollment, IT, After school programming, crisis management, communications, marketing and development.
• Provide continuous coaching, feedback and evaluation of internal leaders with a strong orientation toward professional growth, capacity building and achieving results within and across functional teams;
• Build strong relationships and effective communications with school leaders and operational staff to promote effective support of the program on campuses and ensure alignment with network wide initiatives;
• Ensure the functional leaders are effectively supported and held accountable for quality support of our schools defined as minimizing the time principals and school based leaders spend on operational issues;
• Ensure a strong customer service orientation into all aspects of network and school operations is maintained and advanced;
• Establish training and development goals for non-instructional, school-based leaders and network functional leaders, and their teams to ensure staff are equipped with the skills and competencies to execute their work effectively, independently and grow professionally;

Operations Leadership

• Drive excellence and efficiency across all operational functions under purview including school operations (food service, transportation, recruitment and enrollment, information systems), facilities, compliance, crisis management, communications, marketing, and development;
• Lead the design and implementation of standardized systems, processes, and services that support the delivery of excellent operations across all schools; 
• Identify and enable opportunities use Generative AI to create efficiencies and strengthen functions;
• Own the overall function and coordination of the full network team and operations (ie; communication processes, knowledge management, and cross functional coordination);
• In partnership with Prospect Schools’ Executive leadership team, support the development and execution of the network's expansion strategy, ensuring the seamless launch of new school sites while providing robust support to existing sites;
• Ensure compliance with all non-financial reporting requirements for our authorizer, the city and state, and other regulatory agencies, in a timely and accurate manner, including overseeing all aspects of charter renewal process and authorizer visits;
• Identify and implement innovative solutions to improve and optimize processes improving team capacity and impact.
• Actively foster a healthy, unified culture among network staff and school sites, ensuring all team members feel valued, supported, and committed to our mission;

Community/External Engagement Leadership

• Lead initiatives that enable CEO/Prospect to build partnerships with local nonprofits, participate in community events, and other activities that support and advance our mission, deepen our programming, strengthen our connection to the communities we serve, and position us as a topic pick for families;
• Oversee communications, marketing, and development functions to ensure consistent, culturally responsive messaging and storytelling that resonates with diverse community audiences, positions Prospect as a leading school system, and fosters authentic engagement and two-way dialogue supporters and community stakeholders. Appropriately engage CEO to maximize time and influence in these areas;
• Manage relationships with city and state education departments and regulatory agencies, ensuring Prospect maintains a strong standing as a responsible community institution and charter school operator;
• Partner with CEO and Director of Development to build strategic partnerships with philanthropic institutions, community-based organizations, and other education leaders to secure resources and advance Prospect’s mission in service of students and families;
• Proactively respond to federal and local policy changes and community concerns positioning Prospect to respond with solutions and maintain community trust;
• Integrate community and stakeholder perspectives into operational planning, ensuring decisions reflect the needs and values of the Prospect communities we serve while maintaining organizational reputation and regulatory compliance.

About You : In order to be successful in this role, candidates must demonstrate the following:

• Bachelor’s degree required, with Master’s degree (MBA or Master of Public Policy/Public Administration) strongly preferred;
• Minimum of 15 years of operational/executive leadership experience serving as an active solutions oriented thought partner to a CEO/Executive Director (Former Chief of Staff, Chief Operating Officer, Chief of Strategy experience preferred; experience in CMO, district, or education nonprofit setting preferred);
• Executive experience and excellent judgement when navigating complex decisions that require leadership nuance and balancing multiple tradeoffs
• Proven success leading in a matrixed organization, overseeing many of the following functional areas: operations, IT, recruitment, compliance, safety, communications, marketing, external partnerships;
• Problem solver and self starter; ability to identify problems and develop solutions without prompting;
• Strong communicator in both oral and written forms;
• Strong interpersonal and talent development skills with the ability to assess, motivate, develop and drive high performance through individuals’ and teams’ strengths;
• Highly collaborative with the ability to balance goals with diplomacy and relationship-maintenance;
• High cultural competency and has great comfort working in a diverse community;
• Possess a continuous learning mindset and able to use feedback to improve their work and the work of others;
• Deeply creative, strategic thinker with a record of setting and achieving ambitious goals;
• Excellent personal organization, time management, and follow-up skills; ability to demonstrate an appropriate sense of urgency
• Ability to problem solve both strategically and tactically;
• Experienced systems thinker who can mediate our need to centralize and advance our operations effectively while also preserving the appropriate levels of agency for schools and teams to thrive in their communities;
• Experience managing both internal operations and external positioning, with understanding of how operational decisions impact organizational reputation and stakeholder relationships;
• Understands the importance of effective leadership to an organization’s mission, and is motivated to partner with Prospect Schools’ CEO, Executive Leadership Team, and key stakeholders to lead well and to live up to Prospect Schools core values.

The critical features of this role are described above but not all encompassing.

Location

Brooklyn, NY w/ some remote work flexibility.

Compensation

The first year salary for the COO will range from $250,000-$275,000 depending on experience. Additionally, Prospect Schools offers a comprehensive and competitive benefits package, which includes: medical, dental, and vision; 401K and Roth retirement options with a 4% match and 3-year vesting schedule; ~3 weeks of PTO (increasing after 3 years) as well as 10 holidays linked to the NYCDOE calendar; an HDHP; Employer-paid Short and Long Term Disability, AD&D, and Life Insurance(employee only); and other employee-paid benefits such as Transit/Commuter pre-tax benefits, Medical FSA, AFLAC, Nationwide Pet Insurance, Employee Assistance Program, Healthcare Patient Advocates.

To Apply
Review of applications will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled. For best consideration, please follow apply here and submit a cover letter and resume to Tresha Ward,  View email address on prospectschools.hiringplatform.com .