Operations / Administration Implementation Manager, ApplyPhillyCharter
Job Description
ORGANIZATION SUMMARY
The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) works to give every child in America’s fifth largest city the opportunity to attend a great school. We invest philanthropic funds in high-impact schools so they can serve more low-income students—whether they be in the traditional public, public charter or private sectors. Our aim is to catalyze the creation or transformation of enough schools to ensure better options for 50,000 students, or nearly one in four of all Philadelphia schoolchildren. Since 2011 PSP has invested in more than 50 schools, creating new educational opportunity for 21,000 students. PSP also works to create the conditions that enable great schools to grow and thrive, including a strong pipeline of qualified teachers and principals, resources and initiatives to empower parents and families, and policies that enable entrepreneurial school leadership and create opportunity for high-performing schools to grow. Additionally, PSP invests to catalyze collaboration, facilitating the sharing of best practices among schools and support organizations. Nonpartisan and data-driven, we work with government officials, business leaders, education leaders and practitioners, and community groups to pursue the promise of a great school for every child.
PSP believes that in a city as large as Philadelphia, there is not one best or right kind of school. Two hundred forty thousand children need a wide variety of schools from which to choose. The city has numerous examples of high-performing schools, and they span all three primary sectors: charter schools, district schools and private/Catholic schools. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of quality options in all three sectors. More than 35,000 students sit on waiting lists for the city’s best schools—which include private, charter, district magnet, and district neighborhood schools. Our work centers on leveraging philanthropic capital to attract entrepreneurial leadership and overcome inertia and financial and political barriers so that Philadelphia can have more great schools.
Like all cities, Philadelphia has finite resources for K-12 education. PSP believes the route to effectively educating all of the city’s children lies in fomenting and sustaining an educational ecosystem that steers resources toward effective schools, regardless of sector or type of school, so they can grow; increases equity of access to all school choices for families; and utilizes multiple measures of school performance to hold schools accountable for outcomes, thus ensuring support and—if necessary—intervention for struggling schools.
POSITION SUMMARY
The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) believes that helping to empower parents to find, choose, and advocate for higher quality schools of all types (district, charter, and private) is a critical part of our strategy to ensure every child in Philadelphia is enrolled in a great school. Specifically, we are working to better equip families with information to find and choose great schools for their children. We have created “GreatPhillySchools,” (GPS) a print and web-based resource giving parents access to data on academics, safety, and more for every school in Philadelphia.
GreatPhillySchools is working with charter schools across Philadelphia to implement ApplyPhillyCharter – an online application portal allowing families to apply to charter schools form a single website.
The Implementation Manager will be responsible for execution of a new online application for Philadelphia charter schools, and to ensure a positive user experience for all stakeholders when using the application portal (i.e., participating schools, community partners, families). He/she will serve as the primary contact for participating charter schools with respect to providing training and ongoing technical support relating to accepting applications through the portal.
In addition, he/she will be responsible for managing a team to provide high-quality customer service to families applying to charter schools using ApplyPhillyCharter. He/she will create and oversee a ‘help line’ to assist families using ApplyPhillyCharter via phone calls, emails, as well as in person at community events throughout the city.
This position reports to the Manager, GreatPhillySchools. He/she will work closely with the entire team including the GPS Coordinator, Interns, Project Manager, and other staff as needed.
PSP is an equal-opportunity employer with good benefits and an entrepreneurial, results-oriented work culture.
This is grant-funded position for up to 12 months, with the anticipation of roles and work moving to a new entity.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• Develop and execute trainings for charter schools; provide ongoing technical support:
o Work with technical vendor and Data Analyst to develop trainings for charter schools
o Serve as primary contact for charter schools for ongoing concerns
o Triage and respond to charter school inquiries in a timely manner
• Serve as liaison to technical vendor to ensure user concerns are addressed in a timely manner
• Facilitate user testing sessions for application portal prior to website launch
• Manage customer service team to provide high-quality customer service to users of the application portal:
o Hire, train, and manage 2-3 Family Support Specialists to respond to family inquiries by phone, email, or in person
o Hire and train staff to conduct application intake by phone
o Provide training to staff to assist families with using application portal and GreatPhillySchools resources in various languages
o Develop customer service scripts
• Direct inquiries or response requests to the proper organizational component or staff member(s) of GreatPhillySchools, when needed
• Oversee and manage collection of relevant data; work in collaboration with relevant and GPS staff to validate data
• Provide major event support
• Perform other duties as assigned
QUALIFICATIONS
• Commitment to the mission of GreatPhillySchools and the Philadelphia School Partnership
• Experience developing and providing technical support to users through in-person trainings, developing and presenting written materials and cultivating trust among users.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills; comfortable representing the organization in meetings and larger venues
• Demonstrated experience managing a team towards achieving rigorous outcomes
• Demonstrated ability to take initiative and drive process through to project outcomes
• Strong strategic thinking skills
• Ability to work with a wide variety of “clients” and partners; interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Confidence working under pressure of deadlines and managing multiple priorities
• Ability to work independently, solve problems and be flexible
• Willingness and desire to participate in unexpected projects
• Experience and/or knowledge of Philadelphia education landscape (strongly preferred)
EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
• Bachelor’s degree required, master’s degree strongly preferred
• Minimum of 3 years of professional experience
• Demonstrated experience providing technical support
• Demonstrated experience with CRM database(s) (i.e., Salesforce)
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Proficient in Google Drive products (i.e., Google Sheets, Google Docs)
• Project and people management experience, strongly preferred
• Experience and/or familiarity with charter school application and/or enrollment processes, strongly preferred
• Fluency in Spanish (written and verbal), strongly preferred
• Experience working with clients of diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds
• Ability to work nights and weekends; this role requires nontraditional hours during peak periods
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
Ability to physically perform the duties and to work in the environmental conditions required such as:
• Traveling to schools and community events – valid driver’s license and/or access to transportation when necessary
• Functioning in office space – reaching file cabinets, filing, faxing, scanning, coping, typing, mailing, making phone calls
• Must be able to sit for up to two hours looking at a computer monitor, using a keyboard/mouse and typing
• Must be able to lift up to 25lbs on a frequent basis
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Email resume and cover letter to Molly Farley, Human Resources Consultant, at MFConsultantsLLC@gmail.com.
Salary commensurate with experience, along with excellent benefits.
A modest relocation package may also be available for out-of-state candidates.
