School Network Staff Chief Operations Officer
Job Description
About Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School
CRIPCS is an adult charter school that delivers high-quality education, career training, and supportive services that enable adult immigrants to realize their dreams while strengthening our community and economy. When you join the team at CRIPCS, you become part of a unique, mission-oriented organization that is actively and innovatively tackling some of the greatest challenges faced by adult learners and English language learners today. We have a laser-beam focus on equity of opportunity for those we exist to serve. We are proud to live into our commitment to continuous improvement and challenging the status quo. This documented and celebrated commitment to high quality work has earned us a seat at the table with governmental bodies who can impact our ability to do our best work for our students. In line with our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, we are centering our priorities in empowering our staff, building for the future, and centering our mission.
We are seeking a Chief Operations Officer who will build the necessary relationships to establish themselves as a strategic leader and key member of our senior leadership team. The COO will set and execute a vision for effective, coordinated, and inclusive school finances and operations to support an ambitious vision for student achievement. An effective COO will be able to build and support the implementation of strong processes and systems that will set people up to be successful in the short and long term. This role is ideal for someone who 1. is able to tackle complex change management in a way that inspires actions of people across the organization and 2. someone who believes deeply in challenging the status quo in order to unlock our abilities to do our best work for students. As we take on this new chapter of our organization, we require a COO who understands the organization and people development and can empower those who report to them to lead their teams and functions successfully.
The COO will lead a team committed to ensuring financial stability, organizational compliance, strong data, and reporting practices, and efficient and streamlined operations for both campuses and Home Office. The COO is a key member of the Executive Team and will play an integral role in our school’s return to in-person learning as well as vision setting and strategic planning for the future. The COO will collaborate closely with the CEO and Chief Academic Officer and manage a cross-functional team—including Finance, Technology, and other operational areas key to the Schools success including Covid operations, Food Services, and Transportation.
Over the first 12-24 months in the role, a successful COO would have built strong relationships across the organization, developed and empowered their direct reports to do their best work, challenged and evolved current systems and processes in service of building a more efficient and effective organization, and set a 2–3-year vision for process improvements and system enhancements in line with our strategic plan.
We will know that this person is successful if our students and teachers have access to and leverage the resources that they need to thrive in the evolving landscape of hybrid learning in adult education. Our work is complex, so a successful COO has established the appropriate processes and systems that ultimately will help our students persist. This means staff have the necessary technology and tools to support learning, teachers have the data systems that they need to be responsive in real-time, our budgeting process surfaces the resources that we need to meet our priorities and seamlessly execute key practices that allow our community to thrive (e.g, student scholarships).
Our Commitment to the Chief Operating Officer
CRIPCS is proud to offer a total rewards package including:
- A competitive annual starting salary range of $130,000-$195,200 commensurate with experience.
- 46 total days of time off (a combination of paid holidays, vacation, sick, and personal time) per year. This number increases over time.
- A flexible, hybrid work schedule.
- Competitive health benefits and retirement match (up to 6% of the base salary)
- Deep investments in individualized professional development inclusive of coaching, conference attendance, and tuition reimbursement
Responsibilities
People-Centered Leadership
- Set vision for organization-wide operations success in partnership with senior leadership team members
- Build buy-in, support others, and establish accountability systems in executing a vision for operations success
- Adept at empowering their direct reports to successfully lead their functions; displays a consistent ability to offer the right level of support at the right time
- Provide regular coaching, feedback, and development opportunities to the Director of Finance, IT Directors, and other School operational leads including Covid Lead, food services, and transportation.
- Will function as a significant partner in leading and evolving our Human Resources.
- Engage in ongoing self-reflection on issues of identity and equity and provide leadership to others around equitable and antiracist systems and practices, particularly in the areas of finance and operations.
- Leverage a human-centered design approach to build and enhance current policies, processes, and systems.
- Collaborate with other senior leadership team members to understand the needs of each team and serve as a solutions-oriented thought partner.
Financial Leadership
- Oversee the organization’s finances ($32,000,000 annual budget) including budget development, accounts payable, financial reporting compliance, and audits.
- Liaise regularly with the Board of Trustees regarding the School’s finances. Serve as a staff liaison to the Board’s Finance and Development Committee.
- Manage a finance team (a combination of in-house and outsources capabilities) to ensure seamless execution of day-to-day financial operations.
- Oversee vendor relationships and procurement with a focus on equitable and inclusive practices.
- Recruit and hire a Finance Director within the first 6 months in the role.
- Provide finance leadership and operations support to a close external partner, Community Capital Corporation, in line with our mutual services agreement.
Operational Leadership
- Ensures systems, processes, resourcing, training, and compliance around emergency preparedness including Covid Response Operations.
- Set the vision and strategy for student transportation and food services and collaborate with campus and district leaders to support coordination.
- Serve as the main point of contact with Community Capital Corporation for facilities usage and maintenance.
- Roll out IT governance structure in partnership with Data Governance Director.
- Oversee the development and continuous improvement of key systems, including the Student Information System and IT infrastructure.
- Collaborate with the executive team on data and accountability for the annual report.
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive experience in the nonprofit and/or social impact sectors, including 5+ years in operations leadership.
- Demonstrated success in effectively building, developing, and leading teams.
- Experience leading teams in courageous conversations and meaningful action on issues of race, power, privilege, and bias.
- Knowledge and experience using the Google and Microsoft Suites.
Preferred Qualifications
- Advanced degree from an accredited college or university; MBA preferred
- Experience working within education management and/or school-level operations leadership
- Experience overseeing custodial, facilities maintenance, or IT
- Bilingual/Spanish and English
Core Competencies for the COO
- Dedication: Being persistent, punctual, and dependable, with a positive, can-do attitude
- A demonstrated commitment to educational equity
- Deep commitment to CRIPCS’s core values and ability to model those values in relationships with colleagues and partners:
- Integrity
- Respect
- Perseverance
- Compassion
- Inclusivity
- Collaboration
- Excellent planning, forecasting, and project management skills, with keen attention to detail
- Ability to work collaboratively with and seek feedback from team members and stakeholders from diverse backgrounds and build a culture that fosters diversity and inclusiveness
- Ability to creatively address challenges and lead/manage teams through change, including the adoption of new or redesigned tools and systems
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Strong strategic thinking skills, with a data-driven and generative approach to problem-solving
- Capacity to delegate, give authority to work independently, set expectations, and monitor and delegate work assignments
- Ability to assess systems and operations from the “ten thousand foot” level in order to identify strengths, opportunities, and risks
- A strong track record of managing complex, cross-functional projects, from design to implementation to evaluation
- Expertise in making meaning of large data sets and using data to empower others and achieve priorities
- Capacity make decisions and exhibit sound and accurate judgment in a dynamic, fast-paced environment
- Must be able to provide proof of completed Covid-19 vaccination
