Associate Director, Operations
Bay Area, CA
Network Support – Operations /
Full-time /
On-site
The Team
The Rocketship Public Schools Operations Team is committed to advancing student outcomes by striving side-by-side with our instructional staff to bring excellence to every aspect of our schools. We focus on providing consistently efficient and high-quality services to our students and families. At each school site, the Business Operations Manager oversees key elements of our school to “block and tackle” for instruction, owning areas such as student nutrition, recess, arrival, dismissal, physical space, procurement, and budget management. As a network, we provide templates and guidelines for efficient school site business operations, and oversee school operations talent towards excellence through coaching, leadership development, and career pathway creation.
The Position
In collaboration with the Principal, the Associate Director of Operations provides targeted coaching for our school-based Business Operations Managers (BOMs). This is done through observations, in-the-moment coaching, and professional development on a range of school operation leadership topics. This role also partners with the rest of the central Operations team to provide central support, tools, and resources on topics including new school startup, management of Operations Specialists (BOMs’ direct reports), and execution of all operational systems. In addition, the Associate Director of Operations is responsible for many elements of regional business management and project management, including interfacing with local vendors (student food service, custodial, security, etc.), local reporting and compliance requirements, new school start up, and more.
Essential Functions
- The essential functions of this position include, but are not limited to the following:
Direct School Support and Coaching
- Provide coaching for all Business Operations Managers in the region (2-5 people per region)
- Provide consistent, high-quality onsite and remote behavior coaching and support to all local BOMs, focusing on school systems, Operations Specialist team management, and school leadership collaboration
- Partner with school Principals, Directors of Schools, and network Operations Team to ensure that schools function at a high level
- Uphold a high standard of excellence for school operations and provide meaningful evaluations of school operations and BOM performance
- Serve as point of escalation for school-based operational issues
- Partner with new BOMs to lead the strategy, planning, and execution for the operational requirements for new schools in the region
Regional Leadership and Business Project Management
- Lead the strategy and execution of all regional business projects, including vendor contracts, vendor management, state and local authorizer audits, and other reporting requirements
- Identify and manage new initiatives to meet the changing needs of the region and our schools (e.g. transportation, co-location, etc.)
Resource Design and Network Iniatives
- Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Director of National Operations and other members of the Operations Team across topics
- Create tools and templates to support high-quality operations at school sites
- Design and deliver professional development to meet the needs of our school-based staff
- Participate in the design and roll out of projects that meet our organization-wide goals
- Support network-wide communications across the Operations team
Ideal Candidate
- The ideal candidate for the Associate Director of Operations position at Rocketship Education is someone who has a track record of achieving school operations excellence across schools in an organization of similar scope and scale to that of Rocketship Education. This could come from experience in a very similar role, or from experience managing Principals or other school leaders who have a component of operational and behavior management in their roles. We will also consider candidates whose experience is primarily based in a single school (leading operations or as a Principal), though the role does require the perspective learned through managing or supporting multiple schools, and managing through multiple levels of staff.
- The Associate Director of Operations will be mission-driven with a tangible passion for ensuring Rocketship Education continues to provide life-changing opportunities for students of low-income communities where we catalyze city-wide, sustaining transformation. The ideal candidate has experience working in a dynamic, growing organization during a transformational phase and identifies with, and appreciates the work of, every contributor across all levels of the Rocketship Education organization.
Required Qualifications
- 2+ years managing managers, ideally school-based leaders (e.g., Business Managers, Principals, Assistant Principals) across school sites -- including coaching and development around setting culture and managing student behavior
- 3+ years professional experience in school site leadership (e.g. Operations Manager, Principal, Dean of Culture), preferably in a high-performing charter management organization
- Ability to travel to other Rocketship regions (CA, TN, WI, TX) roughly 1-2 times per quarter
- A passion for Rocketship’s mission to eliminate the achievement gap and a belief that all students can achieve academic success
- Extremely high standard of excellence for school operations
- Excellent professional development design and delivery skills
- Experience in planning and leading complex initiatives or projects
- Creativity in designing new tools, resources, and guidelines for school-based staff
- Ability to build trust, relationships, and credibility quickly with people in various roles at all levels of the organization, and especially at school sites
- Ability to independently and effectively manage time in an environment with multiple workstreams and competing priorities, maintaining a high degree of personal responsibility
- Demonstrated ability to be detail-oriented, organized, and resourceful
- Outstanding ability to build and manage group culture and navigate complex group dynamics
- Ability to differentiate content/experiences to address school-specific context and needs effectively
- Extraordinary communications skills with remote teams
- High tolerance for ambiguity and for a rapidly changing environment
$105,000 - $108,000 a year
