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Organization Overview: Year Up is a one-year, intensive training program that provides urban young adults, ages 18-24, with a combination of technical and professional skill development, college credits, and paid corporate apprenticeships. Our mission is to prepare urban young adults for life and work in our technology-driven society and to give them opportunities to obtain successful and rewarding careers and higher education. We achieve this mission through a model that provides high support to students while holding them to a standard of high expectations in order to help them get on a viable path to economic self-sufficiency.

In our ninth year of operations, Year Up serves more than 800 students across six sites in Boston, Providence, Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco and Atlanta and we expect to add 1-2 sites per year over the next 4 years. Year Up has received numerous awards, including Fast Company Magazine’s Social Capitalist Award for our innovative business model and social impact in 2005, 2007 and 2008. For more information about our program, please visit www.yearup.org.

Position Overview: Year Up is seeking a dynamic and experienced Director of Operations & Strategic Planning to lead internal strategy efforts and ensure the operational effectiveness of the Boston site, the largest of Year Up’s sites, serving 280 students a year and employing 45+ staff. Reporting directly to the Boston Executive Director, the Director of Operations & Strategic Planning will provide executive-level leadership in ensuring the Year Up Boston team is consistently aligned around the key priorities involved in closing the Opportunity Divide in Massachusetts.

The candidate will be responsible for creating a seamless and effective environment for Year Up staff to meet their goals and fulfill the organization’s mission. S/he will have primary responsibilities for leading organization-wide goal setting and driving implementation; enhancing professional development systems for Year Up staff; budgeting and managing Year Up’s financial resources; and strengthening operational systems and processes.

In keeping with Year Up’s values, the Director of Operations & Strategic Planning will also interact with students as a mentor and group facilitator, participating in creating and sustaining a positive educational environment with trust among students, faculty and other staff.

Responsibilities:

Organization-Wide Goal Setting
• Lead Year Up Boston’s annual goal setting process and facilitate regular strategic planning; ensure Year Up Boston’s goals and operations align with national organizational priorities
• Regularly evaluate operating results to ensure organizational goals are being met
• Identify special projects that will increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the Boston site
• Drive the execution of key cross-functional priorities in collaboration with Boston leadership team

Professional Development Systems
• Lead in the planning, development and implementation of regular professional development opportunities and training for Year Up Boston staff
• Standardize and streamline the interviewing, hiring and employee on-boarding processes for Year Up Boston
• Enhance Year Up Boston’s approach to strategic team development, including regular bench assessment and pipeline planning
• Ensure site teambuilding strategy (recognition systems, celebrations, office décor, etc) in place and executed

Budgeting and Finance
• Manage the annual budget development process across all departments and implement budget tracking systems
• Provide Boston’s leadership team timely and insightful analysis of operations to ensure the most efficient utilization of Year Up Boston’s resources

Operational Systems
• Lead the development and standardization of day-to-day operational systems, participating in both executive-level and detail-level decision-making on the full range of Year Up Boston activities
• Oversee an Office Manager responsible for smooth office operations, including relationships with service providers and external vendors
• Represent Boston’s voice in cross-site operations matters; collaborate with colleagues in Year Up’s national office to effectively roll out cross-site operations initiatives
• Embrace and take on ad hoc issues related to site operations

Qualifications:
• A passion for serving urban young adults, an unshakable belief in their potential, and a strong commitment to the mission of Year Up
• 8+ years of experience leading the development and execution of key operational and strategic functions within a high-performing, entrepreneurial company or nonprofit organization
• 2-3 years direct management and dotted-line/influence management preferred
• Excellent project management skills combined with outstanding interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to make firm, executive-level decisions in a dynamic and fast-paced environment
• Experience leading and managing teams with shared responsibility for outcomes while demonstrating a flexible and adaptable work style
• Demonstrated success creating and managing budgets in a resource-constrained environment
• Experience leading an organization through periods of significant growth
• Sophisticated interpersonal and people management skills, including strong written and verbal communication skills
• Analytically-minded, with an ability to solve problems independently and in teams
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, with strong Excel skills preferred
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required

Year Up is an equal opportunity employer.

To Apply: Please email a resume and thoughtful cover letter, outlining how your skills and experience meet the qualifications of the position and stating how you heard about this opportunity, both in Word format, to Kailey Cartwright at kcartwright@yearup.org with a subject line of “Director of Operations and Strategic Planning.” Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.