Director Operations Strategy and Enablement

SECTOR: Education, Foundations / Philanthropy, Impact Investing / Social Finance, Technology / Telecom Reform FUNCTION: Operations, Technology, General Management / Strategic Planning LOCATION: Flexible

ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

Since 2000, more than 6 million people and partners have contributed $1.5 billion to support 2.8 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students' identities, to winter gear to keep students warm. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World—the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States to bring classroom dreams to life.

DonorsChoose is also at an exciting and pivotal moment of growth and innovation, exploring and testing new ways - through both growth and new product offerings - to eliminate educational inequity for all students. To learn more about the organization, visit the DonorsChoose website.

About the Operations team:

The Director, Operations Strategy and Enablement (OSE) sits on the broader Operations team, which exists to support customers and represent their needs internally to create a smooth, secure, successful, and equitable experience at scale. The result of this work ensures customer privacy and site integrity, improves the experience of teachers and schools facing inequity based on identity, and does so while efficiently maintaining or improving performance as volumes increase.

The Operations team is made up of four verticals: Operations Strategy and Enablement, Content and Volunteer Operations, Customer Support, and Trust and Safety Operations. Ultimately, the Operations team is a big team committed to a big mission. We're more than the sum of our parts, and we prioritize collaboration, communication, and relationships to achieve our objectives.

ABOUT THE POSITION

As our next Director, Operations Strategy and Enablement (OSE), you are looking for more than just a job—you're looking for an organization whose mission aligns with your values. You are eager to lead a high-functioning OSE team focused on accelerating the broader Operations team's ability to meet its mission through strategy, alignment, and execution. You thrive in using data to identify and prioritize strategic directions for the team, aligning work across operations subteams, supporting the work of individual subteams through internal advocacy and representation, leading cross-cutting projects, and building Operations' capacity through shared services.

As Director, you will report to the Senior Vice President of Operations, manage two full-time employees, and create a team culture that motivates members to collaborate cross-functionally, understand and represent the needs of their stakeholders, and grow professionally while meeting team goals. This small, but mighty, team has outsized scope, influence, and problem-solving capacity.

The Director's areas of responsibilities include:

• Team leadership: Carry out the vision for Operations Strategy & Enablement; Develop criteria against which your team's work is prioritized in alignment with Operations and organizational objectives; Set ambitious quarterly objectives and key results (OKRs), and track progress against them.
• Data Strategy: Lead team strategy on the use of data to understand gaps and opportunities in their work; set meaningful goals; measure and report on impact.
• Project Management / Special Projects: Lead the team's largest and/or most complex projects and initiatives (e.g. leading operational expansion into new markets), from product enhancements to policy explorations to significant process overhauls.
• Coordination: Design and implement annual and quarterly management of transparent goals and progress across Operations; Ensure alignment of goals and priorities across Operations; Lead segments of the annual planning process for Operations.
• Shared Services: Drive a culture on Operations of making data-driven decisions, and lead the team that will support data needs; Own the Operations team's management of product changes and bugs, administration of knowledge management, including decision logs and staff onboarding/training.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS:

Studies have shown that leaders from underrepresented groups only apply to jobs if they feel they meet 100% of the qualifications. As no individual candidate meets every qualification, we encourage candidates who meet most of these requirements to apply:

• A minimum of 7-10 years of professional work experience, with at least five years in technology-based product development
• An ability to balance the needs of diverse stakeholders and understand their perspectives from both the 30,000-foot and on-the-ground views
• A strong understanding of the product management lifecycle for technology-based products
• Exceptional project management skills, with a track record of setting objectives and developing backwards plans involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities
• Excellent communication skills, with a focus on clarity and concision
• Exceptional relationship and trust-building skills, both internally and externally, with the ability to build positive relationships at all organizational levels and with a diverse group of stakeholders
• A track record of taking the initiative, taking on new challenges, and building a culture of learning on teams
• An organized and agile approach to work, with excellent prioritization skills, and an ability to balance multiple deliverables across multiple projects
• Curious, creative, and user-focused
• A commitment to advancing racial equity and centering the perspectives of those most impacted in decision-making
• A proven ability to use data to improve processes and metrics
• Experience with business intelligence and data analytics tools is a plus
• Written and/or spoken Spanish skills are a plus

Location:

The majority of the DonorsChoose 160+ person team works a flexible hybrid to remote schedule from the NYC area, including from their Manhattan office which is open for optional use. DonorsChoose is open to talent across the US, states where employees currently can work are: New York City or Remote in CA, CO, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, MA, MD, ME, MI, NJ, NM, NY, OK, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, or WI.

If a candidate is not based in NYC, they should be willing to travel on an as needed basis, at minimum 4-6 times a year.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:

Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range, given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

• The hiring salary range for this role is $106,000 - $122,000 and will be commensurate with experience
• We have a hiring salary range of $118,000 - $136,000 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Exact compensation details will be commensurate with experience and location. In addition, we are open to a variety of experiences and recognize that the person we hire may be more or less experienced than what is outlined in this job description, as posted. If that's the case, an updated salary range will be shared with candidates if they move forward in our hiring process. Once an employee is hired, the salary range for their role increases to ensure they are able to receive performance-based raises and grow in their role.

DonorsChoose offers full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit the careers page.