Program Operations Manager, Academies

Location: Remote + national travel (preference for Chicago or New York City)

Employment Type: Full-time, exempt

Salary Range: $68,000 - $76,000

Benefits: High-quality health and dental insurance, paid vacation, employer-matched retirement plan

The Organization

At Thrive Scholars, we provide high-achieving students from under-resourced communities the opportunities they need to thrive at top colleges and in meaningful careers.

Our comprehensive and data-drivenprogram modelfocuses on the key inflection points that can be the difference between graduating from any college and graduating from a top college with the grades, degree, career skills, and network needed to thrive in any career. Thrive Scholars originated in Los Angeles as South Central Scholars (“SCS”) twenty years ago. Over this time, the organization has refined its program model and, in the last five years, has focused on expanding nationally; reaching more high-achieving students from under-resourced communities, growing the number of Scholars we serve; and deepening our program impact. Thrive Scholars has begun to grow its footprint with new summer program offerings in three additional cities. The organization has approximately 75 year-round employees and close to 200 summer employees.

The Program:

Summer Academy has long been the keystone of Thrive Scholars’ Six-Year Program, offering a signature summer experience through intensive college-preparatory courses taught by college instructors. Thrive’s current strategic direction builds on the success of Summer Academy to expand our impact by establishing community-based Thrive Academies in cities across the United States. We launched our first two Thrive Academies as commuter programs in Los Angeles and New York City in 2024 while simultaneously continuing to offer the residential Summer Academies for Scholars who are part of our Six-Year Program and our OnRamp Program. We are gearing up to open a third Thrive Academy in Chicago and expect to continue extending our reach to other cities in the coming years.

The Position:

As we establish Thrive Academies regionally, we seek a Program Operations Manager who will work collaboratively with the Program Director, Associate Director, and Director of Faculty to manage and support the operations of our regional academies, with a particular focus on the academic component. The Program Operations Manager will play an integral role in coordinating and supporting the operations infrastructure to ensure consistently excellent operations across sites. This is not a scholar-facing role, but rather an operations and infrastructure-facing role supporting the staff and systems that facilitate a world-class experience.

The Program Operations Manager will be an experienced project manager who can coordinate and manage operations processes with student success and experience as their north star. Successful candidates for this role are passionate about developing scalable efficient operations procedures and have experience doing so for programs that cater to supporting talented students who are low-income and first-generation. While this role will have general operations responsibilities, there will be a special emphasis on supporting the academic component, so candidates with experience in education administration are preferred.

The Program Operations Manager will report to the Director of Faculty.

Key Responsibilities:

The Program Operations Manager will coordinate the operations of a world-class summer experience that effectively prepares our team and seasonal staff to our Academies.

• Program Readiness Support: Support program set-up and readiness in the areas of personnel hiring, budget, project management, and event preparation and planning support.
• • Support the hiring process and onboarding protocols for faculty, teaching assistants, and interns
  • Support department budget health by executing and tracking financial transactions for the department, in alignment with the organization's policies, procedures, and goals
  • Support scheduling and roster processes for the Academies in collaboration with the Director of Faculty
  • Coordinate transportation and daily attendance processes with the on-site Director to support scholar safety and accurate program participation records
  • Coordinate and manage the program supply chain for classroom-related supplies for scholars and faculty including scholar laptop rentals and distribution and instructional materials
  • Support planning of department events and celebrations including partnership events, college fairs, program orientations, and celebrations
• Program Administration Support: Provide operational support to ensure a high level of excellence in the daily operations Academies at each site location.
• • Provide support to local Site Directors in maintaining excellent relationships with host campuses by supporting timely responses and follow-through during collaboration
  • Ensure that the academic program is appropriately resourced throughout the summer, with timely response to the needs of Faculty and Teaching Assistants
  • Co-design and send scholar and parent communication updates during the summer program, as needed
  • Provide logistical support for evaluation sessions during summer and academic year to ensure high response rates for surveys
  • Provide support for summer program close-out data evaluation and collection and review processes
  • Provide direct oversight and mentorship to program interns

Qualifications and Experience:
There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. The qualifications and experiences listed below are intended as a guide; we do not expect candidates to check every box. If you believe you can meet the expectations and responsibilities of this position, we want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work.

• Minimum of 4 years of professional experience; minimum of 2 years of experience in K-12 or college program settings, with a preference for those with a background in education administration
• Operations and logistics experience in an education, non-profit, and/or college access setting
• Ability to manage and prioritize multiple tasks and projects concurrently at a high level
• Proven track record of meeting or exceeding performance goals
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills
• Commitment to the Thrive Scholars mission

Compensation and Benefits:

Thrive Scholars offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including high-quality health, dental, and disability insurance, three weeks of paid vacation (four weeks after two years of employment), and access to an employer-matched retirement plan. This is a full-time, exempt position.

Travel Expectations:

The role can be a remote position and will require national travel (up to 10 times per year, mostly during summer months/on-site during Academies). Preference will be given to qualified candidates who live in the Chicago or New York City area.

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Thrive Scholars provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status. Knowing their importance to the success of our work, Thrive Scholars is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we aspire to build a diverse staff team and community. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

For more information, please visit www.thrivescholars.org.