Program Operations Manager

Program Operations Manager, New York, NY

Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM), a project of the Art of Problem Solving Initiative, Inc., is seeking a Program Operations Manager to support our summer and year-round program operations. This includes pre-summer setup, summer administrative operations, internal admissions and college support project management, and overseeing data and documentation fidelity across our programs. You'll be part of a close-knit team making sure our programs run smoothly and are helping kids reach their full potential.

COVID-19 Note: BEAM programming is currently being offered online, and all staff are working remotely. We are planning on our Summer 2022 programs to run in-person. When our office does reopen for in-person work, it will open with social distancing protocols and a vaccine requirement in place. Proof of vaccination will be required before working in-person at the office or BEAM events/programming.

About BEAM

The mission of BEAM is to help students from low-income and historically marginalized communities with talent in math enter a realistic pathway towards becoming scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and programmers. Led by staff with these same technical backgrounds, BEAM believes that pathways to STEM careers are created through access to advanced work that typically lies outside most school curricula. Hence, we work to transition our students to the same enrichment programs as more affluent students typically access.

BEAM's model provides continuous support from middle school through college graduation, including intense academic summer programs for middle school students (after 6th and 7th grade), weekend classes and mentoring, and STEM-focused support to enrolled college students. Our program includes not just access to learning advanced math but also support finding and applying to other opportunities, including college admissions and financial aid. In addition to our academic content, bringing students into an intellectual community is a key part of our mission and all of our work is designed around that goal.

BEAM has grown from a small summer program serving 17 students in the summer of 2011 to a year-round, national program, serving 420+ students in summer 2021 at six program sites and 600+ students in year-round programming in New York City and Los Angeles this school year. In addition, our growing BEAM National program kicks off 2021 with our first ever elementary pilot program, working with schools in California, Michigan, New York, and Tennessee to expand BEAM’s programming and our students’ potential. BEAM's work has been featured in the New York Times and the Atlantic. The Times article, in particular, is a good description of the experience for students. You may also find it helpful to view our most recent annual report.

Your Role

This role is ideally suited for a highly-organized person with a detail-oriented mindset who enjoys providing support and structure to core programs. It can best be described as overseeing operations involving multiple teams and moving parts, with a strong emphasis on logistics and keeping operations running smoothly. This role will also be crucial for codifying and embedding our repeatable operations, such as the student admissions process, to help maintain program fidelity. Given the far-reaching nature of the role, it is a great opportunity to integrate as a crucial member of our staff across multiple teams and shape our future program operations.

As the Program Operations Manager, your responsibilities will include:

• Pre-summer program work (April-June):
  • Summer program prep, including seasonal staff onboarding, coordinating on-the-ground set-up, and planning student groups.
  • Managing student data transfer from admissions and registration staff to summer staff, including coordinating storage and relevant sensitive data permissions,
• Summer program operations logistics (June-July):
  • Implement and monitor new initiatives at summer sites,
  • Ensure adherence to COVID-19 policies and procedures across summer sites,
  • Coordinate operational logistics (e.g., field trips, supply orders, family communication) for summer programs.
  • Managing data collection, storage, and transfer to local year-round programs staff following summer programs (e.g., student evaluations).
• Summer wrap-up logistics (July-September):
  • Coordinate site wrap up logistics, including learning and evaluation initiatives
  • Implement wrap-up recommendations (e.g., re-designing summer staff training, better planning summer logistics),
• Year-round program operations management (September-April):
  • Serve as the internal admissions project manager during admissions season (Jan.-April), working closely with the external-facing admissions project manager,
  • Manage operational fidelity across programs by codifying processes, updating materials, and recommending process improvements.

This position reports to BEAM’s Senior Manager of Special Initiatives, but will work closely with multiple HQ, local NYC and LA, and potentially National programs staff.

Qualifications

Above all, we're looking for people who believe in the importance of the work we do, are eager to learn, and have the ability to dive into details while still looking for high-level process improvements. Given the managerial nature of the work, we expect you to work well independently and to be able to provide advice to team members to allow them to work independently as well.

We also have some technical qualifications in mind. We expect that if you are ready for this role, you will have:

• 5 years of relevant work experience, with at least 1 year of project management.
  • In some cases, we’d consider an individual with 3 years of work experience and a relevant degree.
• An ability to keep track of many operational and logistical details, think through multi-stakeholder eventualities and implications, and plan ahead,
• Experience in dealing with multiple projects and multi-functional teams, and ability to coordinate across teams quickly, efficiently, and effectively,
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal,
• Strong organization skills with strong attention to detail,
• Experience building or documenting business processes and procedures,

Significant pluses may include:

• Experience with a data management system, preferably Salesforce.
• Past work experience in operations
• Past work experience in summer camps
• Demonstrated commitment to BEAM’s mission and values
• Experience with mathematics
• Fluency in a language spoken by our families, such as Spanish, Mandarin, or Cantonese,
• Experience with STEM education, STEM research, or STEM outreach.

Salary, Benefits, and Other Details

The salary range for this role is $60,000-$75,000 depending on experience. BEAM provides a number of benefits, including health, dental, and vision; pre-tax commuter benefits; educational loan repayment assistance; and discounted health club membership. We provide 12 paid holidays/office closures, 7 dedicated sick days, and an additional 15 days of paid time off. Paid time off will increase by one day for each year worked for your first five years of employment.

One unique aspect of our organization is our highly-flexible work policies. Time-off is very flexible and it is easy to work from home (both before and beyond COVID-19) so long as you are keeping up with your responsibilities. Many of us shift our work times (doing work earlier or later in the day) to gain flexibility during the day to take extra time for appointments or errands.

As an organization, we are dedicated to the growth of our staff members. We will pay for training to supplement your skills when appropriate, and we encourage all of our staff to learn from each other. (We are, after all, an education organization!) Many of our staff train to become site leaders at our summer programs, and this is a path you might consider following.

In general, we are all very dedicated but also very relaxed, and we care deeply that the work environment is pleasant for everyone.

We would like this position to start by May 1, 2022.

Application Process

The initial application is to submit your resumé and a few short answer questions via our online portal. When your application is complete, we will follow up with next steps.

Next steps in our process may include a short 30-minute phone interview and/or sample projects so you can show us your work. We believe in the importance of demonstrated ability and work samples and give candidates opportunities to demonstrate relevant skills for the role throughout our process.

The final step of our process is a final interview with the team. We recognize the time you put into the process and we won't load you down with any unnecessary bureaucracy.

For accommodation requests related to the job application process, please contact Human Resources Coordinator Emily New-Cruse at emily@beammath.org.

This role has a priority application deadline of March 31, but we will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We would like this position to begin by May 1, 2022.

Finally

We believe strongly in communication and collaboration. In the spirit of that collaborative atmosphere, we strongly encourage you to ask questions about the position! You can contact Candace Bethea at candace@beammath.org.

We're very excited that you're interested in the program. Thank you for applying to BEAM.

Sincerely,

Candace Bethea, Senior Manager of Special Initiatives

And the Entire Staff at BEAM