Regional Director of Operations - IDEA Cincinnati (Immediate Opening)

Description

Role Mission: The Regional Director of Operations serves as the operations leader for their portfolio of schools and is responsible for achieving operational excellence across non-instructional areas including front office management, attendance, student information systems, child nutrition, transportation, health services, business office, facility maintenance, new construction management, technology coordination, student recruitment and enrollment.

The RDO indirectly manages Assistant Principals of Operations (APOs) across their portfolio and works alongside principals and Vice Presidents of Schools or Executive Director to coach, develop, and build capacity across operations departments. Additionally, the RDOA works alongside regional managers in the various operations departments to ensure quality execution and accountability for compliance, board and authorizer relations, and operational excellence.

What We Offer

Compensation:

• Salaries for people entering this role typically fall between $91,120 and $112,989, commensurate with relevant experience and qualifications and in alignment with internal equity. This role is also eligible for a performance bonus based on organizational performance and goal attainment.

Other Benefits:

We offer a comprehensive benefits plan, covering the majority of the employee premium for the base medical plan and subsidizing the majority of costs for a spouse/domestic partner and children. Some of the special benefits we offer at IDEA include:

• Paid Family Leave: Eligible staff may receive up to 8 weeks of paid leave for the birth or adoption of a child, based on their tenure with the organization and caregiver designation.

• Tuition Reimbursement: Staff members may apply for up to​ 50% of tuition paid toward a qualifying degree program, up to $5,250 maximum per year subject to manager discretion and budget availability.
• Employer-Paid Mental/Behavioral Health: 5 face-to-face counseling sessions within a year, unlimited 24/7 telephonic counseling, and other work-life services available at no cost.

Other benefits include dental and vision plans, disability, life insurance, parenting benefits, generous vacation time, referral bonuses and professional development. IDEA may offer a relocation allowance to defray the cost of moving for this role, if applicable.

What You Bring -- Competencies:

• Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.  
• Ability to travel between schools daily and via plane or car for training on a quarterly basis 
• Knowledge of the K-12 education landscape, especially with charters (community schools) highly preferred 
• Skill in critical-thinking and problem-solving, along with the ability to coach and develop these in others 
• Skill in organization, prioritization, follow through, and attention to detail 
• Skill in effective and interpersonal communication, both verbal and written, with ability to clearly explain and invest others in recruitment plans and goals 
• Skill in building strong relationships and mutually beneficial business partnerships through trust, empathy, and credibility 
• Ability to manage and monitor multiple projects at once, often under pressure with competing priorities and tight turnarounds while maintaining composure, ensuring quality, and achieving results. 
• Ability to demonstrate sound judgment and excellent decision-making. 
• Ability to analyze and interpret data and statistics to identify trends, draw conclusions, and develop strategies and tactics that that yield results and achieve goals; builds this competency in others 
• Ability to advocate, influence, motivate, and hold others accountable through consistency and clarity of expectations 
• Ability to manage adults to achieve results through influence rather than named managerial responsibility. 
• Ability to design, evaluate, and improve existing policies and procedures to ensure maximum effectiveness and efficiency 
• Ability to achieve quantifiable results through commitment, personal responsibility, and accountability 
• Ability to provide, receive, and implement feedback that continually improves performance and results 

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree or other advanced degree in relevant field preferred 
• Licenses or Certifications: None 
• At least 8 years of professional experience 
• At least 4 years of people management experience with at least 3  years of managing through layers within an organization 
• K-12 education experience highly preferred 

What You’ll Do – Accountabilities:

• Coach and provide on-going feedback to APOs and other operations team members that builds their job capacity and ensures operational effectiveness across all departments.
• Engage with Vice President of Schools or Executive Director and Regional SEL managers to prioritize student persistence and address concerns with campus culture, and coach APOs to problem solve operations-related issues.
• Manage Regional backwards plans to hit enrollment targets leading to lottery readiness and implement targeted interventions and daily mechanisms to track progress for campuses not meeting targets.
• Coach APOs through the enrollment cycle (recruitment, registration, re-registration, and onboarding) to meet 100% enrollment at all schools by deadline.
• Maintain compliance to state and local enrollment, attendance, safety, and other requirements through adherence to charter policies. 
• Lead strategy with Regional and school leadership teams to invest, motivate and implement effective attendance plans across campuses.
• Execute in-field observations regularly at all campuses on the daily operations process and identify strengths and gaps in execution.  Coach and develop APOs and Principals on effective execution that leads to a stronger staff and student experience.
• Analyze Regional and campus data on a daily, weekly, and cumulative basis.  Use data for accountability for other stakeholders and identifies trends to course correct in a targeted manner based on individual campus needs.
• Train, observe, provide feedback, and implement accountability measures to ensure adherence to the outlined ADA policy at each school, particularly official attendance taking times and the implementation of the escalation matrix for chronic absenteeism.
• Identify gaps from previous Beginning of Year execution and proactively plan to address them at campuses of concern– utilize quantitative data from parent and staff surveys and qualitative data from in field experiences.  Seek feedback from various stakeholders to determine root cause and recommend adjustments to current systems for APOs to implement.
• Provide on-going feedback to campus on systems effectiveness and coach APOs through problem solving and questioning to identify areas to improve.
• Plan BOY professional development sessions with APOs and observe and provide feedback on the spot.
• Lead the regional safety strategy and hold all regional team members accountable for effective execution of their roles in a crisis. 
• Provide next steps and engage with campus leaders to effectively respond during a crisis, and ensure execution of communication to staff, families, and regional/national team members.
• Ensure all campuses comply with district, local, and state safety requirements, such as required trainings, safety drills, monthly campus crisis team meetings, and weekly exterior door sweeps.
• Execute required safety audits at all campuses in portfolio two times per year and analyze data to identify strengths and gaps.  Coach campus leaders to close gaps and maintain compliance all year long.
• Ensure all team members attend functional professional development to build technical across all operations departments – seeks to learn and understand key skills within each department and follow-up with crucial next steps from training (accountability)
• Coach regional managers of operations departments to effectively engage with campus operations team members and build their capacity to meet goals through regular observations, feedback, data analysis, and accountability.
• Institute operating mechanisms that facilitate the ongoing coaching and support of all team members (APO check-ins, regional operations and APO tactical meetings, regular observation and feedback sessions).
• Maintain relationships with local board and authorizer to ensure compliance with Ohio Department of Education regulations and our local funder.
• Execute on defined compliance and governance actions for OEDS; serve as point-person for operations Ohio compliance items including health and safety audits and student information audits.
• Support regional Executive Director in maintaining relationship with local funder.
• Ensures that IDEA Greater Cincinnati Board of Directors is in compliance with Open Meetings Act for all committee and board meetings regarding physically posting notices and agendas at school and meeting sites, setting up physical space for public members, hosting physical location of committee and board meetings for board members and public members.  
• Works in collaboration with Director of Board Services IDEA GC to ensure that the materials created by Board Services team are executed at physical locations, including hard-copy board packets and signature packages.  
• Serve as signatory for IDEA Greater Cincinnati contracts and agreements, with focus on risk mitigation and accuracy.  

We look for Team and Family who embody the following values and characteristics:  

• Believes and is committed to our mission and being an agent of change: that all students are capable of getting to and through college  
• Has demonstrated effective outcomes and results, and wants to be held accountable for them 
• Has a propensity for action, willing to make mistakes by doing in order to learn and improve quickly 
• Works with urgency and purpose to drive student outcomes 
• Thrives in an entrepreneurial, high-growth environment; is comfortable with ambiguity and change 
• Seeks and responds well to feedback, which is shared often and freely across all levels of the organization 
• Works through silos and forges strong cross-departmental relationships in order to achieve outcomes 
• We believe in education as a profession and hold ourselves to high level of conduct, professionalism and behaviors as models for our colleagues and students 

Learn more about IDEA:

At IDEA the Staff Culture and Belonging Team uses our Core Values to promote human connection and a culture of integrity, respect, and belonging for all Team and Family members. Learn more about our Commitment to Core Values here: https://ideapublicschools.org/our-story/#core-values