VP, Operations

Background

For generations, families with economic means have used tutors to help their children get ahead; we believe this should be available to all - not just those whose parents can pay for it.

The pandemic took a devastating toll on students already impacted by opportunity gaps, and many school districts have invested in providing tutoring in response. However, these efforts are reaching only a fraction of those who need it. Meanwhile, there are 15 million low-income elementary and middle students in the US and 12 million of them lack proficiency in reading and math.

That’s where Step Up comes in. We believe there is tremendous collective will to support our kids already within our communities. We unlock this potential by recruiting and training college students and community volunteers to serve as tutors and mentors to children, working one-to-one.

Step Up Tutoring was founded in 2020 in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide virtual tutoring and mentorship to elementary school students in under-resourced communities. We have provided over 100K hours of tutoring to over 3K students, and we now work with five district and charter partners to provide tutoring during the school day, after school, and at home. We partner with colleges and universities across California to provide work-based learning opportunities for college students via Federal Work-Study and CA for All College Corps and build pipelines into teaching careers.

Our innovative math virtual tutoring program has shown promising results, our literacy program is launching this fall, and our tutor training model has received national recognition. With strong partnerships and a unique human capital model in place, we are now poised to expand our operations, reach, and impact. We are looking for a Vice President of Operations to help make this a reality.

The Role

We are seeking a passionate and talented operations professional who is fired up about our mission and eager to commit their talents to help us achieve it. The VP, Operations will drive operational effectiveness, ensuring we deliver high-quality virtual tutoring and can scale our impact across new communities. Reporting directly to the CEO, they will lead tutoring and school operations teams, optimize processes and oversee program delivery in collaboration with our partners.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee the successful day-to-day implementation of Step Up’s tutoring program.
• Manage the Tutoring Operations and School Operations teams, fostering a culture of high performance, collaboration, exceptional service, and continuous improvement.
• Tutoring Operations: Own and optimize the full life cycle of tutor experience for volunteers and paid college students, including onboarding, training, tutor management and retention, driving measurable results on key performance indicators.
• School Operations: Oversee operations for at-home and onsite programs. Lead teams to drive effective and scalable processes for student recruitment, tutoring delivery, stakeholder engagement, and outcomes reporting.
• Ensure successful implementation of partnership agreements and build strong relationships with school districts and higher education partners.
• Monitor and report on operational metrics, adjusting strategies as needed to meet organizational goals.
• Work with Program and Product teams to deliver and ensure a cohesive stakeholder experience, monitor quality assurance, and drive program improvements, seeking out ways to optimize processes across the organization.
• Oversee efficient and scalable processes for tutor administration, including timesheet management and oversight.
• Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Drive strategic budgeting oversight to manage program cost effectiveness and generate insights that drive improved ROI and maximize student outcomes per dollar spent.
• Work with leadership to envision and build out future revenue streams.

Qualifications:

• Minimum 5-8 years of directly related experience, preferably in an operations department of an education non-profit or for-profit organization, and at least 3 years in a leadership role
• Passion for our mission and desire to build a start-up that creates long-term value & impact
• Embody and advocate the mission, vision and strategic direction of the organization
• Demonstrated success in developing and implementing Operations from the ground up
• Experience in a startup environment and entrepreneurial spirit with a desire to build an organization that creates long-term value and impact
• Highly “tech-forward” leadership with experience and/or interest in leveraging AI productivity tools to streamline processes and maximize efficiency
• Effective and welcoming communicator with a wide range of stakeholders, including partners, tutors, and families
• Data-driven mindset, process oriented, analytical problem solver, solution oriented
• Ability to serve as an ambassador and spokesperson for the organization and articulate our mission to external constituents
• Strong strategic planning and project management skills
• Self-starter with a proven ability to meet and complete multiple tasks with solid deadlines as well as a “figure it out” attitude
• Flexible, people-oriented team player
• Direct experience with tutoring is a plus
• Experience mobilizing and optimizing large groups of volunteers is a plus
• Ideal candidate has experience in EdTech and non-profit sectors

Benefits:

• Competitive salary commensurate with experience
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits, including 80% employer coverage
• Paid vacation 
• Technology stipend
• Opportunity to shape and build a growing startup (current team size 18 FTE and growing) and make a profound impact on expanding education access
• Yearly staff retreat