Managing Director of School Operations, High Schools

KIPP New Jersey is part of the nationally recognized “Knowledge Is Power Program” network of free, open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students for success in college and in life. In 2002, KIPP New Jersey first opened its doors in Newark’s South Ward as a single class of 80 fifth graders and has since grown to educate students in grades K-12 across 18 schools in Newark, Camden, and Paterson.

More than 90% of KIPP New Jersey students currently qualify for free or reduced meals.

The Managing Director of School Operations for High Schools (HS MDSO) owns operational excellence at our two Newark high schools. Our high schools, including their operations, are not yet where our students need them to be. This role exists to change that. The HS MDSO sets an uncompromising bar for what excellent high school operations look like, models it personally, and demands it from every Director of Campus Operations (DCO) and ops team they lead.

The role starts with improving and supporting the schools we have: attendance, enrollment and 8th-to-9th persistence, safe and beautiful buildings, and systems that protect every instructional minute. It grows into building the operational standard that defines a KIPP Newark high school.

The HS MDSO reports to the Managing Director of Operations (MDO) and works in close partnership with the Managing Director of High Schools, who leads academic outcomes for the same schools. Academics and operations work toward one shared set of goals for the same students.

• Newark high schools:
  Direct management of the DCOs at our two Newark high schools; be accountable, jointly with each School Leader, for their success and the performance of their ops teams.
• High school leadership:
  Operations partner to the Managing Director of High Schools and the high school School Leaders.
• Regional and network:
  Works with Newark regional and network operations teams to set, standardize, and improve high school operational systems.

• Name the non-negotiables for high school operations, set clear expectations and owners for every system and project, and hold the line.
• Inspect what we expect. Walk systems (such as arrival, dismissal, meals, attendance, and transitions) with each DCO before the year begins and throughout it, confirming that execution matches design, and coach in real time.
• Run monthly audits of materials and systems and quarterly reviews to find what broke down, what can be streamlined, and where instructional minutes are being lost.
• Set and hold the expectation of a beautiful school: clean, orderly, bright spaces that tell students and staff they are valued here.
• Close every loop. Follow problems through to real resolution, name whether they are school, regional, or network problems, and bring in the right people.

• Hold weekly one-on-ones with each DCO and weekly/bi-weekly observations of each school's operational systems, processes, and meetings.
• Coach the coach: observe how DCOs lead their teams, give feedback on the questions they ask, and push them to see around corners.
• Address underperformance directly and constructively, as soon as it appears.
• Review DCO project plans (state testing, events, safety) against a clear bar before execution, and lead debriefs and after-action reviews that lead to fast iteration.
• Lead tabletop exercises on emergencies and high-stakes days so every ops leader has answered "what happens if ___" before it happens.
• Design professional development pathways for every school ops role so that high-performing ops teams exist in both schools, and step in to serve in a school…