Director of School Operations

About the Role

The Director of School Operations leads all non-instructional systems on a shared PreK–8 campus so that School Leaders and teachers can maximize student learning and culture. In partnership with the Regional Director of School Operations, School Leaders, and regional teams, the Director designs, runs, and continuously improves campus-wide operations—including budgeting and procurement, facilities and safety, transportation and food service, attendance and enrollment, HR/compliance records, family/staff communications, athletics logistics, and the master calendar/space allocation—ensuring an equitable, safe, and efficient experience across both schools. Success is evidenced by protected instructional time and smooth daily operations, on-time/on-budget project delivery, 100% compliance on required processes and audits, campus resources allocated equitably, and progress toward attendance/enrollment targets with strong family and staff satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Strategy, Vision, & Operating Model: Set a clear operations vision and annual priorities aligned to academic and culture goals. Define and continuously refine the school's operating model, including RACI, decision rights, service level agreements (SLAs), and escalation paths. Establish goals, KPIs, and meeting cadences to monitor success across all operations functions. Lead cross-functional prioritization with the School Leader and key stakeholders to ensure alignment and focus. Monitor execution through dashboards, meeting rhythms, and deliverable tracking to ensure strong operational health and accountability.
• People Leadership & Team Management: Hire, onboard, develop, and manage the school-based operations team. Set clear expectations, build team capacity, and hold team members accountable to high performance standards. Lead ongoing coaching and performance management through regular 1:1s, team meetings, and feedback cycles. Build a strong team culture focused on service, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Financial Management & Resource Allocation: Lead school-based budget strategy in partnership with the School Leader, ensuring alignment to strategic priorities. Establish and enforce purchasing controls, financial procedures, and audit standards. Monitor budget vs. actuals and proactively identify forecast risks. Drive corrective actions to ensure financial health and sustainability. Ensure readiness for all finance, audit, and compliance requirements.
• Front Office & Service Experience: Define the front office "service promise," including staffing model and coverage expectations. Monitor service quality and recurring issues, and implement improvements to ensure a high-quality experience for families, students, and staff. Partner with School Leaders to remove operational bottlenecks and protect instructional time.
• Transportation: Oversee transportation goals and vendor performance. Design and implement arrival and dismissal systems that are safe, efficient, and student-centered. Monitor performance metrics and incident patterns, and escalate or resolve chronic issues.
• Food Service: Oversee food service expectations, vendor performance, and compliance with all regulations. Monitor participation trends and audit readiness. Ensure systems for allergies and special diets are safe, compliant, and consistently executed.
• Communications & Events: Set school-wide communications standards, including tone, accessibility, translation, and cadence. Define event risk thresholds and approval processes. Monitor stakeholder experience and proactively address gaps. Ensure communications align with School Leader priorities and regional initiatives.
• Student Systems (Enrollment, Attendance, Compliance, Data): Set seat-fill strategy, enrollment timelines, and staff roles to ensure full enrollment. Own ADA and chronic absenteeism goals, including designing and implementing intervention strategies. Monitor enrollment pipeline, conversion, and attendance metrics to drive strong outcomes. Ensure compliance with withdrawal and no-show processes. Set expectations for testing, security, and state reporting. Monitor readiness checkpoints and ensure strong execution of all testing processes. Ensure strong records governance and compliance with all data requirements. Hold data and operations team members accountable for calendar adherence, accuracy, and training execution.
• Facilities: Set and uphold facilities standards for cleanliness, readiness, and safety. Prioritize facilities projects, vendor partnerships, and budget allocations. Monitor inspections, facilities metrics, and trends to ensure high-quality learning environments. Partner with regional facilities teams on compliance and capital improvement work.
• Safety & Crisis Management: Set the school's safety vision and define incident thresholds. Maintain emergency plans, drill calendars, and staff training expectations. Lead crisis response frameworks and ensure readiness for emergencies. Monitor incident trends and after-action reviews to drive continuous improvement and prevention.
• Asset & Technology Management: Define and manage the asset accountability model, including inventory integrity, replacement cycles, and controls. Align technology priorities with budget and school needs. Escalate systemic IT issues and ensure timely resolution. Monitor trends in loss, damage, and uptime for mission-critical equipment.
• Athletics & Enrichment Programs: Define clear accountability between operations and Athletics Directors (or equivalent roles). Lead budget strategy to ensure sustainability and equity of access for all students. Monitor incidents, student eligibility, compliance, and overall program health. Oversee coaching rosters, eligibility requirements, and alignment with HR processes. Ensure timely communication and coordination across stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor's Degree
• 7+ years total operations experience
• 2+ years leading school/site ops teams
• Direct experience in K-12 or youth-serving nonprofit with facilities, compliance, or business operations ownership
• Proven budget management and vendor/contracts oversight
• Deep understanding of K-12 compliance basics: FERPA, IDEA-related operational requirements, student attendance/enrollment rules, safety/emergency procedures
• Knowledge of facilities, transportation, nutrition, health/clinic, and procurement workflows
• Knowledge of budgeting, purchasing, and audit-readiness
• Proficient SIS familiarity (e.g., PowerSchool/Infinite Campus)
• Proficient with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
• Project/issue tracking (Asana, Trello, Jira) and ticketing/help desk practices
• Intermediate Excel/Sheets (pivot tables, lookups), basic dashboard literacy

Strongly Preferred:

• Master's (MBA, MPA/MPP, Ed Admin)
• Experience scaling ops across multiple campuses
• RFP/contract negotiation
• Fluency in a second language (e.g., Spanish)
• Crisis management certification

Work Environment and Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the individual is regularly required to communicate information and ideas effectively so others will understand. Must be able to exchange accurate information in these situations, including noisy environments such as cafeterias and playgrounds, to more moderate situations such as classrooms or large group professional settings. Specific vision abilities required include the ability to observe details at close range. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as laptop computers and various digital devices, and one needs to be able to read, analyze, and interpret data and maintain visual attention and mental concentration for significant periods of time. Ability to meet the physical demands of classroom teaching (standing, circulating, occasional lifting/moving of classroom materials); able to sit and work at a desk/computer for extended periods. Ability to safely lift and move up to 50lbs independently. Duties may require traveling to other school facilities using employee's personal transportation. This is a full-time, 100% on-site position; regular work hours, Monday through Friday, will be established with your supervisor. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required as job duties demand.

Benefits

• 403(b) retirement plan – KNOS matches 100% of employee contribution up to the first 5% of salary and any bonuses; vested immediately
• Health and wellbeing benefits starting the first day of the month following date of hire
• Comprehensive, customizable health coverage, including disability, life insurance, hospital indemnity, FSAs for health and dependent care, and free dental and vision for employees
• ~30 paid holidays and additional paid time off
• Opportunities for on-going professional development