Reporting to the School Leader, the Dean of School Operations is the operational leader of the school.  They are responsible for all non-instructional matters required to run the school.  This position is critical to KIPP Texas Public School’s theory of action as it provides the School Leader and instructional assistant principals the opportunity to focus almost exclusively on teaching and learning within the schools. The Dean of School Operations will manage the school front office team, serve on the school leadership team, and serve as the primary liaison to the regional department teams.

There are multiple opportunities for the role, one in North Houston and one in South Houston.

This position furthers the mission of KIPP Texas because it ensures that School Leaders spend 75% or more of the day focused on instructional leadership responsibilities.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES:

The Dean of School Operations will:

1.       School Leadership & Operations Team Management

• In partnership with the School Leader and the region, develops the school-wide operations vision that supports and operationalizes the academic and cultural vision of the school
• Plays a leadership role in the school’s strategic and annual planning and budgeting process
• Hires, manages, coaches, and develops school front office/administrative team members and holds them accountable to goals and outcomes
• Serves as the primary point of contact for the Regional Service Team (RST), responding to requests and collaborating with teammates/Departments across to build/implement scalable systems, policies, and procedures within the school

2.     Finance and Accounting

• Works closely with the principal to develop the school’s annual budget
• Actively manages the school budget throughout the year by participating in monthly budget meetings to review budget variances, actively monitoring school spending, and proactively seeking opportunities to ensure spending is aligned to the school’s academic priorities
• Manages the school payment process for activity fees, uniforms, and meal balances  
• Manages the school purchasing process by establishing clear systems for staff to request items, placing orders with vendors, tracking delivery, and coding and submitting purchases orders, invoices, and reimbursement requests to the Accounting team
• Manages the stipend distribution process 
• Approves school purchases under a specific financial threshold

3.     Student Data & Compliance

• Manages the school pre-registration and registration process and staff (with support from RST)
• Owns student recruitment strategies and activities to ensure school is fully enrolled by the first day of school (i.e., engages the principal and/or staff in student recruitment efforts as appropriate and managing the front office’s intake of student applications) 
• Supports the implementation of the school and master schedule (exact details may vary by school level and school)
• Ensures the school and staff are adhering to all local compliance and reporting requirements, as outlined by regional compliance (PIEMS) team

4.       Student & Family Services (School Ops; Communications; Field Trips/Events)

• Ensures that the main office is neat, organized, welcoming and has all important parent facing materials
• Serves as the eyes and ears of their school to ensure all front office school operations runs seamlessly each and every day for visitors and parents
• Owns logistics of communications and external relations through parent letters, weekly staff notes, surveys, and visitors
• Owns all logistics (e.g. transportation, lodging, meals, staffing plan, etc.) of all off-site field trips and all on-site special events (Report Card Nights, Performances, Graduation, staff celebrations, etc.)
• Serves as point person for hosting visitors on school tours
• May work with the KIPP Houston Development Team, as needed, to raise awareness about the school
• Assist with campus tours when guests  and potential donors are on campus
• Assist the Director of Development with grants that will support existing school programs or that will fund new programs
• Assist the Development team with any additional fundraising programs or campaigns.

5.       School Operations

• Works closely with the regional Child Nutrition Services team and School Clerk (if applicable) to ensure compliance with Texas Department of Agriculture guidelines and eligibility program at their school and meal balances are collected
• Works closely with the Campus Business Manager and Campus ops team to provide input and help train staff to ensure compliance with building codes guidelines, safety procedures, and operational processes at their school
• Works closely with the regional procurement and risk team to ensure compliance with procurement and insurance procedures at their school
• Ensures the school is prepared for emergencies by conducting all drills as well as training staff on emergency plans coordinated with the Campus Business Manager
• Each year, prepares the school for the new school year by serving as the primary liaison to the regional beginning-of-the-year process, ordering furniture, equipment, and classroom supplies, and ensuring the school staff can execute student services procedures (i.e., arrival and dismissal, lunch cards, transportation services, etc.)
• Attends the Campus & School Leadership Meeting to ensure planning and communication of major events, procedures, changes and/or updates occur.

6.       Technology & Equipment

• Ensures that students and staff have access to needed technology and works with Tech Team to plan technology related enhancements
• Leads the school opening/start up process each year to ensure that doors are ready to open by ordering furniture, equipment, instructional supplies, and ensuring that student services (e.g. food service, transportation) are ready to go
• Manages the school’s supply and asset inventory (e.g. computers, textbooks)

7.     Human Resources

• Partners with the regional human resources team on the new hire process (new hire offer letters, new hire form completion, scheduling onboarding, following up with new hires prior to onboarding to ensure paperwork complete)
• Processes all salary changes by completing the appropriate form
• Works closely with regional human resources team to ensure teachers meet compliance and certification requirements
• Completes the exit form for terminating employees and partners with the regional human resources team on any action items surrounding the exit logistics
• Reviews time off data provided by the human resources team to ensure accuracy and assess leave trends
• Communicates leave needs and critical dates to the human resources team and assists in facilitation of employee leaves

8.    Academic Operations support

• Manages the substitute teacher process including participating in substitute interview events/orientations, orienting new subs to the school, and managing the process by which teachers seek coverage for absences
• Works with the School Leader or AP to manage the logistical elements of all major student assessments (i.e., Interim Assessments, STEP, MAP, STAAR, TELPAS)
• Supports logistics related to staff evaluation and engagement including the administration of surveys and confirmation of teacher-peer and teacher-student linkages
• Manages the logistical elements of the LPAC process
• Supports the logistics of all off-site field trips (local and out of state), including scheduling transportation, lodging, extracurricular activities, meals, payment, etc. 
• Oversees the logistics of Family Nights and other school events.

As needed, assist the school leader on a variety of events, planning, and administrative tasks

Education and Knowledge:

• Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred
• Minimum of 3-4 years of professional work experience 
• Bilingualism (Spanish/English) preferred
• Knowledge of school finance and budgeting principals

Skills:

• Excellent attention to detail and a high level of accuracy required
• Excellent organizational skills required
• Strong work ethic coupled with an enthusiastic and passionate approach to work
• Articulate, professional demeanor with strong self-confidence and initiative
• Ability to clearly articulate and sell a vision, outline and detail a project plan, and execute it
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with students, staff, and the community
• Ability to work independently and to use creative thinking in problem solving with little or no instruction
• Extreme flexibility, with a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial spirit to accommodate a high level of responsibility and multiple, changing priorities
• Proven written and verbal communication skills
• Proven success in working in an environment characterized by changing priorities
• Strong typing skills are required
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint)
• Advanced Proficiency in Microsoft Excel is required for complex analysis
• Experience using Clarity Accounting software, a plus
• Proficiency using computers, printers, copy machines, and fax machines

Compensation and Benefits:

Salary is based on years of experience, degree of education, and level of expertise. A competitive benefits package is also offered.