KIPP Texas Public Schools is a network of 59 public charter, open-enrollment, pre-k-12 schools educating nearly 34,000 students across Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Together with families and communities, our mission is to create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose —college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Founded in Houston in 1994, and operating as KIPP Texas since 2018, our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism in our classrooms, in our offices, and in the communities we serve is unwavering. We are looking to hire a diverse team of dynamic, collaborative, and dedicated individuals with an unyielding belief that every child will succeed. Join our Team and Family and champion equity, chase excellence, persist with purpose, bring joy, and help us rise together.

KIPP Texas is part of the national KIPP network of 255 college-preparatory public charter schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Nationwide, KIPP students complete four-year college at a rate of 36 percent, comparable to the national average for all students and approximately three times higher than the average of students from low-income communities.

You can see all our job opportunities at https://kipptexas.org/join-our-team/.

The Opportunity

KIPP Texas is seeking a strategic and experienced Senior Director of Child Nutrition to manage the Child Nutrition program in each of the KIPP Texas cities. The Senior Director of Child Nutrition reports to the Deputy Chief of Operations Services and can be located in any of KIPP Texas’s four cities. This position oversees the work of Child Nutrition Regional Directors and Managers in each of the Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Austin regions, as well as their respective teams. KIPP Texas currently produces meals in house in Austin, and partners with a vendor to provide meals in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. The Senior Director of Child Nutrition is responsible for achieving operational excellence,  maintaining full compliance with all State and Federal regulations, managing the multi-million dollar budget to create a sustainable surplus, and strategically using that surplus to benefit the children and families we serve.

The role is an ideal opportunity for a highly motivated, collaborative, results-driven and service minded leader with a passion for providing children with high quality, nutritious and accessible meals. 

Key Responsibilities

Leadership

• Collaborate with KIPP Texas operations leaders to provide input and strategic thinking for the structure, direction, and vision of the Child Nutrition program.
• Develop and mentor the Child Nutrition Managers, Regional Directors and other key personnel to support them to implement the Child Nutrition vision and operate with excellence every day.
• Through impact and influence, work closely with School Leaders and school-based operations leaders to maximize the potential of our Child Nutrition program. 
• Establish and collaborate with direct reports to establish department goals and objectives which align to the KIPP Texas Child Nutrition Mission and operational goals.
• Manage annual personnel performance review process.

Operations oversight and performance

• Ensure the day-to-day operations of serving breakfast, lunch, snack and supper across KIPP Texas are executed reliably and with a high level of service.
• Identify, develop, and implement operational process improvements and policies which support compliance, standardize and drive efficiencies, and improve the quality of food we serve and our service to both to internal clients and our children and families.   
• Build a community of Child Nutrition Directors/Managers and supporting team members, providing them with leadership training, professional development opportunities, sharing of best practices, team building, standard policies, procedures, and best practices.
• Develop standard KPIs and accountability systems to drive performance and measure success for each of the goals of the Child Nutrition program including regular reporting mechanisms.
• Seek continuous improvement of meal participation rates.
• Lead and introduce new technologies which improve service, lowers costs, and drives efficiencies.
• Support the statewide Construction and Facilities teams on executing KIPP Texas’s growth plan by expanding the CN program along with new campuses, on time and on budget.
• Complete the multi year planning and execution of in-housing Child Nutrition operations in all regions.

Financial performance and oversight

• Develop and oversee the KIPP Texas Child Nutrition budget, including separate budgets for each of the cities. 
• Track performance against budget on at least a monthly basis, and KPIs against targets weekly. 
• Assess and identify the most cost-effective investment of operational resources toward systems, staffing, daily operations, and/or product purchases.  Recommend additional savings by making strategic choices, prioritizing needs, consolidating contracts, and driving efficiencies.
• Maintain strong vendor relationships and manage contract and service agreements to contractual objectives
• Run the periodic RFP process to source the best vendor for each region at the best available price point in accordance with the Texas Department of Agriculture regulations.

Experience and Background

• 5+ years of professional work experience in a senior food and hospitality-related leadership role.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.  
• Experience in school-based Child Nutrition 
• Experience in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial, and fast-growing organization
• Must have demonstrated experience in building best in class systems, processes, and standards, using data and KPIs to drive accountability and results, being resourceful and strategic so as to save costs and provide better service, and leading change
• Must have demonstrated experience in leading, motivating, growing, and developing high performing teams which deliver results
• Must have demonstrated experience in leading geographically dispersed, multimodal operations
• Must be able to adopt new technology quickly and be proficient with Microsoft and other productivity tools (Slack, Google Drive, ZenDesk) 

Personal Values and Leadership Style  

• Unquestioned integrity, passion, and commitment to KIPP Texas’s mission, the families we serve, and the work
• Unquestioned belief that all children will learn and that education is for all 
• Must be a team player, working both collaboratively and independently
• Must be highly organized and resourceful 
• Must be able to toggle between the big picture and the details
• Must be able to relate and connect to others (empathy)
• Must be able to drive results with a sense of urgency 
• Must be solutions oriented with a growth mindset
• Must be able to make decisions with imperfect information
• Must be a strong planner with the ability to be flexible when plans need to pivot and change 
• Must have a sense of and ability to show genuine appreciation

Compensation and Benefits

As a full-time KIPP Texas employee you are eligible to participate in all KIPP Texas’ benefit plans. KIPP Texas offers a robust variety of benefits choices with competitive rates, including medical, dental, and vision options, life insurance, and disability plans.

KIPP provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants and employees. As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability.