Uncommon Schools is a non-profit network of 53 outstanding public charter schools in grades K-12 across New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. Our mission is to start and manage outstanding urban public charter schools that close the achievement gap and prepare students from low-income backgrounds for success in college and beyond. We are accomplishing that mission every day, with a college graduation rate that is well above the national average and thousands of stories of our students and alumni achieving their dreams.

Location: New York, NY or Newark, NJ

Internal Title: Senior Associate Director of Real Estate & Facilities

Position Overview

The Senior Associate Director of Real Estate and Facilities will report to the Senior Director, Real Estate and Facilities and will focus on developing and systematizing operational processes of the Uncommon Schools Real Estate and Facilities Team.  The Real Estate and Facilities’ team scope encompasses facility acquisition, construction, and ongoing maintenance to ensure exceptional learning environments for our students.  The Senior Associate Director of Real Estate and Facilities role will work with our school staff as well as our Home Office functions to drive key operational, planning, tracking, and communications initiatives and play a crucial role in ensuring that the Senior Director’s strategic priorities are achieved.  Occasional travel to all Uncommon regions required.

Responsibilities:

We are seeking an organized, enthusiastic, and urgent team player who can effectively and proactively support the Real Estate and Facilities Team’s work across multiple regions. Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

 Strategic Planning and Project Management

• Drive and manage Senior Director, Real Estate & Facilities’ strategic planning process and execution
• Develop and drive administration of tools to monitor initiative/project roll-out and execution (e.g. project plans, dashboard, key performance indicators, templates, etc.); collect, synthesize, and analyze data, and create reports as needed
• Track and hold others accountable to core decisions, action steps, and timely communication
• Identify and problem solve team operations issues and codify best solutions/practices/ standards
• Document and manage to execution key real estate and facilities processes, and drive process improvement where necessary
• Advise Senior Director, Real Estate & Facilities and other stakeholders on team progress, summarizing key takeaways and proposing next steps

Real Estate & Facilities Team Support

• Drive all team meetings and professional development sessions : drive agendas, develop content, take notes, record action items, and oversee meeting follow-up
• Develop materials for Senior Director, Real Estate & Facilities’ presentations and communications: executive, senior leadership, board, and team meetings
• Ensuring the Senior Director’s time is maximized by expertly managing their calendar through prioritization of appointments, efficient booking of travel, and arranging in-person and virtual meetings.
• Gather input from instruction, operations, and HO functions for decision making, alignment, and business improvements
• Liaising with senior leaders across Uncommon to ensure meetings are efficient and effective
• Administer team operations including owning the budget, on-boarding, and home office ad hoc requests
• Independently drive significant team-wide projects such as mid-year evaluations, culture initiatives, etc.
• Partnering with the entire Real Estate and Facilities team to steward additional projects and initiatives as priorities evolve.

Desired Qualifications:

• Alignment to and urgency around Uncommon’s mission and a passion for creating safe and excellent school facilities
• Exceptional and creative problem-solving, critical thinking, and strategic planning skills 
• Facility to move comfortably between high level strategic thinking and intricate details 
• Excellent relationship-building skills and ability to effectively communicate verbally and in writing with varied audiences (e.g. Chief of Operations, regional and school leaders, external organizations, Home Office team leaders).
• Ability to translate and structure complicated or a lot of information in order for effective decision making and progress towards goals
• Strong project management as well as time and task management skills, enabling multiple and large scale projects to be completed on time 
• Able to work autonomously and thoroughly with independent self-reflection, as well as take direction as needed 
• Ability to create, communicate, and effectively execute on a vision and strategic plan.
• Extremely receptive to feedback and constantly striving for high standards of excellence.
• Strong prioritization skills amidst many competing, high-leverage, high-impact priorities.
• Ability to "manage up" and work proactively with senior leaders.

Educational background:

• Bachelor’s Degree required

Minimum Experience:

• Minimum 4 years of working experience managing complex and/or cross-functional projects, preferably in real estate or nonprofit operations

Uncommon Schools offers competitive salaries commensurate with experience and a comprehensive benefits package.  Aside from extensive professional development, all our staff members are equipped with a laptop computer, email, and all necessary supplies.

Uncommon believes in the importance of being a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization that enables our students and staff to thrive. We are committed to building a talented team that reflects the diverse backgrounds and experiences of our students. At the same time, we work to ensure an inclusive community through creating a space for important dialogue about issues of race and identity for our staff and students.  As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability.