Vice President, Program Operations

Job Title: VP, Program Operations

Team: Product

Location: Hybrid in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ), Washington (DC) or New York City (NYC) 

Employment Type: Full-time

FLSA Classification: Exempt

Start Date: October 2024

About Braven

Braven is a national nonprofit that prepares promising young people—many of whom are people of color, from low-income backgrounds, and the first in their families to attend college—to secure a strong first opportunity after college graduation through a career-accelerating program.

We work with higher education and employer partners to offer a life-changing experience that begins with a semester-long course for college students followed by support that lasts through graduation.  

Together, we are helping to open up access to the American Promise, empowering a generation of leaders who mirror the diversity of our country.

To learn more, take a look at Braven’s Impact Report and Jobs Report.

About the Role

In order to achieve its ambition of serving 80,000-100,000 Fellows over the next decade, Braven is seeking a Vice President, Program Operations to lead the growth and expansion of our program across emerging locations. This role will lead the development of efficient infrastructure and operations processes, ensuring our organization scales effectively, maintains strong outcomes, and enables economies of scale.

This role is on the Product team and reports directly to the Chief Product Officer.

What You’ll Do

Provide Strategic Leadership & Prioritization

• Collaborate with other Braven leaders to set vision and direction for the org-wide program implementation plan, ensuring alignment with impact and organizational strategy
• Develop and implement strategic initiatives that align with the organization's growth and expansion goals and enhance program effectiveness, scalability, and impact
• Prioritize programmatic shifts to align with the org-wide operational plan, sequencing updates, innovations, and improvements to meet annual scale goals in the 5-year plan
• Lead the organization toward consistent and progressive steps for programmatic consistency and sustainability
• Identify opportunities for process improvement, automation, and cost-effective solutions using technology and design and implement streamlined operations processes to enhance overall organizational efficiency
• Evaluate and optimize existing workflows, identifying areas for improvement and automation to improve the organization’s sustainability as we scale

Ensure Operational Excellence

• Operationalize Braven's vision of Operational Excellence and develop the strategy to socialize throughout the organization
• Build strong relationships with other Braven leaders and teams in order to deeply understand their work and the impact of changes implemented, and to help them understand decisions from an organizational perspective
• Help leaders see the impact of their individual and team decisions on cost reduction, student learning, and program outcomes and collaborate with them as their needs and interests evolve, helping them to navigate trade-offs in the overall model

• Steward key Braven-wide operational initiatives through program operations processes and tools
• Develop and implement risk management strategies to ensure resilient and compliant operations with state, local, and partner-specific standards and establish protocols for identifying and mitigating potential risks
• Evaluate and negotiate contracts with vendors to ensure cost-effectiveness and quality of services
• Cultivate and maintain strategic partnerships to contribute to operational efficiency and savings

Manage, Coach, and Develop Team

• Build and lead a high-performing and growing operations team, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous improvement
• Make developing team members a priority by coaching, providing feedback, creating structures that support development, completing performance reviews, ensuring team members have actionable development plans, etc.
• Support the planning and facilitation of sessions for team stepbacks and retreats
• Manage team budget in collaboration with Chief Product Officer
• Model Braven’s core values and competencies for their team
• Hire and onboard team, as needed

Lead Quality Assurance and Evaluation

• Implement and enhance quality assurance measures to guarantee the highest standards in program delivery, focusing on adaptability to new market dynamics
• Develop and refine program evaluation strategies to assess and improve program outcomes in diverse contexts

Other duties as assigned

Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, or a related field
• At least 10 years of work experience in a relevant field
• At least 5 years of experience managing teams
• Proven track record of implementing processes to increase efficiency, impact and and cost savings

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Operations Management, Nonprofit Management, Business Administration)
• Proven success in a senior operations role, ideally in a large, growing, and fast-paced organization
• Experience leading teams and managing projects in complex environments during times of growth
• Experience successfully leading significant change by employing excellent change management skills
• Strong organization skills, tracking and managing big picture ideas as well as key details
• Exceptional relationship building skills, enabling you to build trust quickly and collaborate across management levels, internal and external relationships as well as across dimensions of identity
• Balanced perspective, leading you to effectively prioritize levels of urgency, regulate your emotions along with helping others do the same, when required
• Excellent communication skills, high emotional intelligence, and the ability to build and maintain collaborative relationships in diverse settings
• Exceptional strategic thinking ability, problem-solving skills, and ability to adapt nimbly, innovate, and make decisions with rigor
• Strong understanding of AI technologies, how they can be used in operational settings, and the cost-benefit of implementing them
• Experience in risk management, quality assurance, and compliance
• Demonstrated commitment to equity and inclusion
• Exemplification of Braven’s core values
• Experience that has informed your belief in Braven’s mission and have prepared you to work with, or for, Braven’s student Fellow population

Please know that no one ever meets 100% of the preferred qualifications. If much of this describes you, we encourage you to apply.

Work Demands

• Ability to work in-person in Atlanta (GA), Chicago (IL), Newark (NJ), Washington (DC), or New York City (NYC) at least 3 days per week
• Travel 20-30% 

• Ability to support Braven’s programming 2-3 nights per week

Additional Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof of such by the date of hire. Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons.

Application & Interview Process

While the interview process may vary slightly, the general process will be:

• Phone screen with Talent Team member
• Performance Task
• Interview with Hiring Manager
• Panel Interview with Key Partners
• Reference Checks

Benefits

Compensation and Benefits

The salary for this position, which depends on prior work experience and our assessment of your demonstrated fit for the role, will likely be between $153,700-$192,100 in Atlanta, $161,800-$202,200 in Chicago and Washington D.C., and $178,000-$222,500 in New York/Newark . Braven offers competitive base salaries based on the midpoint of the market among not-for-profit organizations of similar size, with opportunities for salary growth over time. We believe in compensating staff members fairly in relation to each other, their qualifications, and their impact on behalf of the organization, and take internal and external equity seriously. Given our commitment to equity, Braven does not negotiate salary offers; instead each salary offer is determined carefully using external and internal benchmarking. You will have an opportunity to discuss salary in more detail after you begin the application process.

Braven also provides competitive, comprehensive benefits, recognition, and career development. While Braven reserves the right to change benefits at any time, current benefits include: 

• Unlimited vacation time in addition to org-wide holidays and week-long shutdowns in July and the end of the calendar year (this is a minimum of 19 days per year)
• Match of your 401K contribution up to 5% of your base annual salary, starting your first full month
• Coverage of 85% of health insurance premium for employee and dependents
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave
• A one-month paid sabbatical after 4 years on staff

Location

We gather in the office at least 3 days per week (on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) and often work remotely 2 days per week (although certain commitments might adjust that from time to time). Therefore, this role requires teammates to live within commuting distance of one of our hubs: Atlanta, Chicago, Newark, Washington D.C., or New York City. We believe in the magic, connection, and collaboration that happens when people work together face-to-face and we believe in giving people flexibility to focus, balance personal priorities, and save themselves two commutes per week.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 

At Braven, we are committed to attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining a diverse team. Braven operates in the context of our American culture, against the backdrop of systemic racism and oppression of marginalized people since our country’s founding. We are committed to assembling leaders at our organization who have emerged from everywhere, with a particular emphasis on those who share the racial and income backgrounds of our Fellows, and creating an inclusive culture that allows all teammates, of all experiences and identities, to thrive.  

Braven is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected factor.  We encourage talented individuals of all backgrounds to apply.