About Us

Our nation’s education system is leaving millions of students—including an overwhelming number of students of color and low-income students—unprepared for college, career, and life. While research shows that classroom teachers are the single most important in-school factor in improving student achievement, their diverse voices are consistently left out of education policy decisions. For far too long, teachers have been treated as subjects of change rather than as agents of change.

Founded by public school teachers in 2010, Educators for Excellence is a growing movement of nearly 30,000 educators, united around a common set of values and principles for improving student learning and elevating the teaching profession. We work together to identify issues that impact our schools, create solutions to these challenges, and advocate for policies and programs that give all students access to a quality education. With a current operating budget of over $15M, ~110 staff, and six chapters, our organization has experienced rapid growth and is well positioned for deepened impact through the implementation of our next five-year strategic plan.

What We Do

Our Theory of Change is grounded in two long-term goals that are inextricably linked: better outcomes for our students and the elevation of the quality and prestige of the teaching profession. We achieve this by:

Building a movement of forward-thinking teachers through grassroots organizing in communities across the country
Identifying and training teacher leaders within that broader movement to take on key positions of influence in their schools, districts, states, and perhaps most importantly, within their teachers unions
Creating teacher-led policy recommendations in order to bridge the divide between policymakers and the classroom
Advocating for implementation of teacher-generated policy ideas
Scaling this model to reach critical mass in the communities we serve and across the country

Educators for Excellence envisions an equitable and excellent education system that provides all students the opportunity to succeed and elevates the teaching profession.

The Opportunity

As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, reporting directly to the Co-Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer will be charged with leading most of the business functions (IT, Legal, Facility Operations, Data & Analytics, and Finance & Accounting) of the organization, including serving as the company Chief Financial Officer. This role will also serve as a trusted, strategic partner to the Co-CEOs, the National Board of Directors, and others on the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).

The ideal candidate will be an experienced operator or finance executive, with demonstrated financial expertise, a breadth of strategic and general management experiences, and preferably a non-profit or civic sector background. E4E’s next Chief Operating Officer must be positive and humble as well as a tenacious and data-driven leader. S/he operates both independently and collaboratively to solve problems, and has a track record of inspiring diverse teams to do their best, while also building systems, policies, and processes that are efficient, equitable, and clear.

This is an outstanding opportunity for a strategic, results-oriented, and relationship-driven financial and operational leader to play a key role in building a dynamic and quickly growing organization, and a movement that is driving systemic impact for teachers and students.

You will:

Be a strategic partner:

Serve as a critical thought partner to the Co-CEOs and work closely with other senior leaders to create and refine the organization’s strategy
Represent E4E at the Board regarding all financial matters including budgets, long-term plan forecasts, audits, investments and retirement plan administration
Partner with the development team on all proposals and routinely represent the organization to donors and other external parties
Anticipate future needs and translate the organization’s strategy into tangible, multi-year plans that right-size all investments in financial and operational infrastructure

Lead the financial management of the organization:

Design and manage the financial processes to include annual budgeting, long-term forecasting and strategic plan scenario building
Oversee and continuously improve all finance and accounting operations including revenue recognition, cash management, payroll, procurement and vendor payment
Ensure timely and accurate financial reporting for Co-CEOs, government agencies, funders, and Board of Directors
Build and maintain a long-term financial model to facilitate long-term strategic planning and resource allocation

Manage organizational legal and risk efforts:

Work with external general counsel to manage all organizational legal matters and evaluate need for in-house counsel
Oversee and ensure the accurate and timely completion of all compliance related filings and registrations
Review and approve all material E4E contractual agreements including leases, software contracts, and professional services engagements
Monitor and manage organization insurance coverages and manage any and all claim responses

Lead physical infrastructure, operations, and technology efforts:

Establish and lead execution of a multi-year technology infrastructure strategy, partnering with other national streams to evaluate, select, (re)design, test, and implement scalable technologies and systems
Maintain technology infrastructure necessary for effective and efficient multi-site operations and manage our technology service provider to provide high-quality customer support, troubleshooting, and technical assistance to staff
Define our physical space strategy and lead efforts to lease, (re)design, and build out our growing office portfolio
Improve office management operations and establish equitable facilities operating policies and procedures

Oversee program data and analytics function:

Lead all aspects of Salesforce platform, the primary source of programmatic data
Manage training program for all external facing teams to ensure efficient and high quality data collection and entry; continuously monitor and maintain high levels of data integrity
Identify and oversee strategic analyses to identify trends, deepen organizational understanding, and assess programmatic activity effectiveness
Build tools to facilitate external facing teams plan and execute their work more strategically, effectively, and efficiently

Serve as a joyful and positive culture leader of your team and more broadly:

Grow, lead, and inspire a diverse, cross-functional team of 8-12 staff and embedded external partners to provide exceptional customer service and achieve organizational goals
Exemplify our core values and be an ambassador for E4E in and out of work
Actively seek out the perspectives of staff members and build trusting relationships across a diverse E4E team

You have/are:

Required:

An experienced, multi-culturally competent, general manager
A strategic thinker with a customer service mindset
A thoughtful and mature leader and collaborator; high emotional intelligence
Exceptional financial acumen, a strong understanding of non-profit accounting, and natural business instincts
Strong technical and data driven orientation

Preferred

Multi-site or entity level management experience
Experience as a CFO, COO, or some role of fiduciary responsibility
Some experience designing, managing and building technology platforms
Non-profit, education sector, or teaching experience
An advanced degree/certification in a business or related field (ideally an MBA)
The ability to travel (varies depending on location) 20-40%
The ability to develop and utilize systems to manage and track high volume workflow on tight timelines
The ability to laterally manage, influence and motivate others to achieve outcomes
A keen attention to detail
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Exceptional judgment and decision-making
Strength in working collaboratively and democratically with teams
Flexibility in an ever-changing environment

Moreover, all E4E staff demonstrates our Core Values:

Respect and Professionalism: We act with personal responsibility, respect, and commitment to high quality work, to our organization and to each other
Solutions Orientation: We consistently approach even the most complex challenges with positivity, proactive solutions, and the assumption of best intentions
Growth Mindset: We intentionally create opportunities to develop ourselves and others in order to learn and continuously improve
Dynamic Leadership: We courageously take ownership, empower others, set bold visions, think strategically, and adapt to change
Diversity and Inclusiveness: Educational inequity is linked to race, power, and privilege, and so we take action to shift this paradigm by reflecting on our own identities, creating an inclusive and diverse community, and leveraging our differences as strengths

Benefits & Applying

Educators for Excellence believes in providing employees with benefits to support self-care, wellness, and financial stability. We value the whole person and provide benefits such as; paid time off, health insurance plans, competitive salaries that include pre-tax benefits, and cell phone reimbursements. See more information about our benefits here.

Educators for Excellence is an equal opportunity employer. We predominantly partner with low-income communities of color. Therefore, though race and other identity markers are never used to make final hiring decisions, we place a particular focus on recruiting staff members who share the backgrounds of our communities.

Apply:

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