Teach For America Greater New Orleans is committed to ensuring our community is our nation’s first model for equity and excellence because our education system will consistently produce students that achieve and drive change in their community, the country and the world. To ensure that our staff of over 30 people are able to focus fully on this ambitious local impact, the Strategy Talent and Operations team at TFA GNO seeks an Associate, Office Operations (AOO) who will manage our office and administrative operations that buoy our impact. As we move into a brand new office in July 2019, this is a unique opportunity to set the culture, norms and operational needs for a thriving organizational culture.
Develop, Maintain and Manage Strong Office Operations (50%)
In July 2019, Teach For America Greater New Orleans will move into a brand new office space that is ripe for resetting our culture, our operations and our expectations of what an office can and will be for a staff. This is a huge opportunity to develop the blueprint for a 21st century office that functions seamlessly, builds collaboration and helps us achieve impact. You will:
- Maintain an office space that is clean, professional, relevant, and up to date in vibe and appearance that is Foundations-aligned and enhances brand identity, productivity and staff satisfaction
- Act as liaison to building management, local vendors and TFA’s national support teams (tech team, admin, etc.)
- Manage office operations for internal staff members, both on the regional team and national co-locating staff members
- Manage office operations for external events and external stakeholders to ensure they have a strong experience in our space
- Maintain and manage user-centered office operations and systems that consider budgetary and end-user perspectives
- Implement and maintain communication structures that maximize efficiency and transparency on a weekly basis and as needed during emergencies
- Develop and maintain a process for staff requests for Administrative support and execute tasks to fuel efficiency
Steward Office Finances and Resources (20%)
- Act as lead external vendor manager negotiating contracts with local businesses for TFA events
- Partner cross-functionally with teams to purchase supplies and regional materials compliantly as Regional Buyer
- Partner cross-functionally with teams to identify vendors, event spaces etc. and ensure timely payment of vendors
- Pay regional bills
- Track the Strategy, Talent & Operations team budget and engage in forecasting alongside your manager the Manager of Finance, Data and Compliance for the team and region
- Track and code corporate credit card purchases for the region, the MD, STO, the Head of Alumni and other corporate cardholders, as needed
Administrative Support (20%)
- Input, maintain, and update information in our constituent management databases in alignment with Teach For America protocol
- Partner with the Manager, Incoming Corps Members and Manager, Finance, Data and Compliance to provide administrative support on corps eligibility and financial audit readiness
- Track and report progress against our regional goals in a user-friendly and visible method that invests your team
- Provide administrative support to the regional team initiatives and special projects as delegated by your manager, the MD, STO
- Coordinate internal team meetings and execute operational responsibilities to bring these convenings to fruition (i.e. coordinating meeting space reservations across the region, food for special events, etc.)
- Coordinate team-building events, social gatherings and staff celebrations that work towards developing a core values-aligned culture
Collective Responsibilities (10%)
Teach For America thrives on cross-functional partnerships throughout our organization. Our staff members are skilled in working across layers, empathizing with our colleagues around the reality of competing commitments, navigating these situations with grace, and being culture leaders within our regional team. We do this by upholding an orientation towards flexibility and generosity while also remaining deeply committed to a sense of possibility and achievement. While some days we work independently to achieve milestones, realizing our goals requires regular collaboration at all levels. Everyone shows their support for region-and-organization-wide initiatives by actively engaging in the following:
- Corps member hiring events
- Corps member acceptance confirmation
- Regional staff recruitment and talent cultivation
- Corps member induction
- Cross-functional special projects
- Corps member selection interviews
- All staff leadership development and team building
- Corps member professional development
- Regional social events with staff, corps members, and alumni
- You thrive on designing smart systems and operations that empower ownership and you enjoy both project management and the minute details needed to get there. You believe that operations drive impact, outcomes, relationships and trust. You are an expert at managing multiple work streams and rarely, if ever, drop balls. You always have your eye on the prize and balance your desire to achieve impact with humility. You are an exceptional administrator and adept at managing baseline functions and work streams that underpin all aspects of our work.
- You have an exceptional customer service orientation and proactively build relationships and operational systems that are clear and user-friendly. You take great pride in developing an office culture and operational environment that is fun, collaborative and entrepreneurial, where your passionate, engaged and busy team feel at home and are clear on how to execute their administrative responsibilities. You take pride in maintaining and managing an office space that is clean, professional, relevant and up to date in vibe and appearance so that it may drive our regional impact, outcomes and staff satisfaction.
- You care deeply about how your work impacts others and can draw a through line to your own work streams and because of this you take initiative to find solutions for our team that are flexible which will have the biggest impact on your team and the region. You are a self-starter and understand that your work is the foundation with which our team achieves impact in our community. You are flexible and comfortable interacting with a diverse group of people and implement and maintain administrative office systems with fidelity.
Prior Experience
- 1-3 years of work experience required
- Experience working in a fast-paced environment requiring the consistent management of multiple projects simultaneously, successfully prioritizing competing priorities and coordinating across lines of hierarchy
- Previous Teach For America experience preferred
- Exceptional organizational skills, both in-person and written
- Commitment to excellence and continuous learning and development to achieve impact
- Strong ability to problem-solve toward outcomes
- Ability to tailor approach toward the perspective of others, with strong customer service orientation
- Ability to use Microsoft Office Suite to organize and analyze priorities, goals, tasks and data
- Ability to be flexible in an ever-evolving environment
- Dedication to and consistent embodiment of our organization’s core values
Work Demands
- Willingness and ability to participate, occasionally, in events that fall on nights and/or weekends
- Willingness and ability to travel at least once per year for professional development purposes
- Ability to lift and move boxes and office equipment up to 25 lbs.