Chief Operations Officer

CPM Educational Program•Sacramento, CA

About The Position

CPM Educational Program’s mission is to empower mathematics students and teachers through exemplary curriculum, professional development, and leadership. Our teacher-supporting, student-centered, problem-based classroom solutions for grades 6–12 foster engagement and equity in the classroom, while we strive to cultivate these same values within our workplace culture. The Chief Operations Officer is a full-time, exempt executive role reporting to the Executive Director. The COO is accountable for converting CPM’s strategy and mission into sustainable organizational performance. This role leads the operational and commercial functions of the organization and ensures that operating capacity, technology, and financial resources work together to achieve measurable organizational goals. The COO leads across customer service, technology, inventory and fulfillment, production, and other operational functions assigned to the role. The COO is expected to build strong cross-functional relationships and trust, but the purpose of that collaboration is execution and performance. Success in this role is ultimately measured by the organization’s ability to achieve its customer, operating, and financial goals.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business administration, finance, operations management, or a related field.
8+ years in business operations, finance, or administrative leadership.
Demonstrated experience overseeing business operations, budgeting, or systems infrastructure at scale, strong judgment navigating ambiguity across departments, and skill coordinating across operations functions without formal authority.
Strong coaching competencies for leading leaders.

Nice To Haves

Experience with publishing in digital and print.
Familiarity with strategic planning frameworks, finance systems, compliance functions, or experience in an education nonprofit.

Responsibilities

Translate CPM’s strategic plan into measurable annual and quarterly operating goals.
Establish clear ownership and measures for the performance of the functions reporting to the COO.
Track performance against productivity, expense, and operational goals.
Identify performance gaps early and ensure corrective action is taken.
Partner with Finance and the Executive Director on annual planning, budgeting, capacity planning, and resource allocation.
Evaluate significant investments based on expected organizational and financial return.
Ensure staffing, technology, operating capacity, and spending are aligned with CPM’s revenue outlook and strategic priorities.
Provide the Executive Leadership Team with clear, regular visibility into organizational performance, risks, and corrective actions.
Establish service, fulfillment, quality, and customer-experience standards.
Hold functional leaders accountable for meeting those standards.
Ensure order intake and fulfillment processes are efficient, scalable, and measurable.
Ensure inventory planning supports expected customer demand while appropriately managing cost and risk.
Monitor key measures such as response time, order accuracy, fulfillment time, customer satisfaction, inventory levels, and operational cost.
Identify recurring operational problems and ensure their root causes are addressed.
Establish technology priorities based on organizational strategy and business requirements.
Ensure systems support sales, customer success, service delivery, analytics, reporting, finance, HR, and other key operating functions.
Ensure CPM has reliable data and reporting necessary to manage organizational performance.
Oversee major system integrations and technology investments.
Partner with Technology leadership on data security, uptime, scalability, and business continuity.
Evaluate technology investments with Finance based on business need, risk, cost, and expected return.
Ensure technology improves organizational capability and productivity rather than unnecessarily adding cost or complexity.
Translate organizational strategy into clear priorities, measures, ownership, and operating plans.
Establish an operating cadence for reviewing organizational performance.
Create visibility into operations.
Resolve cross-functional barriers that prevent teams from achieving agreed goals.
Ensure decisions are implemented consistently once made.
Hold functional leaders accountable for commitments and results.
Develop managers and leaders who can operate their functions effectively without unnecessary executive intervention.
Build a culture in which data informs decisions, expectations are clear, and performance problems are addressed rather than deferred.
Partner with the Executive Director on execution of CPM’s strategic priorities and the applicable elements of the Shoreline Consulting Framework.
Make decisions using evidence, organizational strategy, customer needs, financial impact, and risk.
Communicate difficult decisions clearly and respectfully.
Build trust without avoiding accountability or necessary conflict.
Encourage productive disagreement before decisions are made and alignment after decisions are made.
Hold leaders accountable for commitments, behaviors, and results.
Address performance issues directly and promptly.
Balance CPM’s mission with the financial and operational requirements necessary to sustain it.
Develop leaders rather than unnecessarily taking over the work of their functions.
Additional responsibilities aligned with the needs of the organization may be added.