Founding Director of Operations

Hebrew Public•Stamford, CT

About The Position

Hebrew Public is hiring a Founding Director of Operations to partner closely with the Head of School in launching OLAM Stamford, a tuition-free public charter school that will grow to serve students in preK–grade 8. The role begins in January 2027 and will build the systems, relationships, and day-to-day practices needed to welcome students in the 2027–28 school year. OLAM will offer rigorous academics, daily Modern Hebrew instruction, and a focus on global citizenship. Hebrew language skills are not required. This is a hands-on startup leadership role. During the early years, the Director and Head of School will directly handle work such as family engagement, building preparation, vendor coordination, and establishing school routines. As the school grows, the Director will hire, coach, and lead an operations team. The Director is part of the school leadership team, reports to the Head of School, and has a dotted-line reporting relationship to and support from the Network Operations team. The Director will create and manage operational systems, oversee school-level compliance and records, lead enrollment operations and family engagement, support staff and human resources processes, manage budgets and purchasing, and coordinate facilities and technology readiness. The role works closely with Hebrew Public network teams in Operations, Finance, Human Resources, and Technology.

Requirements

A minimum of six years of related experience, including operational leadership in schools or youth-serving organizations.
Belief in the potential of all students and in Hebrew Public’s commitment to global citizenship, academic excellence, and diverse school communities.
Ability to build structure and clarity while systems are still taking shape and challenges are unfamiliar.
Ability to combine attention to detail with a broad perspective and create practical systems for the people using them.
Ability to take ownership, anticipate needs, deliver on commitments, and determine when to act independently, seek input, or bring a decision to the Head of School.
Sound professional judgment and ability to balance immediate demands with longer-term priorities.
Ability to build trusting relationships, lead people with care and accountability, and treat family partnership as central to a successful school.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred.
Startup experience, particularly launching a school or youth-serving organization.
Charter school operations experience.

Responsibilities

Partner with the Head of School and Network Team to translate the school’s vision into an actionable startup plan with milestones, responsibilities, and timelines.
Design, launch, and directly manage systems for transportation, meals, facilities, safety, student records, attendance, data reporting, and family communications.
Anticipate operational gaps and the effects of decisions across students, families, staff, budgets, and other priorities; propose practical solutions and follow through.
Manage complex projects, sequence dependencies, distinguish urgent from important work, and proactively communicate progress, risks, and tradeoffs.
Oversee school-level compliance and accurate records with network specialists, including health and safety requirements, charter obligations, education mandates, certification tracking, and workplace regulations.
Partner with the Head of School to build a welcoming community and coordinate student and family engagement from initial inquiry through ongoing participation.
Lead student recruitment and enrollment operations, including outreach, applications, the lottery, waitlists, registration, transfers, withdrawals, and onboarding.
Respond to families with care and a customer-service mindset, listening, anticipating questions, and following through.
Partner with school staff to strengthen attendance, identify barriers to participation, and work with families on practical solutions.
Build relationships with community organizations and leaders, coordinate welcoming events and communications, and use family feedback to improve the school experience.
Take direct ownership of operational work during the startup phase while building systems for a larger school.
Equip school staff to use operational systems, explain procedures, and improve systems when they are not meeting community needs.
Serve as the school’s liaison to network Human Resources on hiring, personnel processes, benefits, leave tracking, and local records; coordinate staff PTO and coverage needs.
Partner with the Head of School and network Finance team to develop and monitor the budget, track spending, and align resources with student needs and launch milestones.
Manage purchasing, vendors, contracts, and service providers in accordance with network policies, balancing quality, cost, and reliability.
Coordinate facilities readiness, repairs, building appearance, technology, and asset tracking to create a safe, welcoming, functional environment.
Collaborate with network Finance, Human Resources, Technology, and Operations colleagues while owning school-level execution.
As the school grows, hire, coach, lead, and develop an operations team.