Operating Associate

Astra Service Partners•Boulder, CO

12h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Operating Associate role is a two-year apprenticeship designed to develop high-potential early-career talent into future leaders of Astra Operating Companies. You will learn the disciplines of Continuous Improvement, the operational problem-solving methodology used by world-class operating businesses, while building toward placement into an Astra Operating Company in a leadership role such as Director, Operations Manager, or other mid-level operating position, with a clear path to continue advancing toward more senior operating leadership over time. This is not a traditional analyst program. You will spend the majority of your time traveling to Astra Operating Companies, learning their businesses from the inside, contributing to real operational improvement work, and developing the judgment to eventually lead one of these companies yourself.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree by your start date.
Willingness to be based in Denver, CO, with travel 50–70% of your working time across the U.S., territories, and Canada in Year 1.
Willingness to relocate within 2–3 years for placement at an Astra Operating Company.
U.S. work authorization.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to operations, manufacturing, service trades, or other hands-on business environments through internships, family business, or coursework.
Leadership experience in any setting, team sports, student organizations, work, military, community service.
Demonstrated track record of personal initiative outside what was required of you.

Responsibilities

Travel to Astra Operating Companies. Roughly 50–70% of your time will be spent on-site at our operating companies across the U.S., territories, and Canada. You will work alongside their teams, observe their operations, and contribute to Continuous Improvement work in service of their business outcomes.
Learn the businesses we serve. You'll spend deliberate time in different parts of each operating company, dispatch, operations, sales, finance, ride-alongs with technicians, building real understanding of how service-trades businesses succeed and where they get stuck.
Apprentice in Continuous Improvement. You'll learn the A3 problem-solving method from senior senseis, contribute to real CI engagements at operating companies, and progressively take on more of the coaching work yourself as your capability develops.
Build business literacy. You'll learn to read a P&L, understand operational KPIs, see how leadership decisions flow through to results, and develop the judgment of an operator. Coursework includes Astra University, the LAUNCH program for operational excellence, and in-person training at the University of Tennessee.
Develop through structured gates. You will pass through six structured capability assessments across the two years, quarterly in Year 1, semi-annually in Year 2, each one a real evaluation of your readiness for the next stage of development.