Associate Director, Strategy and Operations

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $120,000 - $135,000

Position Summary

The Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) is seeking a full-time Associate Director of Strategy and Operations. This position is located in New York City.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR PUBLIC RESEARCH AND LEADERSHIP:

The Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL) is a partnership of professional schools that prepares graduate students for leadership positions in public education organizations committed to improving the life chances of all children, particularly those of color, from low-income households, or otherwise traditionally underserved. The program brings together upper-level graduate students in business, education, law, and policy from universities across the nation to study and engage in consulting projects serving public- and social-sector organizations undertaking and supporting transformational change in PK-12 education and in the public sector as a whole. The program offers graduate students the rigorous, multi-disciplinary, academic, and experiential preparation they need to flourish in exciting leadership, management, and professional positions in those same organizations while simultaneously offering the organizations high-quality research and consulting support.

Responsibilities

The Associate Director of Strategy and Operations will divide their time across the following areas of center activity:

1. Financial Management and Reporting




1. Support financial strategic planning processes, including identifying and implementing systems and processes to ensure scalable and secure financial operations
2. Manage financial, project, and grants accounting, reporting, and forecasting, including updating and maintaining tracking and management systems; monitor and ensure compliance with proposal guidelines, grant commitments, and reporting requirements
3. Create budgets and budget narratives for CPRL's grant proposals and interim and final reports
4. Partner with CPRL's leadership team to monitor and track revenue goals and projections
5. Support with updating and managing CPRL's financial model and develop annual and quarterly budgets
6. Monitor day-to-day program expenditures against budget; run and analyze reports in the university's Accounting and Reporting at Columbia (ARC) system
7. Help prepare materials for CPRL Advisory Council and Finance subcommittee meetings




2. Vendor and Partner Management




1. Prepare client contracts and manage other agreements and CPRL's invoicing process
2. Work with vendors and the Columbia Law School business office and other departments to set-up and manage Purchase Orders and invoices payable for independent contractors and other vendors.
3. Create and track invoices receivable, including creating and managing a shared calendar of relevant invoice dates




3. Student Support




1. Oversee comprehensive academic administration for partner school relationships including managing variations in earned course credits, admitting and enrolling students, and overseeing all fiscal transactions between institutions
2. Oversee the transfer process of scholarship funds to partner schools/students
3. Oversee enrollment and onboarding of students at CPRL




4. Human Resources




1. Support the hiring processes for all staff, including by working closely with CPRL hiring managers to draft and revise job descriptions, to advertise job opportunities, to schedule interviews, and to track candidate progress and communication
2. Liaise with CU and CLS Human Resources
3. Assist senior leadership in training and onboarding new employees, independent contractors, Teaching Assistants, and Summer Associates
4. As needed, analyze and report data over time to inform future staffing decisions




5. General Operations Support




1. Manage day-to-day center and course activities, including supporting growth, visibility, and design efforts

Minimum Qualifications

• Advanced degree in education, law (JD, LLM), management or business, policy, or social sciences required, plus 4-6 years of significant experience.
• Intellectual capacity to think strategically in a fast-paced environment; understand multiple perspectives; learn about new topics; problem solve and develop responsive solutions under changing circumstances.
• Ability to respond to and integrate feedback from both peers and supervisors; ability to communicate feedback to individuals and teams in a clear and productive manner.
• Excellent interpersonal, organization and communication skills.
• Excellent writing, editing and presentation skills.
• Must be able to work with diverse constituencies and support an inclusive work environment.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.