Director of Operations and Facilities

Title: Director of Operations & Facilities
Location: Jersey City, NJ area (multi-campus)
Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Salary: $85,000 - $95,000 plus bonus

We're a growing, mission-driven early childhood and elementary program dedicated to creating exceptional learning environments for children from infancy through elementary years. Our culture is warm, our standards are high, and our growth is thoughtful and intentional. As we scale to serve more families across multiple campuses, we're searching for an exceptional Director of Operations & Facilities, someone smart, hungry to make a real difference, and humble enough to serve the mission while building something lasting.

This is a rare opportunity to become the operational backbone of a growing organization. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with the COO and leadership team to turn ambitious vision into reliable, scalable reality. The role is deeply strategic and proudly hands-on: you'll design systems that last, fix what breaks (permanently), lead major projects, and protect the environment where children learn, staff thrive, and families trust us completely.

What You'll Own and Build

Operational Excellence & Scalable Systems

• Design and continuously improve school-wide operations across all campuses — enrollment, attendance, purchasing, scheduling, records, compliance — so everything runs smoothly even as we grow rapidly
• Partner with campus leaders to diagnose root causes, implement lasting solutions, and eliminate recurring chaos
• Create clear, practical workflows that scale effortlessly and protect what already works beautifully

Facilities Leadership & Physical Environment

• Own end-to-end facilities operations: maintenance, vendor management, safety, cleanliness, emergency preparedness
• Lead renovation, construction, and capital improvement projects from vision through ribbon-cutting
• Set and maintain high standards for safe, welcoming, inspiring spaces that reflect our values

Technology & Infrastructure

• Oversee all tech systems, hardware, software, networking, and vendors
• Drive upgrades, security, and user-friendly implementations that make staff lives easier
• Lead vendor selection and RFPs with sharp business judgment

People, Collaboration & Accountability

• Partner closely with COO, leadership, HR, finance, admissions, academics, and food service
• Supervise operations team members with clarity, high expectations, and genuine support
• Drive strong cross-departmental communication and follow-through — no silos, no dropped balls

Financial Stewardship, Compliance & Risk Management

• Manage insurance, audits, licensing, documentation, and regulatory excellence
• Monitor spending, negotiate vendors, and identify cost efficiencies without cutting corners
• Spot risks early and turn potential problems into prevented ones

Data-Driven Insight & Long-Term Thinking

• Build and maintain meaningful metrics, dashboards, and reporting for leadership
• Use data to optimize staffing, space, scheduling, and purchasing decisions

Who We're Looking For
You're the kind of leader who:

• Has 5+ years of operations and/or facilities leadership in complex, multi-site environments
• Holds a Bachelors degree (advanced degree a plus)
• Is exceptionally organized and detail-oriented while never losing the big picture
• Thrives managing multiple priorities and timelines with calm, practical confidence
• Holds people (vendors and teammates alike) to high standards with fairness and directness
• Communicates with clarity and warmth, excellent written and verbal skills
• Is tech-savvy, systems-minded, and quick to learn new tools
• Brings optimism, accountability, and humility to everything, you celebrate team wins, own mistakes, and constantly seek better ways
• Is flexible for the occasional evening/weekend needs that come with buildings and children

Why This Role Will Matter (and Why It Might Be For You)
This isn't a maintenance job or a binder-filling exercise. This is a true leadership position where your thinking and execution will directly shape how safely, smoothly, and joyfully we grow. You'll stabilize critical foundations today while building capacity for tomorrow's expansion. Your work will strengthen staff experience, deepen family trust, improve financial health, and protect the culture we all cherish.

If you love creating order from complexity, take pride in quiet excellence, get energy from solving hard problems, and want to pour your talent into an organization that truly changes lives, we want to talk.

We especially encourage applications from people who are ambitious about impact, hungry to learn and grow, and humble enough to serve something bigger than themselves.