We’re looking for a Chief Operations Officer, a real operational superstar to head up and scale the operations for our network of schools. We have and are continuing to develop one of the most sophisticated operational approaches to providing affordable education to MILLIONS of children in one of the most challenging environments in the world! These systems, tools and approaches are our “School in a Box.”
Description
About Bridge International Academies
Bridge International Academies is a startup revolutionizing education across Africa with a truly unique business model. The company has launched a large-scale network of ultra low-cost for-profit private primary schools across Africa. With 22 schools operational, the company is already the largest chain of private primary schools on the Continent.
Our schools profitably deliver high-quality education for less than $4 per child per month. In the last twenty-four months, we have grown from 1 to 22 schools, 10 to over 200 employees, proven the model and built out the systems to pave the way for aggressive expansion. The company plans to build the world’s largest private school system and scale to serve more than 1 million families across Africa and beyond.
About this position
We’re looking for a Chief Operations Officer, a real operational superstar to head up and scale the operations for our network of schools. We have and are continuing to develop one of the most sophisticated operational approaches to providing affordable education to MILLIONS of children in one of the most challenging environments in the world! These systems, tools and approaches are our “School in a Box.”
Most of the systems and tools we develop are a combination of paper-based solutions at the school-level hooking into back-office systems and technology at the head office (many using a custom interactive mobile SMS based system). It includes a very detailed School Manager’s Manual and spans across all instructional, financial, operations and human resource management issues and systems.
The COO will be responsible for the operations of our schools and the expansion of our network across the Continent and beyond.
More specifically, the COO will have overall responsibility for:
1. The ongoing operations and performance of all of our schools. This includes all aspects of the schools from operations, marketing, personnel management, instructional delivery, expenses & payroll, parent/community relations, facilities, etc. This also includes the management of eventually tens of thousands of school level staff and hundreds of field-based support staff. Effective management of school operations will be measured in many ways, including
- Enrollments Numbers
- School profitability
- CapEx Costs
- Academic Performance
- Staff turnover
- Cost effectiveness of service delivery
- Cost effectiveness of support delivery
2. Driving the expansion of the company both in terms of the launch of new schools and the expansions of existing schools. Our target is to be launching more than 1 new school a day within a few years.
- Managing the entire process of planning, coordinating and launching new schools, starting with plot acquisition, construction, staffing, training, and preparation for launch
- Managing the land acquisition and construction teams to ensure a steady flow of physical infrastructure being readied for operations
- Coordinating with HR to ensure recruitment of appropriate staffing at new and existing schools
- Managing the training of new operational staff at the school (School Managers) and appropriate HQ support personnel (Support Officers), and coordinating with the education team for the training of the teaching staff.
3. Refinement and development of all the elements of our “School in a Box” systems and tools.
- Overseeing our Systems & Analysis team to analyze and improve all school level and HQ school support processes
- Upgrade “school in a box” systems to improve operational efficiency and cost-effective delivery of high quality instruction at the schools
- Coordinate with the education teams to ensure that the processes and tools in place for managing instructional delivery are effective
- Upgrade and develop new systems to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of our support mechanisms (both the support personnel side, as well as the data/automation side)
- Create more effective auditing systems and tools to ensure fidelity to the system at both the school and school support levels.
- Work with our technology team to develop and implement more effective tools in the hands of our school staff, support officers, and HQ teams.
4. Development of and management of a logistics function at the company that encompasses all the warehousing, kitting of School in a Box materials, transport & delivery, and facilities management for all of our school and construction sites
About You
- You have substantial experience with managing at a senior level the operations of a geographically scaled many-unit business operation ideally in a service or retail industry
- You have experience driving VERY rapid expansion of a geographically scaled many-unit operation. Ideally, having launched hundreds of new units/outlets by hundreds
- You ideally have experience doing such work in a developing world setting, or at the very least are knowledgeable and comfortable with the challenges inherent in working in these settings
- You are one of those rare multi-talented people who is both deeply analytical and creative.
- You are incredibly systems-focused and analytical and have demonstrated success in developing appropriate systems and processes (technology or non-technology) for managing such large-scale operations and systems.
- You have substantial experience identifying areas where technology can be used to improve operations, and have worked with technology departments to ensure solutions are developed
- You have demonstrated capacity to think way outside the box in identifying critical issues and developing non-traditional approaches to solve them. Remember we charge $4 per month, and thus solutions must be EXTRAORDINARILY cost effective to be implemented.
- You have experience building and managing large teams, from senior level managers to field-based personnel. While you have knowledge about what types of team structures have worked for you in the past, you are also flexible enough to figure out different appropriate structures in different environment
- You are very data-driven, and know that data and research are the keys to making good decisions at scale.
- You function well in a fast-paced informal environment where constant change is the norm and the bar for quality is set high.
- Experience managing or being responsible for the physical side of a chain or franchise (land and construction) is a plus.
Requirements/Skills:
- Willingness to be based in Nairobi, Kenya
- 10+ years experience in operations, management, or related experience, with at least five years at the most senior level.
- Systems or Engineering background a plus
No comments: